Quarantined In Japan Finale - Freedom, Cookies & Donkey Balls

"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom, unless of course they threaten us that we can't go shopping or drink beer, then we'll gladly give up our freedom". - Braveheart.

My grueling 14day home quarantine finished with a wimpier. I wasn't contacted by anyone at the government saying thank you, you can go out now. No, silence. It's odd because the last two times I came home during COVID I was called at the end of the quarantine and thanked for being a good foreigner.

So now I am ready to party and go wild, but Tokyo has issued a partial lock down, especially for any eatery that sells booze. God bless the Japanese though, they are still going out, just drinking on the street after meals or taking a short train ride to a nearby prefecture where everything is open. I'm thinking to head over to Kawasaki, Yokohama or Enoshima to get a freaking drink with my meal. For now though, I've got to settle for Starbucks with their shitty paper straws that melt in your coffee. Pro-tip, don't use them.

My last few days of quarantine were a blur of doing laundry, washing dishes, cooking meals, etc. My wife had to take my place at our Osaka Gem & Mineral show since I was quarantined. So I bore all the house tending responsibilities.

Being Quarantined got me to get a bit creative with the cooking. I spiced up some potato salad with raiyu, chili oil with garlic chips. It turns even the mediocre convenience store potato salad into an awesome dish.

Add some bintoro(fatty tuna) and cream cheese and I've got a gourmet meal!

I did make time to make cookies with my youngest daughter though! Of course we had to make a monster, American sized one too.

For reference.

I also had some time to watch the best Sci-fi show ever, The Expanse, for the fourth time. Actually I'm only on the 5th episode of season 1.

That's where the Donkey Balls reference comes from. It was a code word used by the Martian Navy Black Opps. You gotta watch it to catch the full reference.

The show itself really is a masterpiece, that is until Amazon got a hold of it and royally fucked it up. The first 3 seasons are amazingly well written, directed and the characters are all excellent. One of the main characters, Chrisjen Avasarala, is bad ass.

In the show she is the the United Nations Deputy Undersecretary of Executive Administration. Her character was written and acted to exude power, grace and femininity, almost naturally compared to woke portrayals of weak women trying to be strong. Her outfits are incredible and feminine. She's my favorite character of the show followed by Amos, a troubled, muscle-man who isn't sure if he's a psychopath or not.

Always, the crowds are less, but not by much in my town, Hachioji. Everyone has a mask on here, even in Starbucks. It's tragic, but until the Olympics are over this is going to be the way it is.

I'm seeing a lot of vacancies as I walk down the street, the new takaoyaki place is gone, a Family Mart, and several other businesses, gone. The downstream affect of those economic hits are going to take a decade to overcome. Not only that, this generation may never recover, as the "Lost Generation" of the 90's in Japan. Many people are losing everything and it's bullshit. I pray those responsible for all this misery are held accountable. Until then, Freedom, less crowded trains and sushi for lunch!