Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Heavyarms55 - It’s pretty much the exact kind of thing I’d want to do if I visited Japan (or anywhere else that has a beer train), but I’d probably never know about it unless I was connected with someone local. Very cool. My local zoo has a train ride for kids that circles a pond as part of its route. I’m going to pitch them the idea. It’s a short walk from my front yard, I’d do it all the time. Midnight Meat Train is a movie about how people (often drunk) ride trains at night and end up becoming food.

@bimmy-lee Oh there's an idea! In our case, you might hear about it if you happen to visit Shiga when you come to Japan - but Shiga is so rural that some people in Japan forget about it sometimes. So not many tourists come here. Only the history buffs because we have one of the very few remaining (mostly) original castles still standing in Japan. (Japan has a lot of them, but most are recreations, ours is largely original)

Also Midnight Meat Train sounds like the b-grade horror movie type of thing that James Rolfe (AVGN) would love.

@Heavyarms55 - Ha, he probably has seen it. It’s not really a low budget movie, but I don’t think it’s very well known. It stars Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, and a few other actors you might know. It’s super gory, but it actually has a decent story, and it’s a bit mysterious for a while.

I googled Shiga, and it looks like a great place to visit. Lake Biwa takes up a large part of the prefecture (not sure if I’m using that right), but you also have Mount Ibuki there, and a real castle as you mentioned. Seems like the kind of place the where the locals might take a vacation.

Back on the ground and heading home. It's kinda bittersweet to be back. On one hand, it's home. On the other hand, it's cooler here and the weather isn't the best right now.

@bimmy-lee I know of a town not too far from my area on your side of the border that has Yeungling, but I didn't know what other corners of the state it had made it to. Glad to know it's more plentiful than I thought!

Yep, I was in Philly. It was a short trip; the conference was only three days, and we managed to land a flight back this evening. Didn't get outside of the hotel/conference center much besides walking to the evening event (which was at an AWESOME ax throwing place), but my coworker and I made it to Penn's Landing Sunday evening and did see a few of the sights, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, before heading to the airport earlier.

I did look up that Physician's College, thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately it was a little far to get to on foot as we only had about an hour to kill between our last session and needing to catch an Uber to the airport; our hotel was near the historic district. I'll definitely bookmark that for when/if I'm in the area again.

Honestly, there's so much to do and see in the area, especially for a history nerd like me, that I could easily spend a week there doing touristy things.

@Tyranexx glad you made it back. So i take it you didn't grab a Tony Luke's cheese steak or roast pork?

@NintendoByNature Thanks! Unfortunately not, though I did have a proper Philly Cheesesteak sandwich at the same conference last year (at the evening event at a bar that time), if that counts.

There WAS some roast pork on the buffet the conference center provided at suppwr Monday, but i didn't opt for it. The barbecue ribs were too tempting to ignore instead lol.

@Tyranexx - It really is a cool city, especially if you’re into history. Given that, you could spend a week there easy. So much to see and do. The art museum alone is worth the trip. They have some incredible stuff there. I walked by the Liberty Bell every week day, and it never lost its impact on me. Glad you got to experience a bit of it. The food is outrageous too. Tell you what, when I get this sugar cream pie recipe posted, you make two of em. One for your family, and one for me. I’ll meet you halfway with a couple cases of Lager, and we’ll trade, but not before we enjoy a pint and a slice together. Glad you’re back safe and sound. The best part about being away is getting back home.

@NintendoByNature - Cheesesteaks so good, they’ll make you slap your grandma. I tried them everywhere, from the famous places to little hole in the wall restaurants. They’re all so good. Even the gas stations had good cheesesteaks!

@Tyranexx That's too bad. Tony Luke's is the beez knees
@bimmy-lee there's a proper Philly restaurant here in Chicago called phillys best. Two Greek brothers Own it from Philly. Everything is imported to make it authentic. Philly cheese steaks, pizza, stromboli you name it. Even tasty kakes!

@NintendoByNature - Haha, desert sorted then. I had a lot of Tasty Kakes breakfasts. The variety is a bit overwhelming, but you really can’t go wrong.

@bimmy-lee butterscotch krumpets iced or whatever they are, are hands down my favorite

@bimmy-lee Thanks! I just got home about 45 minutes ago and have everything unloaded and settled. Now just winding down a bit before washing off the travel germs and dying of happiness in my own bed lol.

Philly is definitely the oldest city I've been to. You can just FEEL all the history there. It probably isn't much history and age-wise compared to a lot of cities in Europe, but it's definitely something when most of the towns in the area you grew up in didn't exist until the mid-1800s.

Oh yeah. I don't think I had a single piece of food I disliked on my trip. The food provided by the hotel/center was excellent! Sunday evening, my coworker and I also found an interesting Italian place called Positano Coast that was excellent.

Might take you up on the pie/lager trade at some point! Though to be honest, I've never made pie. It's a technique I still need to refine. I gotta keep my mom's side's coconut cream recipe going somehow!

@NintendoByNature I'll have to bookmark that restaurant for the next time I'm up in that area. I'm a sucker for good, authentic cuisine.

@bimmy-lee I liked Philly a lot as well. Wonderful food, great dive bars, and beautiful colonial architecture. Also had the pleasure of getting good seats at a Flyers game. Still my only experience at an NHL game, but I’d go back for sure.

@bimmy-lee Yup, the mountain, lake and castle are the three things Shiga is known for and the things to come see for sure. But Shiga is very rural and thus I use it as an example when people tell me they thought Japan was all super overcrowded cities and stuff like that.

There are single buildings in Osaka that have people people in them than live in my town, lol.

I'm already able to play lm3 and it's not even midnight yet. Wonder when it went live.

@NintendoByNature That’s awesome. In the past Nintendo’s E-shop hasn’t rewarded me for checking in on my pre-loads. Sometimes they are even not available to play until the afternoon or evening.

They either want people to have their Halloween fun early or those pesky ghouls are up to something 👻.

@NotTelevision my thoughts exactly( on the latter) something's fishy 😱

I get some games like that, @NotTelevision .... Big releases are usually midnight, though & I've had a few physical pre-orders early, too

@BruceCM Nice. I figured they’d be on top in getting those big releases out on time.

I’ve been busy and haven’t had the time to get that Switcher 3 yet, but will do. That one, LM3, Pokemon S&S, Death Stranding, Shenmue III, and The Outer Worlds are all looking pretty good choices for Nov. Don’t know what to do about this 😅

Roll a die or something, @NotTelevision .... ? I'm getting near the end of Switcher 3

My friend is buying my copy of LM3 for me when she gets off work at noon and picks hers up.