Part 1
"When we Firmas were pushed north into the Pyrimian mountain valley after the death of their chain of command, they settled down and instead of focusing on expansion focused on necessities like food. With co-operation from the first goblins and other creative minds that joined the First Wave of the migration, they managed to grow food over the summer in first-iteration greenhouses. "My parents were part of the first wave. They were old for a couple, but joined the Firma clan in founding a government and keeping the area safe, as well as spreading word. The dragonic gods didn't like their behavior at all; cities burning is more entertainment for them, so they were the first to be Forsaken in this era, publicly, in the main square of the old Dragonic Capital. "However, that backfired, with more and more dragons tired of running around and fighting all the time, they decided to settle down in a place where nobody would bother them; now that they had this place given to them, and the Second Wave started. Basically the entirety of the dragonic clans and several other species amassed in this wave, and the Sapient Unification Government held. "My parents had an egg in one of the more northern caves, right on the coast. Then, the third wave arrived and everything went downhill from there. "The Unification Wars were fought between those who wanted one government to cover this region, and those who wanted governments segregated by species. This would have been fine if the secessionists didn't step in on people's behalves, without their consent; it took fifteen years of war for the war to end. Millions died and some species like the Snow Fox beastpeople almost went extinct. My parent were part of the death wave. "The war evolved so rapidly it was impossible for a commander to last more than two months. It started with sticks and stones and within a month there were arrow volleys. A year saw guns, two tanks, three battleships, four planes. Bombs, bigger bullets, bigger guns, bigger bombs. "In the last few months of the war, the first nuclear devices were used, creating miniature stars on the land with immense destructive potential unleashed. It ended with mutually assured destruction protocols being activated, and when all was said and done the land was a snow-fallen irradiated dustball. "It took years for the survivors to pick up the remnants of our short-lived civilization and restart it into the Terra Firma Sapience Union. All the time, my egg didn't hatch because I had no incubator, but didn't die thanks to my ice type. It was located close enough to a mana vein where I just... absorbed the entire vein. When the cave was found by explorers following maps for my parents den, all they found was my egg glowing brighter than Sunstones. "I was taken to an incubation facility in Cellyia, one of the bigger cities. There I hatched, and after more than one test I grew. My growth was still... affected by the time without an incubator, so my already slow growth stopped after fifty years instead of continuing to infinity. And then I took some magic courses, did my best to drain my mana reserves, and settled down here, well away from... the bustle of Cellyia. It never quite felt like a home, you know. It was a good place to grow up, don't get me wrong, but I like it here better. Remote, and in the same place my parents met for the first time. As much as I can tell, anyway; a number of records were destroyed in the Unification War. "When your heroes continued to come up here, I would be the one on first guard. Damming a river, I used water magic to break it. Trying to destroy some transit infrastructure, I would be the first one to either fake it, finish it off, or lure them away. When your latest one decided to head for Cellyia, it was out of my range for such activities. I shadowed the party on the way and let others take care of it. "I never thought that your 'heroes' would be heartless enough to burn what they were told and even acknowledged as a hospital with patients inside. A library and museum with most of our pre-unification works inside. An orphanage, a school... an entire neighborhood of ten thousand citizens' homes. What for? To try to kill just one of us. "We... couldn't take that kind of behavior. Cellyia might have not been the best place for someone with my personality to grow up, especially without parental figures, but that orphanage still had some good memories. An all-citizens vote was called, an all-citizens vote was passed, and we started a counter-offensive military campaign into your Civilization Nations. We've been waiting for you elves, leaders of the Civilized Nations, to advance your society; it's been seven hundred years, all the most you've done is grow your population and add an extra floor to your townhomes. "So we're going to do it for you. You ran our patience down, so we're going to change your society for you. Is it a repeat of the Unification War? I don't think so, given that you Civilized Nations never rescinded the declaration of war against us 'monsters' over two thousand years ago; one that you still follow through on to this day. "But that isn't the end of my story. "When the gods forsook us, they tried to pry away our magic, our land, and our lives. So we defended. Space radars monitor their movements on the mortal plane. There's so many more technical details I can go into. All I can tell you is, at one point, the old god of Dragonic Princess-kidnapping; yes, they were a god; they came and asked us to restart worshiping them. "That went over as well as you'd expect, and the next thing that happened... was that I absorbed her mana and powers. Technically, I am an undefined god, and... at this point, I'm afraid to get a definition. "What if it's something I don't like? Something evil, immoral... something my parents, the leaders of the Second Wave, wouldn't be proud of? What if... what if it kills me? Everyone hates me? I'd no longer be free... "So my solution was to hide. Here, in a mountain cave in the middle of nowhere. This is my life, all of it... and I don't know where to go from here." ----- "So... you're a god?" I asked. I couldn't think of another question to ask. "Yes and no." The cat replied. It did nothing to satisfy my fearful curiosity. How could one both be and not be a god? "Princess-kidnapping was a... niche god, rarely prayed to by still enough to be, you know, and actual deity. So her mana ran out first, and most of it dissipated back into the environment yada yada yada, but like the sponge my mana reserves are, I sucked more of it up than I should have; enough to had just a slight touch of divine control. On par with a low-level demigod. If I was omnipresent, I'd solve me problems with a snap of my claws, and then I wouldn't be hiding from my problems here." "If your powers came from a god, how are yours undefined?" My mind was seeking knowledge now. I was a mage, after all, and this was more than just the opportunity of a lifetime; it was the opportunity of a aeon. "Because I absorbed her essence from the environment before it had the chance to fully dissipate, but still late enough where it was no longer hers." Vixie shrugged "Or something like that, mana gets weird sometimes. All that matters now is my stockpile is slowly increasing its grow rate, which gets annoying pretty fast." "Annoying?" The cat laughed again. "Do you think this is all of my baseline reserve? Half of the reason I stay away from the rest of society is because the last time someone with multiple aura got involved with politics..." She trailed off, and then let another, this time impeccably cast illusion fall. The air around her was burnt crisp with the power of several mandatory auras in her current small size. Twelve tails flicked behind her back, eleven of them made of energy. Floating specs of light, some smaller while others the size of ice crystals surrounded the air around her. The six orbs on her back were joined by six more, and were attached to a ring. Her head had two halos, and her entire body was engraved with glowing lines. If she before radiated power, now she was made of it. The lights on the cave's ceiling flickered as more and more of the illusion fell away. Geometric shapes orbiting her body, a platform made of mana at her feet, lightning whizzing between all sorts of objects. Finally, it was gone, and the cat that stared at me with big, sad, glowing blue eyes had told me her deepest secret. As soon as it had started, the illusion repaired itself, and before me was one cat, a halo, six orbs, two crystals, and two mana tails. I did the second most instinctive thing when it came to seeing a cat. I pulled her in for a hug. There was a quickly quieted hiss as she squirmed a bit in my grip, trying to get more comfortable, before letting herself get stroked by me. Several images flashed before my eyes, and a tear came out of mine. We had gone to war against the less lucky sapients on our world, and were now paying the price. It felt like hours, but then my stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten in literal days. Vixie shot out of my grip and led the way down into the cave. I followed, and soon enough I was eating some salted crackers with dried meat and cheese while Vixie moved around between other caves. "What are you doing?" I asked her between bites. "Packing," She replied. "Why?" "It's time I got out of here and, to follow the phrase, touched some grass." ----- It took three days for the elf, whose name was Nick, to recover enough to be able to make the journey to Cellyia. In those three days, I realized just how - and why - the Civilized Races looked at us the way they did. For starters, I'd forgotten just how many things ran on electricity, let alone other, more complicated mechanics. Pressurized water, instant hot water, even sinks, showers, and toilets were all completely unknown to the 'civilized races.' Ah, yes. Civilized without toilet paper. Bitter ramblings about the people who set off the chain reaction of events that killed my family aside, those were the second longest three days of my life; the first was my thirteenth birthday so I could get a personal HUD and social media. I was also a mess of thoughts. The elf had shown me, over the course of the three days - aside from the two-minute get-my-life-together moment - that I couldn't hide from my problems forever, or they would team up and try to hunt me. Hence my new, reluctant guest from the overflowing hospital they had oh-so-nicely delivered to my door. I had words for the medical staff. And I was also a mess of thoughts. Did I mention that one already. In all seriousness, Nick adapted to electronics pretty well. All I had to do was explain what it was, what it did, and file it under the name of science. It took an impressive four minutes of rambling about quantum mechanics before Vick realized that he was in way over his head asking how the 'magic rock that can half-think with bottled lightning' worked. He backed out when I yanked a textbook from my knowledge hoard and flipped through the pages to the start to explain how quantum superposition affected the set of particles it was entangled to. Fun. Finding out what toothbrushes were took some convincing, but soon the elf's teeth started to recover from lack of proper dental care. Food was easier than I expected, and Vick was pretty accepting of whatever I tossed on his plate. Except for artichokes, for some reason he hated those. Over the three days we bonded, and Nick got pretty used to life in my home. On the second day I moved him to the guest bedroom I had built but never maintained, but one wave of my paw and a splurge of magic later that was solved. "Why don't you use magic more often?" Nick asked. I explained that was much as I wanted to burn my reserves like they were a forest before a forest fire, the mental strain was tough without learning proper casting, which requires one to drain their reserves to practice wielding physical willpower. That meant that I was caught in an infinite loop of negativity, so I could only get away with a couple spells a day before the mental exhaustion metaphorically turned my brain to mush. On the morning of the fourth day, we left. Honestly, Nick could have left on the first day but I wanted him to be able to have the stamina to walk around for hours on end with me in Cellyia. Either way, as long as he kept by me it would be fine. There was a small population of elves, humans, and dwarves who had come up to the TFSU for one reason or another and never left, which meant that he wouldn't be too far out of place. My plan, instead of just flying into the Cellyia while steering clear of the airport, was to make it to the closest town, Lymian, and take a train from there north to Union Station. It would dump us a bit further downtown than I liked, but Cellyia was built in levels, and I could take the footpath level to wherever I needed. All said and done and one passenger seat clipped to my saddlebag harness on my dragon form, I opened the door to my cave. And was promptly blocked by a wall of snow. "Right," I half-grumbled. I enjoyed tunneling through snow, but spray would make the entrance cave wet and that wouldn't dry for another couple days, and until it did the sound of drips would echo throughout my home like nothing else. Either way, checking one last time that Nick was secure, I prepared my wings and powered forward. The snow and ice parted for me, and then melted and fixed itself back together behind me as I power-swam through the snow the same way I would through water. After ten seconds of this, I burst up from the snow-covered mountain the snowstorm had left behind and started to change my heading for Lymian. It would take thirty minutes of flying to get there, as I was flying lower and slower than usual to take care of my passenger, but we soon enough turned the next mountain and saw the town. The elf gasped as he took in the sights, while I kept my eye out for more activity. It had been fortified as a military base due to the war, but not by much; the town was useless from a defensive standpoint anyway. I spotted the next train arriving from its winding track around the next mountain, which also meant that I was a bit early. The citizens of Lymian were used to my presence, as I usually stopped by to pick up supplies and occasionally a bit of correspondence. So when I landed on top of a several story tall snow pile, nobody cared. I let Nick out, and then transformed into my cat form and slid down the snow pile to start to jogging towards the train station. That's when I remembered that unlike me, elves without snowshoes do not float on snow. Oops. ----- The sights were more than pretty, more than beautiful... If the gods had rejected these people, they might have just as well done it out of jealousy. After I'd been dropped off on top of a snow mound, I immediately flattened myself on my stomach to not fall through. I'd been in more than enough snowstorms and snow mounds to know how it would go if I didn't. The cat climbed the hill below me, reappearing as naturally as the snow fell. "Sorry," Vixie apologized. "Here, let me..." I felt the snow melt around me and we descended down to the ground. Vixie glowed brightly, literally; Even using as little magic as reshaping some snow was threatening to cascade out of her form. We moved to the train station without incident, where the massive 'train cars' were loaded full of passengers and cargo and then taken off towards the big city. Apparently this was the same one the hero burned, but the 'rebuilding and recovery efforts we going well; no critical infrastructure had been severely damaged.' Either way, the ride there was uneventful. Stepping out into Union Station was different. It was like I had entered a busy capital marketplace or square, with everyone rushing in another direction to another place. I trailed after Vixie, where even the oddity of an elf in these mountains was outshone by just how many different races there were; beastkin and kobolds and orcs and undead all filled the streets in, well, peace. "The city is built in layers," Vixie explained. "So while yes, residential and office towers here in the capital were set alight, underground public transit, personal transit, and cargo and fluid transit was all untouched, so we were able to circle around the hero and put out the fires to be replaced with smoke generators, and a couple holograms snatched from a nearby cargo transport." I had no idea what any of that meant, only that the city also had extensive underground bits. The towers soared over everything, and lights covered every spare centimeter of the city. Vixie led me down market stalls, across plazas, through parks and through building lobbies. Eventually, the babble increased, something I didn't think was possible. "Welcome to the commercial district," Vixie said after she had pulled me into a corner away from the masses of people and crowds moving around. "We're right near the harbor, and when we get there I'm going to show you the lighthouse and explain the city a bit better." I almost lost track of Vixie as we continued to move through the throngs of people going about their daily lives. I saw a couple boarded up shops, but most of them were either undamaged or didn't care about the scorch marks on their shops. Jewelry boutiques and grocery stores lived in tandem with furniture stores and a massive slab of too-smooth-to-be-natural stone of a rock type I had never seen before. It was covered in signs depicting some kind of diagram. Right around the corner was the waterfront, with a massive promenade running alongside it. Snow-covered trees lined the walkways, and soon enough Vixie and I came out of the crowd near a large, tall abandoned - though no unmaintained - building. "Right then," Vixie explained and started climbing. "Here's the old lighthouse, it's perfect for seeing the city. They never officially decommissioned it, so it's still legal to climb and properly maintained, but they never use it either." "What was the large thing they were building?" I asked, clambering onto the next ladder. "That? Oh, that was the space elevator." Vixie replied. "The ground part has been completed for three years now, we're just waiting for the rest of the nanotubes to make it into orbit and then run a kevlar cord up, follow it down with the space-grade heavy-duty nanotube cord, and then that's that." "Space?..." I was confused. "When the gods said that they were higher than mortals, you took that both figuratively and literally; they live above you and in a higher dimension. In this case, space is where they live in terms of height, but not number of dimensions. We're working on interdimensional travel, and interuniversal too, but those aren't replicatable on any sort of large scale yet." Vixie shrugged. "Either way, it's not like I care." "But you have it?" I pressed. "Dimensional travel." "Yes." She replied. "Well," I let out a short laughed. "The Civilized Nations are screwed over." "That's putting it lightly," She climbed on top of the last platform and showed me the city against the setting sun, lit up brighter than the night sky and more lively than the earth. It was beautiful. I sat there and watched the city glow with a power not even the gods had, side by side with not a dragon or monster, but a friend. END. A/N: Rushed this last bit of the arc, but school is ramping up at the end of the year so it was either fast story or incomplete story, and I chose fast story. Happy pride month, everyone, and I hope to see more of you when I have more time.
Original Prompt: [WP] For as long as all the races have known, Dragons have been seen as violent, destructive creatures. After an attack on your village, you black out and find yourself in the den of a dragon. It's rather annoyed that that is how they're seen, and wants to prove that isn't the case.
u/Lycan_Jedi thank you for the prompt!
Part 1

Hello all,
Hope you are doing well. We are planning to travel to PR and stay in an AirBnB in Old San Juan for about a week.
One of us has a very severe cat allergy and unfortunately we did know that Old PR is known for a lot of cats... We should have checked/known about this before booking but we did not sadly.
We would appreciate your help in understanding how the situation is on the ground and help with the following questions / concerns?

• Are there cats all around Old San Juan or it mostly in certain areas (like the El Morro fort and park). My friend is basically wondering if she would be fine avoiding some spots or are there cats all over the place. My friends allergy is very severe unfortunately (it has turned into a sorta phobia over time sadly), so understandably she is very scared...
• Is stray cats an issue in other parts too like San Juan, Cieba or Vieques island (near the biolumuniscent bay)? As we are also planning to stay in these areas.

Please advice as your help will be invaluable in helping my friend to make the right decision, appreciate your kind help and time! Regards!

There's potential for a Dallas-Houston high speed rail route. But where is the ideal place for the Dallas station, considering the potential for an Oklahoma City and Austin-San Antonio connection eventually?
The current plan is to build a new station near Union station at the edge of downtown Dallas. Union station has connections to two DART light rail lines and the TRE that connects to Fort Worth. However it will be surrounded by highways and be about a mile from the central business district.
Alternatively, the area north of DFW has become a hub for transit. It is currently an area full of warehouses and an unnarrowed flood plain. 8 years ago DART light rail extended to north DFW directly to Dallas, 2 years ago Texrail opened a line from north DFW to Fort Worth, and next year DART will open a line to the wealthy north surburbs of Plano and Addison to north DFW. Denton transit also has a right of way to the area. However, it's currently the middle of no where and much of the area is in a flood plain and highway intersections.
That said, should the train stop at the current downtown Dallas? Should it ultimately stop in both Dallas and Fort Worth? Or is it better to create a new transit hub in currently undeveloped land?

I wasn't going to do a trip write up at all, but I'm planning a return trip in the Fall and I realized some of the things I learned on my first trip might be useful for other people, so here we go! I don't often see post write ups from people who are specifically into rhythm games/ arcades/ anime stuff
 
Dates: March 8 - 24, 2023 Background: Planned this trip mostly for myself but one of my friends decided to tag along fairly last minute. I had planned to spend the whole trip in Tokyo but the one thing she wanted to do was Kyoto, so we added a side trip + a very pleasant day at a Ryokan. I used Wanderlog to plan (HIGHLY recommend, this site is amazing), and my basic daily itinerary was morning shrine > pick an area to explore and have 1-2 major things per day. The person I was travelling with ended up taking a long ass time to get ready each day, so most of my morning stuff got cut or rearranged. Costs: I will fully admit I did not budget for food/ shopping, 100% vibes. I simply do not acknowledge what I spent

• Flight: $1,500 (Delta from MSP > SEA > Haneda. Direct from MSP had not resumed yet)
• Hotels: ¥314,000 (Roughly $2,300 USD for all 3 hotels total) [¥205,000 (Tokyu Stay Tsukiji, 15 nights) + ¥30,000 (Tokyu Stay Kyoto, 2 nights) + ¥79,000 (Kyokoyado Muromachi Yutone Kyoto, 1 night)]
• Shinkansen: ¥42,000 for 2 round trip tickets from Tokyo/Kyoto and back. Roughly $300 USD, machine did not take foreign CC only cash

Highlights

• The Kingdom Hearts concert, I maxed out my luck on this trip and we were able to see this on it's last night in Tokyo. Absolutely incredible!!
• Sushi Yuu, Roppongi (omakase sushi for about ¥20,000 per person, we paid more with drinks)
• ShibuyaSky, the open air viewing makes the experience so much better, plus there's a bunch of different spots to hang out up on the observation deck
• Fushimi Inari, the whole shrine blew me out of the water, absolutely must experience in person
• TeamLabs Planets, so few things live up to the hype and this is one of them
• Golden Gai, the bars were so much fun, got the full experience of a salaryman pissing on the side of the konbini

Lowlights

• Caffeine- if you are addicted to non carbonated caffeine like I am be prepared to be disappointed. The monsters are only 40mg compared to America's 150mg+. I'm glad I brought caffeine pills
• Tsukiji market is really not worth going out of your way for, it's nice if you're near it but it's really just a fish market + insane lines for most of the food
• I'm still mad about how bad the food was at the Square Enix cafe is, at least we got coasters + placemats out of the deal. This was genuinely my only bad experience in Japan
• Everything on this subreddit told me that people in Tokyo don't really care about tattoos, however they do really seem to care about colored hair. I have very long, bright ombre hair and I was a bit of a sideshow attraction, including people taking photos of me in public multiple times. Probably the most frustrating part of the trip was being stared at constantly
• Japanese thrift stores love old American clothes, I was definitely let down by the majority of these

Goals:

• Buy anime stuff
• Play rhythm games
• Go thrift shopping
• See cherry blossoms
• Collect shrine stamps (goshuin)

Advice:

• TAX FREE SHOPPING: This has to be first because no one mentions it?? There are 2 types of tax free, discount and rebate. Everywhere has a minimum for tax free. Don Quijote you have to go to the separate tax free counter, and they will seal the bags shut. You're not supposed to use the tax free items in the country - I didn't know this and did it anyways? There seems to be no repercussions unless they open your bag and count every individual KitKat. I had to open the bags to repack everything anyways. The places that do rebates are generally malls, you bring your receipt + passport and they'll give you the 10% back in cash (minus a fee). When you get to the airport, you scan your passport after you drop your luggage, indicating you made tax free purchases. You do not need to keep your receipts anymore
• Don Quijote does sell luggage but Ginza Karen is cheaper
• Besides the standard things that every single trip report has (get a suica, you'll walk a lot, etc etc), the biggest thing I learned is not to go to an area without at least 1-2 specific goals in mind. For example, I had given us like a half day to go around Shibuya/ Harajuku, but because we didn't look into what malls or stores we might like to go to, we ended up wandering pretty aimlessly and not really enjoying the area. This happened a few different areas we went to, so I decided that in the future I would pin some stores on Google Maps and try to make it to those specific stores
• Install LINE and set up an account. It's crazy how much connects to LINE. For me the biggest thing was 1) making Sushiro reservations and not having to sit in the store for an hour plus waiting for our table and 2) being able to grab a chargeSPOT to charge my phone. I brought a battery pack but at this point it must be like a decade old, it took the entire night to recharge and died on me during the day a few times. I have a Pixel 6 Pro and was literally constantly charging my phone
• If you're coming from the Americas, don't try to do something on your first night. Get your Konbini dinner and go the fuck to sleep
• Getting from place to place can take longer than expected, you'll have to navigate the stations, find the entrances (sometimes hidden in malls) and exits (sometimes closed), don't make plans too tight together
• Navigating Kyoto was so much more confusing. At first our Suica cards didn't work because we apparently didn't tap out at a station in Tokyo, so we were buying day passes and paying in cash on the bus. Some of the buses have 0 English and 100% Kanji (navigation difficulty: extreme). Suica cards DO work in Kyoto so if you're having issues go to a gate with an attendant and they can help
• It can be weirdly hard to find bathrooms, most konbini have them but you're supposed to ask the cashier if you can use them. I speak very basic Japanese but hammed up the gaijin card here and would just ask to use the toilet in English, no one ever told me no Weeb specific advice:
• If you want to do pop ups (like the Jujutusu Kaisen Animation exhibit), a Japanese e-sim will be a lifesaver. You need a Japanese phone number to do SO much, they really make it extremely frustrating to make reservations without it. I did manage to make reservations for the Square Enix cafe though, the write-up is on my profile. (Was it worth it? Absolutely not, worst food all trip, -3/10)
• Prices are all over the place for figures, especially prize figures. There's a solid chance you might buy something and see it cheaper at the next shop, however going back/forth between shops in Akihabara can be a huge pain in the ass. I'd recommend 1) making a list of things you want the most and 2) setting a per item budget and a total budget. A lot of the anime stuff was cheaper in Kyoto as well
• You can find a ton of gachapon stuff at Surugaya, so you can just buy what you want and don't have to gamble. Surugaya bins are organized by series
• Use collabo-cafe.com to find cafes and pop up events you might be interested. Plan ahead because reservations can be hard to come by

 
Now on to the super detailed trip report! Here's the big album if you don't want to look through photos separated by day. Warning for flashing video
 
Day 1 (travel)

• Landed in Haneda around 3pm. Immigration + customs took about an hour (we did the visit Japan web ahead of time and had both QR codes ready). There was virtually no lines anywhere
• It took about an hour to navigate to the hotel. I chose to stay at the Tokyu Stay Tsukiji because 1) it was really cheap, 2) it was close to the Ginza line, and 3) it had a washer in the room. Although the location was slightly inconvenient for late nights, I'd say it was totally worth it for the ability to grab food in Tsukiji market, and the room was pretty large compared to some other areas of Tokyo. In fact, the room was so cheap that when we went to Kyoto, we opted to not check out of the Tsukiji room and just leave the majority of our possessions there. This didn't cause any issues and made travelling on the Shinkansen way easier
• I thought we were built different and could do some stuff this evening. We ended up walking to the Donki and being assaulted by sound in every direction. 7/10 didn't discover the 2nd floor until days later. At this point exhaustion kicked in and we got a Lawsons dinner and crashed

Day 2 (Akihabara, photos)

• Going to Akihabara on our first day in Japan sure was a choice. Thankfully neither of us suffered jetlag on the way in. Checked out like 10 different game centers and a ton of anime shops. Managed to find the only Monster Rehab of the whole trip here
• Konbini lunch + strong zero! That flavor was terrible :')
• Dinner at the Monster Hunter cafe (no reservations required). Expectations were low but my travel partner is a huge MH fan. The food wasn't bad but the drinks were awful. The ambiance is nice and there were definitely some regulars there playing MH on the consoles they had set up
• The new Namco game center had like 12 brand new Taiko cabs and all of them had phone mounts so you could film yourself playing! I was really intimidated by everyone there being extremely good so we didn't play any games here

Day 3 (Shibuya & Harajuku, photos)

• Breakfast at Tsukiji outer market since we were already there
• Went to Shibuya Loft for the Bravely Default pop up shop
• Checked out Tower Records
• Ate lunch at Japanese McDonalds
• Went to Takeshita Street. TBH this felt like in-person AliExpress, I'm sure the charm of the early 2000s is long gone
• Visited Hachiko
• Shibuya Sky Observatory

Day 4 (Asakusa, photos)

• Started at Kaminarimon Gate & went down Nakamise shopping street. It was very crowded on a Sunday but I enjoyed it immensely, you just need some patience to get where you want to go. I liked trying all the food, most of the food stalls here were cash only
• Senso-ji temple, bought Goshuincho to collect stamps
• Ate lunch and dinner in the area, there's a ton of food options
• We ended going all the way over to Yoyogi park as well but nothing was in bloom. Because it was overcast the park looked really sad

Day 5 (Shinjuku & Kabukicho, photos)

• Now is the time to come clean, I'm a huge Yakuza/ RGG fan. In the morning I had my Majima birthday cake delivered by PRIROLL. I pre-ordered it and chose the delivery day where we didn't have morning plans. It comes frozen and needs to defrost in the fridge. While we left Majima to chill, we made the pilgrimage to Kabukicho to see the iconic gate. It was raining in the morning so we hit up some arcades then went shopping
• There's a really cool mall that seems anime-centric (I believe it's called Shinjuku Marui Anex). It had a Godzilla store, Cinnamoroll Cafe, a JJK pop up, and best of all... A Surugaya. These stores have bins where everything is ¥100-300 and we ended up buying way too much in every one we came across
• Went back to Kabukicho and explored a bit, went to Golden Gai and drank at a handful of bars. Almost missed the last train because I drunkenly insisted on a final game of MaiMai. 10/10 staying in Kabukicho next time

Day 6 (Ikebukero & Rippongi, photos)

• The plan today was to check out Ikebukero and Roppongi, but we ended up spending so much time at the first mall that we didn't really do anything in Roppongi besides get dinner. Went to the Pokemon Mega Center and the cafe. The main cafe was closed so it was just take out, all the food was really cute but the waffles were kind of terrible
• Gashapon no Depato Ikebukuro was super overwhelming. A lot of the smaller gashapon stores are somewhat organized by what is in the machines, this one just felt chaotic, and it went on forever
• Sushi Yuu was incredible, I didn't take photos of every single course but I was so full that couldn't finish my dessert at the very end. The owner speaks some English and I made our reservations by messaging him on Facebook

Day 7 (Yokohama, photos)

• We didn't get to Yokohama as early as I would have liked - I took us out way into the suburbs to try to find this Yakuza plushie from the claw machines. I looked up the locations on the Sega website, unfortunately this machine was extra rigged and I couldn't win it >:[ On the bright side all the rhythm games had no one else playing them
• Took the cable car over and went to the Cup Noodle museum. Unfortunately we didn't have a reservation so we had to come back later. Found some cafes in the area and had a late breakfast
• The museum was really small, the main draw is making your own Cup Noodles. Entrance costs 500 yen and this is an additional 500. We had some trouble navigating this part because no one spoke any English
• Had dinner at a pie restaurant that was 10/10
• Explored a bit of Yamashita park (Yakuza 7, anyone?) I was kind of disappointed I wasn't able to see this during the day
• Walked around Yokohama Chinatown & visited the local Round 1 ;)

Day 8 (Kyoto, photos)

• I bought the Shinkansen tickets to Kyoto the evening before, so we weren't able to get great seats. The machines are also a huge pain in the ass and don't take American CCs, so plan ahead here
• It took us longer than expected to figure out how to use the tickets and read the signage, so we weren't able to get food before and I had to have one of the train bentos. I knew it was going to suck and it was worse than expected :(
• You can bring a full sized suitcase and just put it in front of you, seeing other people do this was unexpected
• My travel partner was destroyed at this point so she rested in the room. I went to the National Garden and Imperial Palace alone. The sakura were just starting to bloom and the weather was great, loved it. The National Garden is SO huge that I only ended up walking up the west side before I tapped out
• Checked out Heian-jingu shrine + the giant torii, I went to another smaller shrine with a great view but I can't remember the name
• We did photoshoots at ESPERANTO Kyoto. There's basically no reviews from foreigners about this place but it was fantastic!! Their online booking form didn't work for me, so I emailed asking for a reservation. I emailed in Japanese and English and they replied in English. They gave me time options and I replied with what package and room each of us wanted (the website says they require a deposit but they told me they didn't need one). When we got there they did our hair and makeup, and then you pick your kimonos out. The photographer spoke pretty decent English and we didn't have trouble communicating with anyone else here. They had our photos edited and printed about 30 minutes after we picked which ones we wanted. The whole thing took about 3 hours (it was longer because we used the same set room). I don't want to include my photos but I did add a video of my hairstyle because she knocked it out of the park
• Ended the day with okonomiyaki, one of my favorite Japanese foods

Day 9 (Kyoto, photos)

• Fushimi Inari day! I ended up walking this alone, I did not realize how long it was going to take or the fact it was actually like 10,000 stairs. My knees were very upset on the way down
• It was not as busy as expected, I went at roughly noon on a Friday. Most people tap out before the actual mountain climb
• The Goshuin at Fushimi Inari are on paper, you can paste them into your books later. Even if you don't have a Goshuincho I'd recommend buying them because they are very cute!
• Shrine cats!!!! You can buy photos of them to help pay for their food
• After Fushimi Inari I somehow managed to walk to Tofukuji Temple (I did the garden but not the bridge) and Daigo-ji Gojunoto pagoda and garden. I wanted to cut my legs off after today

Day 10 (Kyoto, photos)

• I started my day at the Kyoto Round 1, I had visited it on day 8 as well. This one is ace because it was literally always empty 10/10
• Decided to explore Gion a bit, ended up at the Machiya Starbucks and had the best thing I ate all trip (a custard dorayaka, I regret not going back for another)
• Ended up at Kiyomizu-dera Temple totally on accident. It wasn't super impressive in early spring but the view was still fantastic
• Ended the day at the Ryokan (Kyokoyado Muromachi Yutone). Ended up picking one without an onsen because we are both covered in tattoos, and I didn't want to deal with finding a private one. The cypress tub was a great trade off, and the food was incredible

Day 11 (Tokyo - Concert, photos)

• Today we travelled back to Tokyo and went to the Kingdom Hearts concert. I ended up trying for the lottery for tickets back in like December 2022. Winners were announced the first weekend in January and you only had a few days to buy tickets. I have a friend of a friend living in Japan who did me the biggest solid ever and bought our tickets. I met up with her during the trip for the hand off. The seats are randomly assigned and we had AMAZING seats near the front. This was also the performance Nomura was at!
• We weren't supposed to take photos during the performance so I just have some before. Also, I made Organization XIII beads that attach onto my dress with magnets and I am very proud of it, so please excuse the bathroom selfie :D
• The concert was about 3 hours long and after all the travelling we were beat. We ate dinner, played our nightly games of Ongeki, and passed out
• Bonus video of the music box that plays Dearly Beloved

Day 12 (Ginza & Sumida, photos)

• We were really starting to tucker out at this point. We managed to drag ourselves to the Ginza art Aquarium in the AM and the Tokyo SkyTree in the afternoon. Today was the Equinox so everything was crazy busy, the line to buy tickets for the SkyTree was literally like 2 ish hours long so we bought them online and went shopping in the mall
• The Art Aquarium was really cool, but a lot of the fish were in really small tanks. I didn't include photos of those :(
• The SkyTree just let people up as fast as they could so it was extremely crowded at the top, and not super enjoyable imo
• I spent the evening at the arcades in Akihabara :D

Day 13 (Tokyo - JJK Exhibit, photos - flashing video warning)

• Today I went off in the am to see if I could buy a ticket to the Jujutsu Kaisen animation exhibit in person. The online site wouldn't let me buy a ticket because I didn't have a Japanese phone number. UNFORTUNATELY you couldn't buy tickets in person. I got super lucky again and 2 foreign exchange students from Europe were trying to do the same thing, however they did have a Japanese phone number and the site allowed you to get 3 tickets at a time. They were able to grab them for all 3 of us for that evening
• Putzed off to Hie Shrine, anyone that tells you it's a mini Fushimi Inari is lying
• Went back to Akihabara, found a Miku racing pop up!
• Went back to... Ginza? for the JJK animation exhibit, it took about an hour to go through. I included a ton of photos so just skip today if you're not interested in that show

Day 14 (Tokyo - TeamLabs Planets & SquareEnix Cafe, photos)

• TeamLabs was so cool! I didn't include many photos since it's 95% selfies. Make sure you explore a bit as the string light room had a couple of different areas that are easy to miss, and it's possible to accidentally skip the hanging garden, which was beautiful! TeamLabs took us about 2.5 hours but we were 100% those bitches taking forever to get a million photos
• Since we were staying in Tsukiji we ended up just slowly walking back to the room for a much needed nap
• Back to Akihabara yet again! More rhythm games, some awful food at SE

Day 15 (Shinjuku, photos)

• This was our last full day in Japan, we honestly didn't want to do anything but we managed to drag our asses to Shinjuku National Garden for the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately it was sprinkling a bit, at least it kept the crowds away
• Managed to check out Meiji Jingu, but at this point my travel partner was sick of walking and tapped out
• I went back to Kabukicho, walked around a bit and ended up back at an arcade (bless Ongeki for having stools)

Final thoughts (Misc, photos)

• We were literally so annihilated by the trip that we took a taxi to the airport, it was about ¥8,000 from Tsukiji ($60 USD ish)
• I ended up buying a 24" suitcase from Ginza Karen for ¥6,000. It was 100% full of stuff I purchased. We also used one or those giant ¥500 bags from Donki as a carry on
• My Goshuincho was my favorite souvenir, I'm so proud of all the stamps I collected (I did get doubles at some shrines). I plan to bring this back late 2023 to try to finish it
• I have the old school GoogleFi plan and don't have to do anything extra to have international data. Lots of places & stations have free WiFi but you'll need to put your email in
• I don't really sleep that much and my schedule in the US is already busted, but it took me about 2 full weeks to get back on normal human hours. I'm tired again just writing this up and looking through all my photos
• My main regret is not trying more food, we ended up waiting until we were dying of starvation and ate at the konbini a lot (typical)

 
Edits for formatting

Short-term rentals AVAILABLE for 2 guest bedrooms in a single family 4 bed/2 bath home. This is an all-genders living situation. Common areas are shared with myself (female US-IMG, ambassador for Project IMG Chicago), my boyfriend and his brother. Non smoking, 2 cat friendly home.
ABOUT THE LOCATION: Clean remodeled place near beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory. 6 to 10 min walk to CTA Green Line. This neighborhood overall doesn't have much in terms of dining and entertainment, but with the CTA Green Line/short Uber drive/Divvy bike rental you can easily access great entertainment in Oak Park, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Wicker Park, and downtown.
VERY close to some of the IMG friendly hospitals in the city. Closest hospitals to my home would be:

1. Loretto
2. Medical District: UIC/Rush/Cook County
3. AMITA St. Elizabeth, St. Mary's
4. St. Anthony's

If you are looking for a budget-friendly option and don't mind sharing common living areas with other tenants, this could be the match for you. Rent includes utilities, Hi-Speed wifi, air conditioning and laundry.
​
Send me a private message for booking confirmation details.

In just under two weeks, ARMYs will descend upon Singapore to see SUGA! Help an ARMY out and let them know about safety, how to get around, where to eat, tourist attractions, BTS-related things to do, or anything else that you think someone should know when they visit! (Special thanks to the mods for your input and feedback for this guide!)

BTS' Past Visits

Red Bullet Tour (2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II) at the The Star Performing Arts Centre (13 Dec 2014)

• Fancam
• Official photos by Hallyu Singapore
• Official photos of Hi-Five session by Hallyu Singapore. Session was for all Cat 1 VVIP ticket holders ($268), who got a Hi-Five Pass and Concert Poster. The first 100 VVIP ticket holders also got to go up on stage to get a "Dark & Wild" album autographed by BTS.

Music Bank performance (4 Aug 2017) at the Suntec Convention Centre

• Fancam
• Quiz game video
• Outing at the Merlion statue and Singapore flyer: Photos Set 1 Photos Set 2.

Love Yourself World Tour (19 Jan 2019) at the National Stadium
This made history as the first time a K-pop group held a concert at the venue (largest concert venue in the country) and tickets sold out in about 3.5 hours! (45,000 audience)

• Concert review
• Witty notice from the Singapore Police Force abt avoiding ticket scams (it uses the BTS song titles!)
• Bonus: Jimin picked Marina Bay Sands as his special spot in the BTS x Street Galleries collaboration with Google revealed on ARMY Day (July 9) 2022

Concert Venue

Do note that it’s currently the June school holidays too (26 May-26 Jun), so the Sports Hub and surrounding areas may be crowded with many other visitors besides the concert-goers. Please be mindful!

• Singapore Indoor Stadium, right next to the National Stadium (both are part of the Singapore Sports Hub) where BTS performed at their last concert here in 2019. In fact, the Indoor Stadium was then used as the waiting zone for the standing zone ticket-holders.
• Concert guidelines been posted yet (will update here when they are), but here are the general guidelines for events there (links opens a pdf)
• The nearest MRT station is the Stadium station, on the Circle line - here is a train map (with Stadium MRT circled out in light purple). You’ll know when you’ve arrived as the station design is quite unique! Go up the elevator and follow the signage - the path is sheltered.
• You can find Kallang Wave Mall right next to the venue, for a spot of shopping and dining before the concert (opening hrs:10am-10pm daily). There is another smaller mall Leisure Park Kallang located next to the carpark, which houses an ice skating rink, bowling alley and cinema alongside more food options. The open space in front of the MRT station and the two malls is where ARMYs are likely to gather to exchange fan support and stuff
• The nearest hawker centre (i.e the affordable street food) is Old Airport Road Food Centre, one of the oldest and largest hawker centres in the country. It is about 20 mins walk away from the stadium, or you can simply alight at the Mountbatten/Dakota MRT stations (one or two stops away from Stadium MRT station respectively); both are about a 5 mins’ walk away from the food centre. Here is a list of recommendations (unfortunately, not a lot of Halal food stalls here. Let me know if you need those).
• There is also a McDonalds’ & KFC near Mountbatten MRT if you want something more familiar, or potentially try whatever new promo is currently going on at these places.

Sightseeing/Activities

Non-exhaustive list (all prices are in SGD)

• National Gallery Singapore. There is a special Namjooning Tour as part of the Gallery Wellness Festival. Slots are fully booked for the guided tours on 25 & 30 June. You could try the self-guided tours instead, which start on 17 July. Gallery passes for general admission to the permanent galleries (needed to access the tour) cost $20 for non-Singaporeans aged 13-59. Closes early (by 3pm) on some weekends in June and July (see dates on website).
• National Museum Singapore. Has very interactive and engaging exhibits. Highly recommended (I used to be a volunteer docent there for abt a year). Tickets cost from $15 (for access to permanent galleries only)
• Singapore Zoo & adjacent parks (Bird Park, River Wonders, Night Safari). We have one of the best zoos in the world! Single park tickets cost $50. Multi-park options also available. .
• Gardens by the Bay. Pretty gardens with outdoor sections and 2 indoor air-conditioned conservatories - you may have heard of the supertrees that have been featured in the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" and K-drama "Little Women". Provides a welcome respite from the heat. It’s free to visit the outdoor areas, but it’s really worth it to pay for entry to the conservatories. There are various pricing packages, so best to check out the website yourself.
• Singapore Botanical Gardens is our first UNESCO World Heritage site, the first and only tropical botanic garden on the list. Admission is free.
• The Merlion and the Marina Bay area. I personally recommend going at night to see the famed cityscape of Singapore all lit up (the temperature’s cooler too!). Marina Bay Sands Mall has a light and water show every night. There is also the iLight Festival going on now until 25 June with artistic light installations (mix of free and paid attractions). Bonus: Yoongi wore a Merlion Singapore t-shirt in a travel-themed Lotte Xylitol ad!
• You can also ride the Singapore Flyer for an aerial view of our city like the boys did! Admission costs $40.
• Visit our ethnic enclaves, Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Glam and Geylang Serai to see old shophouses, shop for souvenirs and try ethnic food
• One of the fanbases here, BangtanSG, has teased an ARMY event from 11-13 June. Will update when more details are released.
• Sentosa & Universal Studios Singapore theme park - you can access the island via various modes of transport with varying admission fees. Transport within the island is free.
• If you don’t want to think too hard, the best airport in the world for 12 years running is also an attraction in itself! See its dedicated section below for more information.
• Singapore is also located in the centre of Southeast Asia - if you’ve never been in this oft-forgotten region of the world, take the chance to check out our neighbouring countries as well! Malaysia can easily be reached via bus, and Indonesia via ferry.

(Note: You may want to check out Klook for discount tickets/passes)

Dining

Singapore is a food paradise with various cuisines from the local ethnic groups, as well as international ones. For Muslims, there are a lot of Muslim-owned or Halal-certified options around (look for this certificate, or the label “Muslim-owned”), including most of the fast food chains like McDonald’s/KFC/Burger King/Subway.
Carrying some cash with you (~$10 per pax) is a good idea, especially if you’re venturing out to hawker centres; while many places now have an electronic payment system in place, cash is still king in terms of versatility, and anecdotally most stores prefer cash or will charge a credit-card payment surcharge.

Where to eat?

• Most of the malls have a good selection of dining options, ranging from the (relatively affordable) multi-stall foodcourts to fast-food restaurants, cafes, and more upmarket restaurants.
  • It can get crowded during lunchtime (12-2pm) as office workers come out for their break, so try to avoid those hours if possible, or make advance reservations.
  • If you are staying/shopping in Orchard Road, Far East Plaza (level 4 & 5) and Lucky Plaza (multiple levels) have relatively more affordable food options for the area..
  • There’s a myriad of other malls in the suburban areas outside of Orchard to be explored.
• Hawker centres: A “hawker” in Singapore refers to a street food vendor, and in Singapore they’ve been centralised into food centres to create an iconic Singapore dining institution. These places are generally not air-conditioned, but they are the most affordable dining option. If you see an item on a table even if it’s something innocuous like a tissue paper packet or name-card, it means the seat's been reserved (“chop-ed” in the local slang) by people who are off queuing for their food.
  • Look for stalls with the longest lines (the most popular stalls will have long queues all day long), but most stalls should have decent food.
  • Newton Hawker Centre (near Newton MRT station) and Lau Pa Sat (near Telok AyeDowntown/Raffles Place Stations) are probably the most well-known to tourists, but beware of touts and over-charging, especially at Newton.
  • Taking the MRT out to slightly less central areas like Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Kallang, etc. should bring you to other hawker centres that cater to locals.
• Order in: GrabFood and Foodpanda are the two most popular food delivery apps with extensive coverage all around Singapore. Deliveroo is also available. Just be prepared to pay upwards of $5 delivery fee during peak periods, and the listed online prices are usually higher than in-store. The apps also have pick-up available if you’d simply like to order in advance.
• The ethnic enclaves like Kampung Glam (Malay/Muslim), Chinatown and Little India have a higher concentration of the respective ethnic cuisines, but most places in Singapore have a good mix of different local and international cuisines

What to eat?

Breakfast (These are generally very affordable options that should cost you below $10 per person, particularly if you go to food courts/hawker centres)

• Tea/coffee with kaya toast and half-boiled eggs. Available at most hawker centres (usually at the drink stalls), and chains like Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Killiney Kopitiam in malls. Order tea/coffee like a local by referring to this guide.
• Among the fast-food chains, KFC offers the more local option of chicken porridge (congee)
• Roti prata, a south-Indian flatbread (also known as paratha in India, or roti canai in Malaysia), available at most hawker centres and Indian coffee-shops
• Nasi lemak, coconut milk-flavoured rice with a variety of side dishes (usual ones: omelette, fried chicken wing/fried fish, fried anchovies).
• Beehoon, rice vermicelli with a range of toppings like fish cake, luncheon meat (spam), chicken wings, veggies etc.
• Chai Tow Kway (“carrot cake” - it’s actually radish cake), Tau Huey (soya bean curd pudding) + Youtiao (chinese fried dough)
• Mee Rebus, a Malay noodle dish with thick & spicy potato-based gravy topped with hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, fried shallots, tau kwa (fried beancurd) and spring onions

Lunch & dinner

• Chilli crab: I don’t have any personal recommendations, and it could be costly because the crabs are usually charged by weight, which may vary daily. The link gives a run-down of some popular places
• Hainanese chicken rice: Again, no personal recommendations, but you can find this in most foodcourts and hawker centres. You should be able to find one of these for $5 or less.
• Murtabak/Briyani: My favourite is ZamZam Restaurant (est, 1908) at North Bridge Road in the Muslim enclave of Kampung Glam, but there is a whole row of Singapore-Indian restaurants serving a similar menu there
• Everything under the sun :) Google maps & data coverage generally works well in most parts of Singapore, so search & explore! Some sites you can start at include Chope & Burpple.

Snacks

• A must try, it’s sold by any ice cream man you see roaming around with a popup like this
• We have a ton of bubble tea (boba) stores if you’re craving it, you’d probably find a bubble tea store or two within 20mins of walking anywhere. Koi/Gongcha/LiHo are quite standard options, and then there’s others like Playmade/Chichasansen with their own unique points. Here’s a list with 61 of them...
• There’re plenty of 7-11s and convenience stores around, as well as “mama shops” around public residential housing.

Getting Around

Singapore has a great public transport system. It’s really easy & cheap to get around on the MRT (mass rapid transit trains) and buses. Use Google Maps or the City Mapper app to navigate yourself and get route recommendations (the latter also has transport arrival timings and fare estimates. It also works in many cities globally, so is very useful for tourists). Various transport passes are available for tourists, but you can also use your contactless credit cards (Visa and Mastercard) to pay for the fares (no registration required).
In general, using the Circle Line (yellow) or Downtown Line (blue) should get you to most tourist attractions. Orchard Road (main shopping belt) can be accessed via the North South Line (red), between Orchard and Somerset MRT stations. Map for reference, with links to versions in Chinese/Malay/Tamil available for download.
Taxis and ride-hailing cars: We have Grab and Gojek in place of Uber.

• The largest local taxi fleet - the blue Comfort Cabs - also have their own ride-hailing app to compete, although they can also operate via the traditional meter & can be booked via phone call/flagged down as usual. Fares can be paid via cash post-ride or credit card for all these private car options.
• Ride-hailing tends to be very expensive. At peak periods, ride-hailing services could be even more expensive than taxis, but at least you know the price beforehand. All malls have a taxi stand where you can stand in queue and hop on the next available cab. Queues can be long at morning and evening peak periods, so avoid taking cabs then if you can.

General navigation
All signs are in English, and the locals - esp the younger generation - are able to speak English fluently. If you’re really lost, feel free to approach others to ask for help! People are generally friendly and helpful despite initial appearances :)
As a side note: in general, if Google Maps is asking you to circle around a building to get somewhere - don’t. You can cut through most places on the ground floor quite easily, even the residential buildings (unless they’re private properties like condominiums/landed housing). MRT stations are connected to a good number of places via sheltered corridors if they’re nearby enough. Enjoy the aircon & shade instead of walking outside in the heat if you can.

Shopping

• Orchard Road is our main shopping belt, running from Orchard to Somerset MRT stations. You can find many shopping malls there, with collections ranging from upmarket to fast fashion. Check out Design Orchard, a retail space for fashion and lifestyle items by Singapore designers.
• For an old-style emporium experience drop by Mustafa Centre. It used to be open 24 hours but this was disrupted by COVID19 and now it is only open until 2am (best place for late night shopping!). It's not a glitzy mall, but has crowded aisles chock full of all manners of things, including snacks and souvenirs (avoid going on Sundays when it gets super crowded with migrant workers on their day off).
• Already mentioned above are the ethnic enclaves Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Glam and Geylang Serai with smaller standalone shops. Special mention for Haji Lane in the Kampung Glam area, a small street with cute boutiques.
• The many, many other malls scattered across the country - a brief list. For example, Paya Lebar alone (just another station up from Dakota!) is connected to several malls like Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ), PLQ 2, PL Square, Singpost centre, and a couple more within a 5-mins’ walk (Tanjong Katong Complex, City Plaza, KINEX etc.).

Weathewhat to wear

The weather is especially hot these days (max temp of up to 35 degrees celsius, or 95 Fahrenheit), with possible spurts of heavy rain at certain times of day, so dress light and carry an umbrella (most places do have sheltered walkways between buildings and bus-stops/MRT stations though, so don’t worry too much about getting around in the rain). Mall air-conditioning can be cold, so hv another layer (e.g. cardigan/wrap/scarf) on hand. Remember to hydrate frequently & avoid staying outdoors for too long!

Airport

• Singapore Changi Airport is often voted by travellers as the best airport in the world, with lots of shopping, dining and leisure options in the various terminals. BTS (except Jin who took a different flight) stopped over at Changi Airport on the way to New Zealand for Bon Voyage 4 (airport lounge scenes shown in Episode 1)! While you may not have access to the business class lounge like them, there are various other options to rest and hangout, like the many gardens (some even accessible from the public areas) and even a free 24h cinema (Terminal 3 transit area).
• Jewel Changi Airport which is attached to Terminal 1 is an attraction in itself. It's worth arriving 2-3 hours earlier than your flight check-in time to grab a meal and have a look around Jewel. A particular highlight is to take the skytrain between Terminals 2 and 3, cutting across the centre of Jewel, to get a spectacular view of the indoor waterfall. There is also shopping aplenty (Tip: NTUC Fairprice supermarket in Jewel has a nice selection of food and non-food souvenirs which are pretty affordable).
• There are various transport options for getting to the city from the airport. Public transport like MRT is convenient if you are travelling light, else there is a shuttle service to selected downtown hotels. Taxis and ride-hire cars can be expensive, especially with the airport surcharge.
• Sort of related, Yoongi gave a shout out to our national airlines (Singapore Airlines) for its great seat and amenities in business class in BV4! (He said: let's always fly Singapore Airlines in the future!). The airlines must have taken notice, because they recently announced that they would be adding BTS content like songs, MVs, LY New York concert, and Break The Silence docu in their in-flight entertainment system to commemorate BTS' 10th anniversary. An ARMY also spotted a write-up abt BTS in their in-flight magazine.

We’ve tried to achieve a balance between being succinct and informative, but certainly the above info is not exhaustive. So do feel free to ask in the comments below if the info you need is not here! Fellow SG ARMY, or those familiar with Singapore, feel free to chime in!

Race Information

• Name: Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon
• Date: June 4, 2023
• Distance: 13.1 miles
• Location: San Diego, California
• Time: 1:42:16

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Sub 1:45	Yes
B	Negative split	Yes

Splits

Mile	Time
1	7:58
2	7:54
3	7:46
4	7:40
5	7:38
6	7:34
7	7:32
8	7:33
9	7:37
10	7:37
11	7:58
12	7:46
13	7:59
0.1 (was 0.2 on my watch, typical)	1:40

Training

This race coincided with my training cycle for the San Francisco Marathon (in late July) and was the last of three half marathons I had planned before zeroing in on building the miles. While I'm still a fairly new runner (running consistently only since the Santa Monica Classic 10K last September), I took on quite a fair amount of distances (and races) and finishing the LA Marathon back in March. I spent a lot of time figuring out what to do, how to train, and it wasn't until late January (about seven weeks prior to the marathon) that I adopted easy running and long runs and I started seeing some breakthroughs: sub-25:00 in the 5K, sub-55:00 in the 10K, and sub-2:00:00 in the half marathon, all in that month. I got the racing bug and signed up for what was definitely too many races after the marathon was done.
Fast forward to after the marathon, I met and spoke with a running coach and got a training plan from her for the San Francisco Marathon, which I jumped into 2 weeks after the LA Marathon. Training started well, setting a PR at the Carlsbad 5000 with a new 5K PR of 22:53 and base building looked good: the long runs went from 8 miles the first week up to 14 by Week 4. My first major test was at the OC 5K followed by the OC Half Marathon the very next day: I had pushed a bit too hard in the 5K (ran 22:54) and it showed in the half - I had set a goal of 1:45 and a combination of weaving, hills, and fatigue kept me from achieving that, finishing in 1:46:18.
In the weeks that followed, I kept up with at least one run over 10 miles: 6 days later, I ran the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon going at my usual long run pace with a fast finish, and followed that up with an 11 mile long run and then a 15 mile long run. I also snagged a 10K PR on Memorial Day (with a 44:55) on the back of a 45-mile week. I also decided it would be fun to go on a trail run the day before the Rock n' Roll Half, but that was a quick 5K with a big uphill. In hindsight, I definitely should have rested the Saturday before the race as well, but these are the things we learn on the road to improvement.

Pre-Race

I took the Friday before the race off from running and physical activity altogether, so I was feeling rather good; I drove down to San Diego the day before the race to pick up my bib and shirt. The legs felt fine despite the rather high mileage and lack of a taper for this race. I had a good lunch at a nice taco place near Petco Park and a pizza dinner, checked into my hotel and was asleep around 9:30pm to be up a bit before 4am to get ready for the race. Race morning was more or less as planned: got up early, made myself a coffee in the room, drove out to park by the finish line about an hour before the start, and walked about 20 minutes to the start line to drop off my gear. When I approached the start line, I got into my race shoes, dropped off my gear, had my caffeine gummies, and warmed up for 10-15 minutes.

Race

Miles 1-3: I looked for the 3:30 marathon pacer and just tried to stick with him, running just quicker than 8:00/mile. This section was also mostly uphill so I used that as a reminder to hold off on the pace and to trust the pacing. I started with the 2nd corral so I did question if I was going too slow when a few people started passing me and zooming by, but I shrugged them off as late starters. At that point, the pace felt easy, calm, and collected, and I crossed the 5K timing mat in just under 24:30.
Miles 4-6: By this point, I knew the hills would turn into flat, and this was a good opportunity for me to settle into a rhythm and keep good form. I also reminded myself that my first gel would come at mile 5, and it was a little awkward getting it out of my back pocket - but luckily I had practiced that in training. Still, I sped up the pace a little bit to see how I would fare, and I crossed the 10K timing mat in just under 49 minutes.
Miles 7-10: This was where I felt I could use the downhills in my favor. I sped up to 7:35ish pace and it felt comfortable - the half marathoners also split from the full marathoners just after mile 8, and this was where I wondered if I'd be able to push any further. Before hitting 15K, there was quite a steep downhill and my quads definitely felt it: it was a precursor to what I'd feel in the coming miles.
Miles 11-13: There was a steep uphill right after crossing the mile 10 marker and after a few miles of downhill, it was a total shock to the system and my legs really started to feel heavy and I was on the struggle bus to the finish. The course also turned into slight rolling hills (with more downhill than uphill) and the race really turned into a mental battle, but surprisingly, the pace did not significantly slip. The mental battle turned even more difficult as I saw more and more runners peeling off to the side and slowing down to a walk. As I reached Mile 12, however, I really felt my breathing going heavy and being really thirsty so I took some water and Gatorade at the last aid station before the finish. I told myself to just go at the pace of my previous splits and I knew I would PR by a wide margin and not obsess over the sprint finish or lack thereof, so that was what I did. To my surprise, I still managed to keep the pace quicker than 8:00 miles even when I was hurting after Mile 10.

Post-race

It felt like a massive milestone to go below 1:45, after missing out by just over a minute 4 weeks ago and it came to show how far I've come in just 9 months of my running journey. But more than that, I was surprised by how much the race more or less went to plan, despite slowing down a little in miles 11-13. I met a first-timer when I was getting back my gear and lining up for pictures and we shared about our races and running experiences. My next race is the San Francisco Marathon, so I'll be de-loading this week and then building the mileage up to a peak of around 60 miles and doing a two-week taper before the marathon. My next half marathon is in October, where I'll be running the Long Beach Half Marathon: I've learned my lesson to not schedule more than 2 races in a calendar month. Maybe someday, I'll learn my lesson to properly taper for a week before a half marathon.

12 sec ago, Universal Pictures! Here’s options for downloading or watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts streaming the full 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 online for free on 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s & Reddit including where to watch Universal Pictures’ 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 at home. Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 2023 available to stream? Is watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix or Amazon Prime? Yes we have found an authentic streaming option / service. Details on how you can watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3 for free throughout the year are described below.
​
➤►🌍📺📱👉 Click Here To Watch Now Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
​
➤►🌍📺📱👉 Click Here To Download Now Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
​
Now Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts available to stream? Is watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you'll want to make sure you're one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 experience like never before. of our other Marvel 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s available to watch online. We're sure you'll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon! Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for free throughout the year are described
If you're a fan of the comics, you won't want to miss this one! The storyline follows Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Transformers: Rise of the Beastst. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is definitely a Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 you don't want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online streaming is available on our website. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Release in the US
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 Online.MAPPA has decided to air the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, but it does not include 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Hulu?
No, 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy 'Afro Samurai Resurrection' or 'Ninja Scroll.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime's current catalog does not include 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s on Amazon Prime's official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show 'Dororo.'
When Will Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Be on Disney+?
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the latest installment in the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you're looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here's an answer to that question!
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒: Mugen Train.'
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s online. Here we can download and watch 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s offline. 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s website is the best alternative to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts's (2021) free online. We will recommend 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s as the best Solar𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 alternative There are a
few ways to watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU's roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.As
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That's why you see in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, we acknowledge everyone: Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybo****here's also some Easter eggs in there, too.So that's what I meant by the resetting. Maybe resetting' wasn't a good term.only
In addition to being Johnson's DC Universe debut, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is also notable for marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman. The cameo is likely to set up future showdowns between the two characters, but Hodge was completely unaware of it until he saw the film.
“They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn't know until maybe a day or two before the premiere,” he recently said Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2022) FULL𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 ONLINE
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Available On Hulu?Viewers are saying that they want to view the new TV show Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free ****odes of this series streaming at this time. the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Streaming on Disney Plus?
Unfortunately, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is not currently available to stream on Disney Plus and it's not expected that the film will release on Disney Plus until late December at the absolute earliest.
While Disney eventually releases its various studios' films on Disney Plus for subscribers to watch via its streaming platform, most major releases don't arrive on Disney Plus until at least 45-60 days after the film's theatrical release.
The sequel opened to $150 million internationally, which Disney reports is 4% ahead of the first film when comparing like for likes at current exchange rates. Overall, the global cume comes to $330 million. Can it become the year's third film to make it past $1 billion worldwide despite China and Russia, which made up around $124 million of the first film's $682 million international box office, being out of play? It may be tough, but it's not impossible. Legging out past $500 million is plausible on the domestic front (that would be a multiplier of at least 2.7), and another $500 million abroad would be a drop of around $58 million from the original after excluding the two MIA markets. It'd be another story if audiences didn't love the film,but the positive reception suggests that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will outperform the legs on this year's earlier MCU titles (Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder had multipliers of 2.2 and 2.3 respectively).
As for the rest of the box office, there's little to get excited about, with nothing else grossing above $10 million as Hollywood shied away from releasing anything significant not just this weekend but also over the previous two weekends. When Black Panther opened in 2018, there was no counterprogramming that opened the same weekend, but Peter Rabbit and Fifty Shades Freed were in their second weekends and took second and third with $17.5 million and $17.3 million respectively. That weekend had an overall cume of $287 million compared to $208 million this weekend Take away the $22 million gap between the two Black Panther films and there's still a $57 million gap between the two weekends. The difference may not feel that large when a mega blockbuster is propping up the grosses,but the contrast is harsher when the mid-level films are the entire box office as we saw in recent months.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is the biggest grosser of the rough post-summer, pre-Transformers: Rise of the Beasts season, came in second with just $8.6 million. Despite the blockbuster competition that arrived in its fourth weekend, the numbers didn't totally collapse, dropping 53 % for a cume of $151 million. Worldwide it is at $352 million, which isn't a great cume as the grosses start to wind down considering its $200 million budget. Still, it's the biggest of any film since Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, though Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will overtake it any day now.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts came in third place in its fourth weekend, down 29% with $6.1 million, emerging as one of the season's most durable grossers and one of the year's few bright spots when it comes to films for adults. The domestic cume is $56.5 million Fourth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which had a negligible drop of 5% for a $3.2 million sixth weekend and $40.8 million cume., in fact )
, which isn't surprising considering it's the only family film on the market, and it's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts to grossing four times its $11.4 million opening. Still, the $72.6 million worldwide cume is soft given the $50 million budget , though a number of international markets have yet to open.
Finishing up the top five is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which had its biggest weekend drop yet, falling 42% for a $2.3 million seventh weekend. Of course, that's no reason to frown for the horror film, which has a domestic cume of $103 million and global cume of $ 210 million from a budget of just $20 million. asdfsdf

12 sec ago, Universal Pictures! Here’s options for downloading or watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts streaming the full 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 online for free on 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s & Reddit including where to watch Universal Pictures’ 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 at home. Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 2023 available to stream? Is watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix or Amazon Prime? Yes we have found an authentic streaming option / service. Details on how you can watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3 for free throughout the year are described below.
​
➤►🌍📺📱👉 Click Here To Watch Now Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
​
➤►🌍📺📱👉 Click Here To Download Now Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
​
Now Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts available to stream? Is watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you'll want to make sure you're one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 experience like never before. of our other Marvel 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s available to watch online. We're sure you'll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon! Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for free throughout the year are described
If you're a fan of the comics, you won't want to miss this one! The storyline follows Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Transformers: Rise of the Beastst. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is definitely a Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 you don't want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online streaming is available on our website. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Release in the US
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 Online.MAPPA has decided to air the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, but it does not include 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Hulu?
No, 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy 'Afro Samurai Resurrection' or 'Ninja Scroll.'
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime's current catalog does not include 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s on Amazon Prime's official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show 'Dororo.'
When Will Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Be on Disney+?
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the latest installment in the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you're looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here's an answer to that question!
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒: Mugen Train.'
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s online. Here we can download and watch 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s offline. 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s website is the best alternative to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts's (2021) free online. We will recommend 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s as the best Solar𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 alternative There are a
few ways to watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU's roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.As
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That's why you see in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, we acknowledge everyone: Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybo****here's also some Easter eggs in there, too.So that's what I meant by the resetting. Maybe resetting' wasn't a good term.only
In addition to being Johnson's DC Universe debut, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is also notable for marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman. The cameo is likely to set up future showdowns between the two characters, but Hodge was completely unaware of it until he saw the film.
“They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn't know until maybe a day or two before the premiere,” he recently said Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2022) FULL𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 ONLINE
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Available On Hulu?Viewers are saying that they want to view the new TV show Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free ****odes of this series streaming at this time. the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Streaming on Disney Plus?
Unfortunately, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is not currently available to stream on Disney Plus and it's not expected that the film will release on Disney Plus until late December at the absolute earliest.
While Disney eventually releases its various studios' films on Disney Plus for subscribers to watch via its streaming platform, most major releases don't arrive on Disney Plus until at least 45-60 days after the film's theatrical release.
The sequel opened to $150 million internationally, which Disney reports is 4% ahead of the first film when comparing like for likes at current exchange rates. Overall, the global cume comes to $330 million. Can it become the year's third film to make it past $1 billion worldwide despite China and Russia, which made up around $124 million of the first film's $682 million international box office, being out of play? It may be tough, but it's not impossible. Legging out past $500 million is plausible on the domestic front (that would be a multiplier of at least 2.7), and another $500 million abroad would be a drop of around $58 million from the original after excluding the two MIA markets. It'd be another story if audiences didn't love the film,but the positive reception suggests that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will outperform the legs on this year's earlier MCU titles (Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder had multipliers of 2.2 and 2.3 respectively).
As for the rest of the box office, there's little to get excited about, with nothing else grossing above $10 million as Hollywood shied away from releasing anything significant not just this weekend but also over the previous two weekends. When Black Panther opened in 2018, there was no counterprogramming that opened the same weekend, but Peter Rabbit and Fifty Shades Freed were in their second weekends and took second and third with $17.5 million and $17.3 million respectively. That weekend had an overall cume of $287 million compared to $208 million this weekend Take away the $22 million gap between the two Black Panther films and there's still a $57 million gap between the two weekends. The difference may not feel that large when a mega blockbuster is propping up the grosses,but the contrast is harsher when the mid-level films are the entire box office as we saw in recent months.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is the biggest grosser of the rough post-summer, pre-Transformers: Rise of the Beasts season, came in second with just $8.6 million. Despite the blockbuster competition that arrived in its fourth weekend, the numbers didn't totally collapse, dropping 53 % for a cume of $151 million. Worldwide it is at $352 million, which isn't a great cume as the grosses start to wind down considering its $200 million budget. Still, it's the biggest of any film since Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, though Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will overtake it any day now.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts came in third place in its fourth weekend, down 29% with $6.1 million, emerging as one of the season's most durable grossers and one of the year's few bright spots when it comes to films for adults. The domestic cume is $56.5 million Fourth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which had a negligible drop of 5% for a $3.2 million sixth weekend and $40.8 million cume., in fact )
, which isn't surprising considering it's the only family film on the market, and it's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts to grossing four times its $11.4 million opening. Still, the $72.6 million worldwide cume is soft given the $50 million budget , though a number of international markets have yet to open.
Finishing up the top five is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which had its biggest weekend drop yet, falling 42% for a $2.3 million seventh weekend. Of course, that's no reason to frown for the horror film, which has a domestic cume of $103 million and global cume of $ 210 million from a budget of just $20 million.

My wife and I are visiting CR in a couple of weeks. We are arriving Saturday, spending Sunday in San Jose and then spending Monday through Friday at a resort near Manuel Antonio. We want to head back towards San José on Friday night so we don't have to drive 3 hours on the day of our flight home but our flight isn't until 8 at night so we'll have at least the morning and early afternoon to do something. I haven't booked a place to stay Friday night yet. Any ideas for a place to stay and an activity we could fit in before we have to get to the airport and head home? Thanks, I appreciate any insight.

Source from KTLA 5
YT Video From KCal News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHOE1djabAA
Didn't see much update on this case or anything else posted on the internet or reddit. So I decided to post here for outreach as a SoCal Resident.
Best wishes to all loved ones affected by this. R.I.P Nitesh, Thank you for your service.
TLDR
A San Bernardino man who was a reservist for the U.S. Army was found shot to death outside an apartment. 24 yr old Nitesh Kumar was shot to death after dropping off a co-worker in San Bernardino CA near Sierra Way near 46th Street apartment complex. Click the hyperlink to see the street view of the apartment complex in google maps
It does look like this was a case of mistaken identity according to Kumar's cousin. Its been almost over 4 years with no trace or update. This is Kind of sad considering this case is newer and with today's tech, hopefully some security camera or some kind of location service tracking could have cracked this case or gave some kind of insight.
What do you think could have happened? Discuss below!
Full Story:
Police are searching for whoever fatally shot a man found in front of an apartment building in San Bernardino Monday night. [August 2019]
Witnesses reported hearing about three to five gunshots in the 4500 block of North Sierra Way around 10:50 p.m.
Arriving officers found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound, the San Bernardino Police Department stated in a news release.
The victim, identified by police as 24-year-old Nitesh Kumar, was pronounced dead at the scene.
San Manuel Casino said Nitesh worked at the Highland gambling destination.
Witnesses said the gunman pulled up alongside Kumar’s parked vehicle and fired through his driver’s side window before driving away.
Investigators have not confirmed any details about the shooting.
No vehicle or suspect descriptions were immediately available and there was no word on what may have prompted the shooting.
Anyone with information was asked to call the San Bernardino Police Department at 909-384-5724.

https://www.kens5.com/article/sports/nba/spurs/vegas-oddsmaker-projects-spurs-finish-near-bottom-nba-standings-2023-24-season-san-antonio/273-931778ab-e3fd-47eb-98ab-884f5744ea55

Hi ShopifyeCommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: Apple's App Store ecosystem generated $1.1 trillion in revenue in 2022. 90% was commission-free and the remainder Apple took a 15% to 30% commission. This $1.1 trillion breaks down as $910 billion in total billings and sales from the sale of physical goods and services, $109 billion from in-app advertising and $104 billion for digital goods and services. .
2. Shopify officially launched Shop Cash, its rewards program that earns shoppers 1% cashback on purchases made using the Shop Pay payment method. After a purchase, shoppers will see their Shop Cash rewards balance appear in their Shop App. The rewards are redeemable for future purchases within Shop App, currently just for customers and stores in the U.S. Shop Cash redemption is not limited to JUST the store that a customer purchased from. The rewards are tied to the payment method (Shop Pay), not to the store itself, and can be used on any U.S. store within the Shopify ecosystem. .
3. Last week Reddit announced a significant increase to its API pricing, which will inevitably put most 3rd party apps out of business. Other apps affected by the pricing change include Reddit is Fun (my personal favorite), Relay for Reddit, Bacon Reader, and more. Additionally, under the new API rules, developers of third-party clients won’t be able to earn money from ads or be able to show NSFW content within their apps. Their only option for monetization will be to hope that users are willing to pay a monthly subscription to their app, despite not getting access to some of Reddit's content. Moderators wrote an open letter to Reddit management, urging them to reconsider the recent API pricing change, which has been signed by thousands of users and moderators and shared across hundreds of subreddits. Many subreddits are planning to go dark on June 12th for 48 hours or longer (some permanently) to protest the policy — which means turning their subreddit private and not making its content available to the public. .
4. Walmart announced its initiatives to reduce its use of plastic in its online business and reduce waste, plans which include replacing nearly all its plastic mailers with paper mailers, "rightsizing" its cardboard box packaging to reduce packing waste, giving customers the ability to request consolidation of multiple items into fewer boxes, and later this year giving customers the ability to opt-out of single use plastic bags used in online pick-up orders across the U.S. Amazon has offered similar shipment consolidation features for quite some time, including allowing users choose an Amazon Day, where members pick a day of the week to have all their items delivered at once. .
5. Amazon is making a big change at its warehouses to ensure that customers receive products in good condition. The company will soon begin employing AI to check items before they are shipped to ensure that they are of good quality before leaving the facility. The AI inspection happens during the picking and packing stage. As items are selected and put into bins for orders, they go through an imaging station where they are checked for accuracy. If an item is flagged as damaged, a human worker takes a closer look. Otherwise, it moves on to the packing stage and gets shipped to the customer. The AI system is reportedly three times better than a human worker at identifying damaged items, and it never has to use the bathroom. .
6. India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has expanded to facilitate B2B transactions. The B2B transactions on ONDC are being powered by tech startups SignCatch, a SaaS payments startup, and Rapidor, a business automation platform, which have jointly enabled both the B2B buyer and seller side platforms on the network, allowing interoperability between both sides The ONDC team said it has other startups in the pipeline for its B2B expansion, including the rural fintech company Spice Money. .
7. Shopify is facing a $130M class-action lawsuit over severance offered to recently laid off staff. The lawsuit alleges that some Shopify employees laid off at the start of May were presented with departure packages outlining hefty severance sums they were entitled to if they signed the agreement within a few days. However once workers signed the agreements, Shopify changed the terms and the employees were given substantially smaller sums. .
8. Twitter is also being sued by former employees — this time by former janitors from its New York City offices. The suit alleges that Twitter violated city law when janitors were abruptly fired in December after the Elon Musk takeover, violating the Displaced Building Service Workers Protection Act by failing to retain the janitors after terminating the contract. The lawsuit is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages for the former workers. .
9. Amazon, along with four other companies selected, built a prototype for the digital euro's application in e-commerce payments, after the ECB called on front-end providers in the EU payment market to contribute ideas and build applications. Amazon is also optimistic about the project and welcomes the introduction of the digital euro. The company said, “We at Amazon believe a digital euro can be a tool to foster innovation and increase the efficiency of payments.” The European Commission is due to publish a bill in June that covers digital euro privacy safeguards and other major issues. .
10. ShipStation released a study that reveals the factors that deter e-commerce customers. The “Exploring the Nuances in E-Commerce” guide includes a survey of over 3,000 customers and 600 online merchants across six markets, and examines the deterrents of consumer loyalty in e-commerce. 90% of Australian consumers state that a lack of suitable delivery options can influence whether they abandon their cart at the online checkout. 30% indicate they will often or always abandon their cart if their desired delivery option is not offered. However merchants seem to be ignorant to the above stats. 38% of Australian merchants believe a lack of delivery options offered at the checkout ‘never’ prevents consumers from finalizing their purchase. >
11. Etsy announced an update to its listing process for sellers to add new listings or edit existing ones. With the new listings form, sellers can navigate sections faster and more efficiently, access the new performance tab to see performance data and reviews for the listing, and keep track of edits via a change summary in the footer. .
12. Last week approximately 2,000 Amazon employees staged a walkout to protest Amazon corporate's decision to bring employees back into the office, and Amazon couldn't have cared less. Company spokesperson Brad Glasser told Fortune, that since the return-to-office mandate went into effect “there’s more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we’ve heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices.” .
13. A husband-and-wife team of eBay sellers put bubble wrap companies to the test to find out whether the sizing on their labels were accurate. One brand which advertised 700 feet on the label only shipped around 400 feet, while the best experience was from a 1050 feet role delivering 1020 feet. .
14. Wix issued its second Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, which demonstrates the company's efforts towards building a more sustainable and inclusive business and shares new initiatives to its approach to a responsible ESG framework. Co-founder and CEO, Avishai Abrahami, said, “We're here to make a difference and, ultimately, create a better world for everyone, and with today's decisions we're solidifying our foundation – for our users, our people and our company – for the next decade of success for Wix.” .
15. Walmart added the ability for sellers to purchase shipping labels for domestic orders on its marketplace, a feature that was previously only available on cross-border orders. Walmart also announced Automated Shipping Settings, which automatically generates transit times based on your warehouse zip code, carrier service, and customer's address. .
16. Moneris, a Canadian provider of payment solutions for mobile, online, and brick-and-mortar businesses, partnered with Wix to power its in-house website builder. Businesses using Moneris Online will have access to Wix's product offerings including bookings, online ordering, commerce and business solutions, and security infrastructure. .
17. Amazon plans to hire 1,000 seasonal workers across Australia in preparation for its busy mid-year sales period. The company has opened applications for temporary roles at fulfillment centers and logistics sites across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide in an attempt to get ahead of the holiday season rush. .
18. Binance is rumored to be laying off as much as 20% of its 8,000 employee workforce, according to a tweet by independent reporter Colin Wu. A company spokesperson responded with a statement saying that “this not a case of rightsizing” but a focus on “whether we have the right talent”, as the company says it'll still be seeking to fill hundreds of open roles. .
19. Shein is hiring a U.S. head of logistics who will serve as a liaison between the company's U.S. and Singapore headquarters, according to a LinkedIn job posting, as part of its plan to bolster compliance and logistics execs ahead of its U.S. marketplace. The company is also hiring an anti-money laundering and compliance executive and a number of U.S. marketplace personnel. .
20. commercetools, a provider of composable commerce, appointed Roxana Dobrescu as its first Chief People Officer. Dobrescu, who brings two decades of corporate human resources and talent acquisition experience to the company, will lead global personnel efforts. .
21. Companies are pulling back on their fulfillment plans including American Eagle, who announced last year that it was building out 3PL capabilities after acquiring two logistics firms, however recently trimmed its logistics workforce, stating that the unit's services had not met expectations. Blue Apron, another example, opened two distribution centers and added 1,200 workers to assemble its boxes of fresh goods, but are now selling its logistics assets to FreshRealm, which makes meal kits for Kroger, Publix, Walmart, and other grocers. .
22. Meesho, the Facebook-backed Indian e-commerce marketplace that offers the lowest seller commission in the country, has become the world's fastest shopping app to cross 500M downloads across Google Play and iOS, reaching the milestone in just six years. Over half of those downloads (274M) came in 2022. .
23. Amazon is in talks with all major U.S. wireless carriers about a potential partnership to offer cheap or free cell phone service to Prime members. So far there are no details on what Amazon's wireless service would look like, including whether it would offer the same level of service or Internet speeds as you'd get going directly through Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T. .
24. Twitter is hiring NBCUniversal's senior executive Joe Benarroch in a role focusing on business operations. At NBCUniversal, Benarroch was executive VP of communications, global advertising and partnerships. .
25. Molson Hart, a reporter who famously wrote about how Amazon's business practices harm American consumers in 2019, shared on Twitter that Amazon lawyers “are trying to ruin me.” In an attempt to prove that Molson is either lying or wrong, the company has requested countless documents in discovery and requested more than two full days of depositions from the reporter, while putting him in a position to cover a mountain legal bills through 2026. .
26. Last week I reported that Jeff Bezos is ripped now. Well it turns out that Mark Zuckerberg is too! The Meta CEO impressed his followers by completing the Murph challenge, which involves running one mile, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and concluding with another mile run, while wearing a 20lb weighted pack, in under 40 minutes. .
27. Amazon is winding down its celebrity voices initiative on Echo devices, which included voices from Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, and Shaquille O'Neal. Customers will be able to continue using the voices for a limited time and then can contact Amazon for a refund. .
28. Juni is launching a new feature called Juni Invoices, which offers a “buy media, pay later” model that allows online retailers to choose between 30, 60, and 90 days to pay their media invoices. The platform will auto-collect and scan invoices via integration with Google and Facebook Ads and automatically match each invoice with its corresponding transaction to reduce processing time. .
29. Google made several updates to Google Wallet, focusing on health care and travel services, with potential use cases for personal identification and airline boarding. The upgrades arrive to compete with Apple Pay, which began offering consumers a hub for their virtual payments cards along with authentication services. Now how about offering a 4.15% interest bearing savings account? .
30. Meta is planning to cut another 1,200 jobs across California, with 528 coming from the company's Menlo Park headquarters. The company also announced that it will require office-assigned staff to return to in-person work for at least three days a week starting Sep 5th. .
31. Klaviyo launched an integration with Amazon's Buy With Prime service, which lets Klaviyo users sync their order and customer data with their Klaviyo account. Business are able to see a single, real-time view of their customers, conversions, and revenue through Klaviyo's platform. .
32. Plus 8 seed rounds, IPOs, and aquisitions of interest including SellerX's acquisition of fellow e-commerce aggregator Elevate Brands.

For more details on each story, see the full edition: https://www.shopifreaks.com/reddit-is-outraged-shopify-offers-cashback/
What else is new in e-commerce? Share stories of interesting in the comments below (including in your own business) or on shopifreaks.
I'll be dark next week in support of the protest against Reddit's API changes, so I'll see ya in a few weeks!
-PAUL

Hi ecommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry pretty closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: Apple's App Store ecosystem generated $1.1 trillion in revenue in 2022. 90% was commission-free and the remainder Apple took a 15% to 30% commission. This $1.1 trillion breaks down as $910 billion in total billings and sales from the sale of physical goods and services, $109 billion from in-app advertising and $104 billion for digital goods and services. .
2. Shopify officially launched Shop Cash, its rewards program that earns shoppers 1% cashback on purchases made using the Shop Pay payment method. After a purchase, shoppers will see their Shop Cash rewards balance appear in their Shop App. The rewards are redeemable for future purchases within Shop App, currently just for customers and stores in the U.S. Shop Cash redemption is not limited to JUST the store that a customer purchased from. The rewards are tied to the payment method (Shop Pay), not to the store itself, and can be used on any U.S. store within the Shopify ecosystem. .
3. Last week Reddit announced a significant increase to its API pricing, which will inevitably put most 3rd party apps out of business. Other apps affected by the pricing change include Reddit is Fun (my personal favorite), Relay for Reddit, Bacon Reader, and more. Additionally, under the new API rules, developers of third-party clients won’t be able to earn money from ads or be able to show NSFW content within their apps. Their only option for monetization will be to hope that users are willing to pay a monthly subscription to their app, despite not getting access to some of Reddit's content. Moderators wrote an open letter to Reddit management, urging them to reconsider the recent API pricing change, which has been signed by thousands of users and moderators and shared across hundreds of subreddits. Many subreddits are planning to go dark on June 12th for 48 hours or longer (some permanently) to protest the policy — which means turning their subreddit private and not making its content available to the public. .
4. Walmart announced its initiatives to reduce its use of plastic in its online business and reduce waste, plans which include replacing nearly all its plastic mailers with paper mailers, "rightsizing" its cardboard box packaging to reduce packing waste, giving customers the ability to request consolidation of multiple items into fewer boxes, and later this year giving customers the ability to opt-out of single use plastic bags used in online pick-up orders across the U.S. Amazon has offered similar shipment consolidation features for quite some time, including allowing users choose an Amazon Day, where members pick a day of the week to have all their items delivered at once. .
5. Amazon is making a big change at its warehouses to ensure that customers receive products in good condition. The company will soon begin employing AI to check items before they are shipped to ensure that they are of good quality before leaving the facility. The AI inspection happens during the picking and packing stage. As items are selected and put into bins for orders, they go through an imaging station where they are checked for accuracy. If an item is flagged as damaged, a human worker takes a closer look. Otherwise, it moves on to the packing stage and gets shipped to the customer. The AI system is reportedly three times better than a human worker at identifying damaged items, and it never has to use the bathroom. .
6. India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has expanded to facilitate B2B transactions. The B2B transactions on ONDC are being powered by tech startups SignCatch, a SaaS payments startup, and Rapidor, a business automation platform, which have jointly enabled both the B2B buyer and seller side platforms on the network, allowing interoperability between both sides The ONDC team said it has other startups in the pipeline for its B2B expansion, including the rural fintech company Spice Money. .
7. Shopify is facing a $130M class-action lawsuit over severance offered to recently laid off staff. The lawsuit alleges that some Shopify employees laid off at the start of May were presented with departure packages outlining hefty severance sums they were entitled to if they signed the agreement within a few days. However once workers signed the agreements, Shopify changed the terms and the employees were given substantially smaller sums. .
8. Twitter is also being sued by former employees — this time by former janitors from its New York City offices. The suit alleges that Twitter violated city law when janitors were abruptly fired in December after the Elon Musk takeover, violating the Displaced Building Service Workers Protection Act by failing to retain the janitors after terminating the contract. The lawsuit is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages for the former workers. .
9. Amazon, along with four other companies selected, built a prototype for the digital euro's application in e-commerce payments, after the ECB called on front-end providers in the EU payment market to contribute ideas and build applications. Amazon is also optimistic about the project and welcomes the introduction of the digital euro. The company said, “We at Amazon believe a digital euro can be a tool to foster innovation and increase the efficiency of payments.” The European Commission is due to publish a bill in June that covers digital euro privacy safeguards and other major issues. .
10. ShipStation released a study that reveals the factors that deter e-commerce customers. The “Exploring the Nuances in E-Commerce” guide includes a survey of over 3,000 customers and 600 online merchants across six markets, and examines the deterrents of consumer loyalty in e-commerce. 90% of Australian consumers state that a lack of suitable delivery options can influence whether they abandon their cart at the online checkout. 30% indicate they will often or always abandon their cart if their desired delivery option is not offered. However merchants seem to be ignorant to the above stats. 38% of Australian merchants believe a lack of delivery options offered at the checkout ‘never’ prevents consumers from finalizing their purchase. >
11. Etsy announced an update to its listing process for sellers to add new listings or edit existing ones. With the new listings form, sellers can navigate sections faster and more efficiently, access the new performance tab to see performance data and reviews for the listing, and keep track of edits via a change summary in the footer. .
12. Last week approximately 2,000 Amazon employees staged a walkout to protest Amazon corporate's decision to bring employees back into the office, and Amazon couldn't have cared less. Company spokesperson Brad Glasser told Fortune, that since the return-to-office mandate went into effect “there’s more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we’ve heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices.” .
13. A husband-and-wife team of eBay sellers put bubble wrap companies to the test to find out whether the sizing on their labels were accurate. One brand which advertised 700 feet on the label only shipped around 400 feet, while the best experience was from a 1050 feet role delivering 1020 feet. .
14. Wix issued its second Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, which demonstrates the company's efforts towards building a more sustainable and inclusive business and shares new initiatives to its approach to a responsible ESG framework. Co-founder and CEO, Avishai Abrahami, said, “We're here to make a difference and, ultimately, create a better world for everyone, and with today's decisions we're solidifying our foundation – for our users, our people and our company – for the next decade of success for Wix.” .
15. Walmart added the ability for sellers to purchase shipping labels for domestic orders on its marketplace, a feature that was previously only available on cross-border orders. Walmart also announced Automated Shipping Settings, which automatically generates transit times based on your warehouse zip code, carrier service, and customer's address. .
16. Moneris, a Canadian provider of payment solutions for mobile, online, and brick-and-mortar businesses, partnered with Wix to power its in-house website builder. Businesses using Moneris Online will have access to Wix's product offerings including bookings, online ordering, commerce and business solutions, and security infrastructure. .
17. Amazon plans to hire 1,000 seasonal workers across Australia in preparation for its busy mid-year sales period. The company has opened applications for temporary roles at fulfillment centers and logistics sites across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide in an attempt to get ahead of the holiday season rush. .
18. Binance is rumored to be laying off as much as 20% of its 8,000 employee workforce, according to a tweet by independent reporter Colin Wu. A company spokesperson responded with a statement saying that “this not a case of rightsizing” but a focus on “whether we have the right talent”, as the company says it'll still be seeking to fill hundreds of open roles. .
19. Shein is hiring a U.S. head of logistics who will serve as a liaison between the company's U.S. and Singapore headquarters, according to a LinkedIn job posting, as part of its plan to bolster compliance and logistics execs ahead of its U.S. marketplace. The company is also hiring an anti-money laundering and compliance executive and a number of U.S. marketplace personnel. .
20. commercetools, a provider of composable commerce, appointed Roxana Dobrescu as its first Chief People Officer. Dobrescu, who brings two decades of corporate human resources and talent acquisition experience to the company, will lead global personnel efforts. .
21. Companies are pulling back on their fulfillment plans including American Eagle, who announced last year that it was building out 3PL capabilities after acquiring two logistics firms, however recently trimmed its logistics workforce, stating that the unit's services had not met expectations. Blue Apron, another example, opened two distribution centers and added 1,200 workers to assemble its boxes of fresh goods, but are now selling its logistics assets to FreshRealm, which makes meal kits for Kroger, Publix, Walmart, and other grocers. .
22. Meesho, the Facebook-backed Indian e-commerce marketplace that offers the lowest seller commission in the country, has become the world's fastest shopping app to cross 500M downloads across Google Play and iOS, reaching the milestone in just six years. Over half of those downloads (274M) came in 2022. .
23. Amazon is in talks with all major U.S. wireless carriers about a potential partnership to offer cheap or free cell phone service to Prime members. So far there are no details on what Amazon's wireless service would look like, including whether it would offer the same level of service or Internet speeds as you'd get going directly through Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T. .
24. Twitter is hiring NBCUniversal's senior executive Joe Benarroch in a role focusing on business operations. At NBCUniversal, Benarroch was executive VP of communications, global advertising and partnerships. .
25. Molson Hart, a reporter who famously wrote about how Amazon's business practices harm American consumers in 2019, shared on Twitter that Amazon lawyers “are trying to ruin me.” In an attempt to prove that Molson is either lying or wrong, the company has requested countless documents in discovery and requested more than two full days of depositions from the reporter, while putting him in a position to cover a mountain legal bills through 2026. .
26. Last week I reported that Jeff Bezos is ripped now. Well it turns out that Mark Zuckerberg is too! The Meta CEO impressed his followers by completing the Murph challenge, which involves running one mile, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and concluding with another mile run, while wearing a 20lb weighted pack, in under 40 minutes. .
27. Amazon is winding down its celebrity voices initiative on Echo devices, which included voices from Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, and Shaquille O'Neal. Customers will be able to continue using the voices for a limited time and then can contact Amazon for a refund. .
28. Juni is launching a new feature called Juni Invoices, which offers a “buy media, pay later” model that allows online retailers to choose between 30, 60, and 90 days to pay their media invoices. The platform will auto-collect and scan invoices via integration with Google and Facebook Ads and automatically match each invoice with its corresponding transaction to reduce processing time. .
29. Google made several updates to Google Wallet, focusing on health care and travel services, with potential use cases for personal identification and airline boarding. The upgrades arrive to compete with Apple Pay, which began offering consumers a hub for their virtual payments cards along with authentication services. Now how about offering a 4.15% interest bearing savings account? .
30. Meta is planning to cut another 1,200 jobs across California, with 528 coming from the company's Menlo Park headquarters. The company also announced that it will require office-assigned staff to return to in-person work for at least three days a week starting Sep 5th. .
31. Klaviyo launched an integration with Amazon's Buy With Prime service, which lets Klaviyo users sync their order and customer data with their Klaviyo account. Business are able to see a single, real-time view of their customers, conversions, and revenue through Klaviyo's platform. .
32. Plus 8 seed rounds, IPOs, and aquisitions of interest including SellerX's acquisition of fellow e-commerce aggregator Elevate Brands.

I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week! (Unless ecommerce is dark in protest of the Reddit API changes. In that case, I'll see ya when I see ya!)
PAUL

Governor tweets ‘You small, pathetic man … Kidnapping charges?’, directed at DeSantis after migrants left outside Sacramento church
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/05/california-florida-migrants-sacramento
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, on Monday branded his rightwing Republican Florida counterpart, Ron DeSantis, a “small, pathetic man”, and appeared to threaten kidnapping charges for an episode in which a group of migrants was dumped at a Sacramento church.
Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, said in a statement that 16 South Americans abandoned outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento on Friday were “in possession of documentation purporting to be from the state of Florida”, and may have been duped into boarding charter flights via New Mexico after entering the US in Texas.
The episode has parallels to what critics called a similar “soulless” stunt orchestrated by DeSantis last year in which his administration abandoned several dozen mostly Venezuelan migrants in Martha’s Vineyard.
Newsom, in a tweet posted Monday lunchtime directed at DeSantis, said: “You small, pathetic man. This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?” and linked to a section of California’s penal code stating anybody who “abducts or takes by force or fraud” a person found within the state “is guilty of kidnapping”.
Bonta, meanwhile, also said Florida was guilty of “state-sanctioned kidnapping” if it was found to be behind the flights, which the documents reportedly show were operated by the Vertol Systems Co, the same contractor hired last year by Florida’s department of emergency management to move migrants from Texas to Massachusetts for $1.6m.
“While we continue to collect evidence, I want to say this very clearly: state-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting,” Bonta said in the statement, adding that he was “evaluating” whether violations of civil or criminal law had taken place.
Lawyers for the migrants caught up in DeSantis’s stunt last September were on the ground in Sacramento on Monday, and say the circumstances are nearly identical, with the group having been promised accommodation, jobs and clothing that never materialized, and with no advance notice to social services.
“We’re trying to establish what exactly they were told when they boarded the flights,” said Oren Sellstrom, litigation director of Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights.
“There are a number of needs people have when they’re abandoned like this, food and shelter, but also legal assistance, and there needs to be immediate legal action to ensure their federal immigration proceedings are not compromised by this political stunt.
“This kind of conduct is reprehensible, morally repugnant and also illegal. To the extent the individuals flown to California had the same kind of fraud and misrepresentation visited upon them that we saw with our Martha’s Vineyard clients, we fully intend to hold Governor DeSantis and his co-conspirators accountable in a court of law.”
The community group Sacramento area congregations together (ACT) has been assisting the migrants, who are mostly Colombian and Venezuelan, with immediate needs. Cecilia Flores, spokesperson for ACT, said the group was taken to the church by bus and dumped there.
“They started out, ‘What city is this? What state are we in?’” Flores told CNN.
“According to them, they they got off of the bus, the person who was driving rang the doorbell of the building and told them they would be right back, and the bus pulled away and never came back.
“One of the migrants attempted to reach them because they did have a contact number. They said that the person told them they’ll be right there to get you, never specifying who was coming to get them. They continued to try to reach this person [but] their cellphone no longer was working.”
The allegation of deceit mirrors that of the Martha’s Vineyard episode, in which a former US army medic, Perla Huerta, was allegedly hired to lure migrants onto planes in Texas chartered by the DeSantis administration to protest Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
According to several of the migrants, Huerta showed up at a McDonald’s in San Antonio, offering gift cards and promising shelter and jobs in Boston, before the group was dumped without notice in the affluent community.
Lawyers for the migrants subsequently filed a lawsuit.
Rightwinger DeSantis, the leading challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, has ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent months, and earlier this year persuaded the Florida legislature to approve an expansion to his “unauthorized alien transport program” to Democrat-led cities and states.
Supporters have lauded the program, some selling souvenirs such as T-shirts, drinks glasses and car decals bearing the mocking maxim “DeSantis Airlines: Bringing the border to you”.
DeSantis’s media team did not respond to a request from the Guardian for comment.
Newsom’s tweet on Monday is not the first time the rising Democratic star has niggled DeSantis. Last July, while running for re-election, Newsom aired television ads in Florida urging residents to stand up to DeSantis’s attacks on freedom or consider moving to California.
Their feud reignited in April when Newson decried efforts to reshape Florida’s higher education system into a more conservative model, accusing DeSantis during a visit to his state of “weakness masquerading as strength across the board”.

Looking for Around the Horn?
Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 10 of baseball Power Rankings: Happy first Monday of June, everyone! Hopefully you've paid your rent, paid your bills, and sent us our monthly check to keep your favorite team higher than they deserve. Have a fabulous Monday!
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
New Voter Chance: Are you a fan of the Dodgers? We received tepid response last week and are still looking for a new Dodgers voter. I'll be reaching out to Dodgers shortly to help with the search. -- apologies for the delay. Check out this link to see how to apply!
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 29 of 29. Technically a perfect vote?

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Rays	0	Why replace writers with AI when the Rays bullpen has proven to be the most cost efficient way to generate drama in 2023? The team doing so well makes it hard to complain, but Jason Adam also makes it so easy, yanno? Happy pride month y'all! In other positive news, Glasnow has looked good if not otherworldly in his return, he'll look to continue finding his groove. Yandy Diaz also hit a quintessential little league homerun, which should make everyone everywhere happy!	42-19
2		Rangers	0	hahahahaha offense go brrrrrrrt. Big week this week with a series against the struggling Cardinals and then the big weekend matchup against the Rays. Ending another month on top of the division and we are having fun!	38-20
3		Braves	0	Horrid start to the week by losing a series to the Oakland "Triple A's" (don't @ me...I heard their own annoucers call them that), but we salvaged the week in AZ thanks to Eddie Rosario playing OUT OF HIS MIND and capping off our weekend with a go ahead Slam in the top of the ninth on Sunday. We are banged up on the hump, but are pushing through. If this is a rough patch, I am happy. First up this week is the Mets. A very important series to get it all back on track.	35-24
4		Astros	+2	Crucial series win against the Angels to finish off the weekend. Saturday's game was a lot of fun, aside from the top of the 7th inning - but we don't talk about that. Let's talk instead about how Alex Bregman's grand slam, 4-walk day can be 100% attributed to his wife throwing out the first pitch (it was Girls Night Out) and Bregs subsequently skipping the photo op with her to finish his warm-up.	35-24
5		Dodgers	-1		35-25
6		Orioles	-1	Alternating wins and loses all week this past week. Losing two out of the last three series is not great. I then thought about it and obviously the Orioles can't win every game and can't win every series, so thinking they can, means I have more confidence in this team than I have in a very long time. Aaron Hicks has been a pleasant surprise filling in for Cedric, batting .455 with an OPS of 1.208. Even though the fans were severely against getting him, he seems to have been the right move so far. The next six games are against Milwaukee and KC, hopefully we go at least 4-2.	37-22
7		Yankees	0	Another strong road trip, another handful of injury questions. Is Nestor really hurt, or is this a “get right” phantom stint? Will Judge need IL time? Wtf’s Bader’s situation? In better news Stanton, Kahnle, and Donaldson are back, and Rodon is set to face live batters. It would be really fucking cool if we could get off the IL merry-go-round though.	36-25
8		Blue Jays	+1	Very nice bouceback week(ish) after our AL East foes took us to Pound Town, with series wins over Minnesota and Milwauke (Algonquin for "the good land") before sweeping the Nye Mets. Bassitt continued to build on his '23 legend by nearly throwing another CGSO while his wife was going into labor in another country. Vladdy lasered his first HR not off a shitting-his-pants position player since May 4th, and still hasn't hit one at home, which is WILD. Belt overcame DFA screams from dipshits after an abysmal April (.519 OPS) with a hero-ball May (.940 OPS). Big tests coming up, tho, with HOU, BAL, MIN, and TEX next on the docket. Someone throw an irradiated spider at Manoah or something.	33-27
9		D-Backs	-1	The Diamondbacks had a decent week, sweeping the Rockies in four games and coming within one out of taking two of three from the Braves. Alas, the Diamondbacks' bullpen is still the Diamondbacks' bullpen. Additionally, Geraldo Perdomo's abysmal peripherals are catching up with his early-season performance, and third base remains a question mark, as Josh Rojas still doesn't have a single home run on the season.	35-25
10		Twins	0	A 4-3 week, including another series win against the reigning WS Champions! The lineup still isn't consistent though and we're being carried by our good pitching. There's time to fix those issues as the summer goes on, especially in the AL Central where we don't have a lot of competition.	31-29
11		Brewers	+2	In the words of noted Brewers fan Tom, "i don't understand how each day the lineup can look worse than the day before, like each day feels like rock bottom then it gets even worse somehow" That's pretty much Brewers fandom opinion of the Spring Training esque lineups Milwaukee is trotting out day after day. Somehow the team was 4-2 in the last week though. (Thanks Reds). Also, Reddit effectively kiling third party app support is terrible, and might actually be the thing that gets me to leave this Californian Hotel.	32-27
12		Red Sox	0	You know, I liked baseball more when we weren't .500. Losing Chris Sale to the injured list right as we get Whitlock and Paxton back is cruel but predictable. Our rotation has a lot of talent, but lacks the stamina to actually go deep into games. Houck, Whitlock, Pivetta and Kutter are all decent to really good 1st/2nd time through. Pair them up and have them each throw ~3-4 innings and you've basically Frankenstiened two 110 ERA+ starters! CHaim hire me please :)	30-29
13		Pirates	+4	The Pirates had a miserable May. The pitching went from excellent to merely good while the offense was put on life support. The Bucs, who were 20-9 at the end of April, had dropped under the .500 mark on Memorial Day. Since then, the Bucs have won 5 straight — 2 against the Giants to pick up the Pirates' first (and only) series win in May, and then a sweep of the Cardinals for the first time since 2018. Yeah, the Pirates are only 31-27, but that puts them just a game out of first in the NL Central. Not bad considering where this team stood a week ago.	31-27
14		Angels	0	When he has been on the field and not getting into it with fans or wasting away on the injured list, Anthony Rendon has been a quietly solid presence in this Angels lineup. Slated to return back to the lineup within the next couple days, the team could use a boost in the middle part of the order, especially with runners on.	31-30
15		Mariners	-4	A Mariner is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the Mariner is old, and the term Mariner has its etymological roots in a time when sailing ships were the main mode of transport at sea, but it now refers to the personnel of all watercraft regardless of the mode of transport, and encompasses people who operate ships professionally, be it for a military navy or civilian merchant navy, as a sport or recreationally. Up next: 2 @ Vedder Cup bros, 3 @ Troutanis	29-30
16		Mets	-1	Since my last update, we swept the Phillies and we got swept by the Blue Jays. This is a weird Mets team who I think may just be pretty mediocre, though I suspect they'll stick sneak into the playoffs. Our record is back at .500 and we have the Braves in Atlanta next, which is not the kind of shit you want to see. Omar Narvaez will likely return from the IL this week, creating an interesting roster crunch which shouldn't be interesting at all, since current backup catcher Tomas Nido has an OPS of .278.	30-30
17		Marlins	+1	Sweepy has been busy so far this year. The fish complete their 4th sweep of the season on the visiting A's, reports are sketchy but apparently he was last spotted saying "Mets are over rated". We'll get further clarification on what he meant by that next time he resurfaces. Sandy is going through it right now, if im being honest i think hes working through some mechanical issues cuz hes still lowkey struggling with location. His last outing was fairly good save one inning where he allowed a bunch of runs but he is slowly improving. Very slowly. The his week the marlins are gonna host the royals, followed with a trip to south side chicago.	32-28
18		Giants	-2	The Giants went 2–4 with two 1-run losses. Normally losing a series to both the Orioles and Pirates would be problematic, but in the New Age, both teams are good and the Giants played hard 80% of the time. They are 5–7 in 1-Run Games, and 1-2 in extras, and with a +1 Run Diff (18th in MLB, -5 spots) they are slightly underperforming expected W/L Record. The Giants will be without Joc, Yaz, Conforto, Estrada, and Bart until tomorrow (expected), and Alex Wood is the latest casualty – gone for 12ish days. The rotation, led by Cobb, Webb, and Disco, will rely even more on the bullpen which usually means Jacob Junis (yay!) and Manaea (: / ). Cleaning up their act some, the bullpen ERA is now 20th in MLB (+3) and the whole staff at 15th in RA/G (=). The inconsistent offense, hampered by injuries and some mini-slumps, sits at 14th in RS/G (-2). Giants fans must hope a return to health will boost the bats, the younglings liven back up, and the bullpen holds the line @ Coors Field ( : / ) and vs the question-mark-of-a-team Chicago Cubs.	29-30
19		Padres	+1	It was the first game at Petco for my Niece and her Father. He'd long written off the Padres, as a team of nobodies that would never try to win at a sport that ultimatley rigged for markets that weren't in San Diego County. As a sign of goodwill from my Sis, his ex-wife, they had amazing seats, down by the first base side, that were each in the triple digits. Over the last few years he'd gotten into the sport for the first time since '98, and for my Niece, it was the first time following any pro sport in her life. They sat down at their beautiful seats, had a couple of 'dogs, and by the third inning, San Diego was behind 7-0. Sigh. The Padres average 39k at Petco, ranking 5th in the majors in attendance. They have a 13-17 record in those games.	27-32
20		Guardians	+3	I was on vacation this week, so I haven't been as aware of baseball as I should be. I did go to two games at Camden and two at Nationals Park while on my trip. The Guardians won a series against the Orioles and split one with the Twins, so now I'm being optimistic and will probably embarrass myself again. Also, I hope the Reds ranker is doing okay.	27-32
21		Phillies	-2	What a miserable week it was to be a Phillies fan. They salvaged a 2-4 record by winning the weekend games against the Nationals, but were dreadful all week in games that were just close enough to keep your hopes up. The Phillies are currently 4.5 games out of the 3rd wild card spot with 3 other teams ahead of them. Trea Turner, who you'd think would have one of the highest floors in the league, is hitting .232 with a dreadful .276 OBP. Alec Bohm hit the IL, which means the infield regularly includes one or two of Josh Harrison, Kody Clemens (who's actually been quite hot the past few weeks), and AAAA quality Drew Ellis (who went 3/3 with 2 walks and 2 home runs on Sunday). The bats and pitching have completely died, but that's thankfully set the stage for Nick Castellanos to do what he does best. This week: a homestand with 3 against the Tigers and 3 against the Dodgers.	27-32
22		Cubs	+2	This week was a much needed bounce back for the Cubs, as they took 2 out of 3 from both the Rays and Padres. Unfortunately, the week was marred by yet more struggles in the clutch and with RISP as well as Justin Steele's injury. Steele is out for at least 2 starts with forearm soreness, and will be dearly missed as he has kept the Cubs in game after game. The Cubs continue their West Coast road trip this week with sereis against the Angels and Giants following today's game in SD.	26-32
23		Cardinals	-2	The Cardinals should be playing better, they aren't. They've been bad all season. Short of collective epiphany that sees them 30 up in their next 40 (lol, doubt it) there's no useful information I can put in this box past "Fire John Mozeliak."	25-35
24		Reds	+1	It finally happened boys. After just a month of being separated, she gave me official divorce papers. I think she’s made it abundantly clear she has no interest in fixing things, and you know what? I get it. It’s alright. She told me straight up that she didn’t feel anything between us anymore, and no amount of therapy or counseling is gonna fix that, whatever was there is gone. She’s felt like that for a while, I just refused to see it, I was in denial. But i’m not anymore. I’m free, I am once more ready to set sail on the ocean of loneliness until I find land. I hope I can find land. I gotta find land. How we’ll divide time between our son is yet to be determined, but I know we’ll find a good compromise. I’m just…happy that the air is clear. No more pretending to enjoy each other's presence, no more fake smiles to mask our emptiness. No more. Anyway, let’s talk Reds baseball. We had a good road trip where our offense managed to shine but a horrid home series where we got pantsed by a division rival. The front office just refuses to throw the fans a bone. We continue to give playing time to people like Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild, all the while prospects like Elly De La Cruz and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are tearing up AAA to the point where there’s really nothing left for them to do. Both had problems with their Walk%, so what happened? The last couple weeks both have significantly improved their walk rate. They have nothing left to do in AAA if you ask me and plenty of the fanbase. Imagine if both can be successful in the MLB, what kind of boost of energy that would give to this team while they’re still in striking distance of the NL Central crown. Our starting pitching is still a major liability, Graham Ashcraft has just flat out forgotten how to pitch. The Bullpen is still keeping us in games and our offense can be truly clutch at times, but consistency is one thing we’ve lacked all season. Consistency, consistency, consistency. It’s not here. But with an injection of young talent, things could definitely turn around, or I guess you could say something that’s become a bit of a motto here in Cincinnati and with our recent ownership groups: We’re just a couple years away.	26-33
25		Tigers	-3	RIP Riley Greene. RIP Eduardo Rodriguez. I guess the White Sox walkoff on Saturday where a Jose Cisnero pitch domed the home plate umpire for a wild pitch was emblematic of this week (shrugs). As a side note, man is this linup brutal, sporting a team slash line of .226/.302/.349 for the season. Yikes! This week: 3 at PHI, 3 vs. ARI.	26-31
26		White Sox	+2	The AL Central being so competitive/non-competitive is the worst thing for the White Sox right now. Despite being 9 games under .500, they are only 5.5 games back in the division. They're stuck in limbo right now. In any sane world, they would already be selling parts, but in all likelihood, they'll have to sell some of the future at the deadline, only to go on a cold streak in mid September, finish 8 games out in the division, and make this awful season feel even worse.	26-35
27		Nationals	-1	Rough week for the Nats losing 5 of 7 and getting even worse news with the announcement of Strasburg being shut down from all physical activity. While I can't speak for all Nats fans, I can speak for myself: Stephen Strasburg has absolutely nothing to prove. I genuinely would be ecstatic for him to ride off into the sunset without throwing another pitch before unvailing a statue with Zim on the corner of Capitol and Potomac.	25-34
28		Rockies	-1	No Blurb Submitted	26-35
29		Royals	0	Congo rats to Scott Barlow on notching his 50th career save. And congo rats to Aroldis Chapman for rebuilding his career and being a trade chip. The Royals are going to fuck up the return, but at least he can get something back in another couple of months. I'm looking forward to surgery so I can be too drugged up to give a shit about this team.	18-41
30		Athletics	0	More a question than a curse, how could hell be any worse?	12-49