Part 1 described Kevin and Karen as nightmare neighbours with the payback i was fortunate enough to serve them. I know i described them as a “Kevin and Karen” duo but only mainly mentioned Kevin in Part 1. That was intentional. My interactions with Karen at that point were minor and i wanted to keep the focus on Kevin. However, this entire story is about that one incident where Karen steps up and takes things to another level, and i foolishly take the bait. Someone else in my favorite military sub quoted Mark Twain: “Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience”.
I also mentioned a conversation i had with someone, where the person described Kevin and Karen as people who maybe likes being the big fish in a small pond, and thus picks on people who are visibly different, just like them. This is because Kevin and Karen are both of African ethnicity. This part will come up later and will play a pivotal part in the story.
Advance Warning: please, please, please keep your politics and any divisive personal biases OUT of my story and this sub. I only mentioned ethnicity and gender because the story itself is focused on that. Im a big girl, i can take care of myself, if you’re a shithead racist/homophobe and cant keep your racist comments to yourself, feel free to shoot me a PM but stick to that and dont litter this sub with your trash. Mods, if this gets out of hand and people start getting rowdy, please include in your options the possibility of deleting my posts. Id rather lose imaginary internet points than be the one that brought a pack of idjits to your doorstep. But please. This is a nice community modded and populated by nice people. Lets keep it that way.
DA STORY
February 1, 2020
Ahhhh. February 2020. Life is good as far as everyone is concerned. Apart from that one time where Kevin tried to call the military cops on me for assaulting a superior (were the same rank, in different chains of command, let alone different branches, and were fighting voluntarily in a sanctioned, supervised match), we had no more complaints filed against us at the HOA office. He had to undergo plastic surgery, but that’s mostly because his pre existing condition of a deviated septum was exacerbated when i TKO’d him by slamming my palm on his nose and breaking it.
The whole world would change in a few weeks, but at this time, Corona was still just another new and exotic thing that doom and gloom tv pundits wouldnt shut up about.
As i mentioned before, i am mixed race: mixture of German/Italian/Scottish/Irish and Hasidic Jew ethnicities on my mum’s side, and a mix of 3 Asian ethnicities: Chinese/Japanese/Korean on my dad’s side with Chinese being the predominant one.
As for visible appearances, im over 5 foot tall, slight build, dark brown hair, and slightly slanted gray coloured eyes. My eyes, lips, and my cheekbones are somewhat Asian, while there’s enough “white” on the rest of my appearance to make someone think twice if im just a really fair skinned Asian, or a white chick squinting and blinded by something.
Why is this important? As a result of my super melting pot heritage, there’s only enough Asian in me that i only look Asian to someone who doesnt know me while im wearing certain outfits, or if i choose to do so. This is a fact pointed out to me that while being a technical minority, i never had to endure the true hardships of what its like to be in a disadvantaged group. I had the safety of benefiting from having the physical appearance derived from a hybrid heritage as a “safe haven” from bigotry.
Until the following happened.
We were at a Chinese cultural centre celebrating Chinese New Year. I went to the event wearing my favorite cheongsam dress. Nothing special about it, you see Chinese women wearing it at formal events all the time, but im in full cultural regalia and had my Asian on. Milena, my partner, couldnt get in while wearing Chinese cultural attire and had to change into a white people outfit despite me giving the Shaolin bouncer, who trained for 30 years in the mountains under a waterfall in the art of “punch-a-hole-in-your-chest-and-rip-your-still-beating-heart-out-making-you-wonder-why-theres-a-sudden-draft-in-your-thoracic-cavity”, the head nod and going: “She’s with me bro. Be cool, ayt?” I jest, i jest.
It was a fun time. Plenty of delicious food and i get to have my fill of real proper and delicious soup dumplings and szchezuan style red snapper. Plenty of little kids going around running to adults and yelling “Kung Hey Fat Choi! (Happy New Year)” and us giving them blessings and the little red money envelopes we brought. We got to see a lion dance. No, there wasnt a single actual lion dancing. Its a bunch of grown up dudes who dance and jump up 5-10 foot tall playforms while wearing and carrying a two person lion costume. Its pretty impressive actually. Go look up lion dance examples on Youtube if you want.
The problem started when we got home.
DA PROBLEM
(Im running out of original ideas for titles)
We were already in our neighbourhood and pretty close to our home. As we were approaching our home, we just barely noticed in time that the road is blocked by a double parked car. Imagine your standard residential street. On both sides of the road are vehicles parked on the street. This normally two lane road is now reduced to a one lane road. On the lane ahead of us was a car that was double parked. The car was off with no lights on either. With it being winter, a snowstorm actively raging + poor street lighting leading to near zero visibility, the roads slick from built up snow, its a miracle i didnt rear end this grayish/silver coloured Fiat. I had already downshifted to the lowest gear, and I had to pump the brakes while my other hand was ready to engage the e-brake, swearing under my breath the whole time.
This is the point where i should have stayed put and just called the neighbourhood towing services while driving around to find alternate routes to get home. But i didnt. My gamble on people being rational ended up being a bust, and you now have this train wreck of a story worthy of a Jerry Springer episode.
I got out of the car and noticed that there was a woman sitting in the driver’s seat. I knocked on her window and politely asked her to move her car so i can pass. She slightly rolls the window down and says: “Just go around me!” I told her this was not possible. My car is a Toyota 4runner, refitted for true off roading, and there’s no way it could squeeze through the gap left by her shitty double parking job without hitting cars on either side. I asked her if she can at least move and give me enough space to squeeze through safely, or better yet, park in one of the open street side parking spots available just a few steps away. In response, she just goes: “i told you, just squeeze through!” and rolls the window back up.
Now, im pissed. I whip out my phone and take a picture of the driver and the license plate. I was intending on calling the towing service and sending a notice to the HOA. This is when i notice that the back of this car doesnt have our neighbourhood stickers. I go up to her window as she was just opening her door to get out.
Bitch: did you just take a fucking picture of me? Did you just fucking take a picture of me?
Me: yeah i did. You dont live here. So youre actually trespassing. And you dont have any expectation of privacy in such an open space. So now youre in the wrong on both counts. Im only going to ask you one last time to move your car, or better yet, get off the subdivision before i call the cops on you for trespassing.
Bitch: (sounds like she was just waiting for me to finish talking) you fucking bitch! Delete👏that👏picture👏now! You fucking monkey!
i was pulling up my camera app to record her public freakout when she swiped at my hands causing my phone to tumble into the snow
Milena has gotten out of the car and was approaching us as soon as our body language changed. She came close just in time to hear this “lady” call me a “fucking monkey.”
Milena: what the fuck did you just call my wife? Dont tell me you actually did cus thats a fucking hate crime!
Bitch: you heard me. I called her a fucking monkey! Fucking monkey! Fucking monkey! Fucking monkey! You fucking people go back to Asia and do your pussy eating there! And take your fucking Corona back with you!
My partner LOSES it. It took me all my strength wearing heels, standing in snow and ice, to restrain her from going after this woman. At the same time, Bitch was also trying to get at Milena so i had to free up one hand to keep her away. Everyone was yelling and screaming at this point. One of our neighbours, Todd, happens to be in his garage. He comes out and investigates what is all the commotion about. Did i mention he’s also of African ethnicity?
As soon as i saw him, i called out:
“Hey! Can you get her (referring to Bitch) off of me?”
Bitch: wait what? Did you just assume he’s my friend because were black? Yo! Hey! Help! Anybody! This fucking (anti asian pejorative word, similar in context to the english words “chink” or “gook”) just called me a n123er!
It was at this point that Todd decided to slap her that caused her to shut up but continue fake crying.
ENTER STAGE LEFT, KEVIN AND KAREN THEMSELVES
They were both talking, demanding whats going on and wrestling Bitch away from Todd at the same time.
[They were both dressed in nice clothes, so im assuming they were headed for a night out with this mystery racist]
Bitch: this asshole (points at me) called me a n123er and then this other fucking dyke (points at Milena) slapped me while this f123ot traitor (points at Todd) held me down!
Karen: what the fuck? Did you fucking call my daughter a n123er?! We dont fucking do that here you fucking monkey! (Nature vs nurture theorists, here’s a case study for you). Fucking go back to China and go fucking spread your diseases there!
Kevin: (walks up to Milena and with hands up and forward, appears to try to shove her but loses his balance in the snow). If you ever hit my child again, or disrespect anyone in my family, i swear to God, I will kill you!!!
Now is my turn to be held back by Todd this time. I dont remember saying these exact words, im only repeating them verbatim based off how Todd repeated them to me.
Me: you’re fucking trying to have a go at my wife?!? I just fucking kicked your ass last Christmas and now you want seconds?! What, are you fucking insane or just fucking stupid? IM not afraid to die! Ive killed pieces of shit who are still better men than you! For work! How many fucking people do you imagine you’ve killed while driving a desk, hmm? You fucking touch my wife or threaten her again and i will kill you for free!! Then ill rip your dick off and beat your wife to death with it! Fuck it, let me go Todd, ill make her (pointing to Bitch) an orphan right now.
cringgggeeeeee
Yeaaahhhhhh. I know. Even I am cringing as i was typing that. I cant believe i said those. Seriously hope that Todd was fucking around with me, but i know i tend to go high order when provoked in just the sweet spot. The words are already said, and once its out in the wind, theres no way for me to make people unhear what i said and stuff the words back in my mouth. 10/10 would NOT recommend doing anything like that. One of the moments im not quite so proud of myself. Its not an excuse, but i only have 2 triggers that i know of: when someone presents themselves as a valid threat to my loved ones, my family, or my troops, either through words or actions, and when i get dehumanized to the point that im not even a person anymore but just another statistic in whatever subset of society that they hate. This messed up family struck Bingo! on both counts. I know its unprofessional and having a temper in the military, let alone as a leader, is a huuuge problem, and i am currently working hard (with good results) to fix that. 😅
While this is happening, Todd’s wife is standing outside their garage and calling the MPs. They tell her they dont deal with “domestic spats” even if its involving military personnel, instead call the civillian cops, and hangs up on her.
Cops come with bells and whistles 30 minutes later. By this time, more people/neighbours had gotten involved and managed to separate both parties. Everyone had calmed down, we were hanging out at Todd’s garage, K&K + crotch goblin went back to their house, and were all just waiting for the cops to come.
Cops split up and go to take both parties’ statements + witness statements. Obviously, this is not gonna be a he said she said scenario. There are plenty of witnesses willing to testify as to what happened and the words said. The problem is that there isnt any witnesses for the beginning of the confrontation. That’s when i remembered that i have a dashcam in the car and i left the car running when i initially got out. I asked for the cops permission for one of them to accompany me. I drove us to my house where i got changed into something warmer, grabbed my laptop, and plugged the dashcam’s SD card in it.
We went back to Todd’s place to play it in front of the other officer and you could clearly see by Bitch’s body language that she was the original belligerent party. Whats more entertaining was that her voice was loud enough to be captured by the camera’s microphone when she yelled the “Go back to Asia you fucking monkey!” line at me. Todd also admitted that he was the one who slapped her but it was more of a “hey wake up!” slap instead of a real one. He demonstrated using me as a dummy, that while holding Bitch around the waist from behind, there’s no way he could have attacked her with a real slap. This was again, supported by the dashcam footage.
The cops left when we told them were not willing to file charges and it would be a waste of tax money for them to pursue a “trivial” domestic disturbance, but i want copies of their write ups and their contact info in case the obvious liars cooks something up.
I immediately regretted that decision the next day i came to work.
DA DAY I CAME BACK TO WORK
Monday. 03 February, 2020. I walk into work and find several messages handed to me by my assistant. In growing urgency, they were all along the lines of: “REPORT TO THE BOSS RIGHT MEOW!”
I had a feeling what this is gonna be about.
I walk up to the boss office, salute, announce myself, seek permission to enter, and stand in front of his desk. Without being told to relax and have a seat and talk to me like an equal, which is customary for personnel at my level, my boss formally informs me that a charge has been filed against me, a trial is most likely going to be held once current investigations are finished, that he has a list of JAG attorneys that can represent me, and that if i have anything to say for myself, now is the time say it.
Quickly but concisely, i laid out the facts as it actually happened to him, even mentioning that i have a copy of the cops’ write up, my dashcam SD card as evidence, and that military police hung up on our neighbour who called them in the first place.
The Boss was nodding throughout this and simply said: “That’s what i thought, im afraid. Unfortunately, id still have to take you off of any leadership positions you’re holding until we clear this up. Take the rest of the week off, but contact this JAG lawyer first before you go and do whatever she tells you to do.”
I did as The Boss told me to. I contacted the JAG lawyer through our secure lines and she simply asked me to write my own version of events and the original SD card from my dashcam and have it couriered to her. I turned over the running of my daycare centre for wild and wanton man whores to my second, and left for home.
I went back to work the next week and i was puzzled as to what happened since i was expecting to perform a hatless dance in front of my peers and subordinates. I never heard anything from the MPs, my boss, or anyone else. When i asked my boss about it the next week, my boss simply told me that it was a “misunderstanding” and they werent actually investigating me.
The following i was not present for but i learned through the grapevine.
-all charges and investigations against me were dropped as soon as they saw what was in the dashcam and in my statement.
-turns out that Kevin is a bit henpecked from what it sounds like as well. Several rumours run that all the complaints filed against me at work, that happened in a personal context/setting, were initiated not by another soldier, but by a civillian closely associated with the soldier. Go connect the dots on that one.
-during this time, anti Asian sentiment was heating up because of Corona virus. There has been several reports of unprovoked attacks on visible (Asian) minorities and the voices of order were having none of it. No sane investigator would prosecute an Asian woman, who it turns out was actually the victim of a hate crime. This is important to mention because for the past several years, the attitude and culture here has been slowly shifting to focus and correct the injustices done to people of African descent. As a result, more and more videos and incidents are emerging of African descent people having public freakouts and getting away with it despite being wrong because they uttered the magic words: “is it because im black?” You make a big and public enough issue centered around being black, and people will back off regardless of whos right or wrong. This is NOT my opinion, but this is the public sentiment. I dont agree with it, as there are still a lot of injustice that needs to be corrected, and you can see the potential for abuse and misuse in ANY example of correction of flawed historical public policy/beliefs but the attitudes of the other side when in the wrong, or the belief that these improvements sweeping the country is an automatic “get out of jail free” card for valid offenses isnt helping either.
-Kevin turns out to have been the star of his own hatless dance party. Once they proved that he was falsely accusing me and Milena of assault and racial attacks, and that him and his kin were the ones throwing racial and homophobic slurs all over the place, he was charged with all the military versions of those offenses + conduct unbecoming and misappropriating public resources (for filing false reports and making false sttements. More on that later). He admitted guilty on all counts in a trial and had to: be suspended from work with no pay for 6 months, pay a fine and hefty pay reduction for 6 months after that, with all records being expunged from his service file on 5 years + 1 day after he has carried out all the punishments.
-it also emerged that Karen was present at his trial and broke down crying and freaking out at his bosses when he was pronounced guilty. She had to be escorted out of the base and driven back home after being dosed with a sedative by a medic.
Karen ended up being the breadwinner for their household for 6 months while Kevin was reduced to earning peanuts. Since her MLM and “fitness lifestyle” influencer job was mainly catering to military spouses, her clientele quickly diminished as soon as word of their misdeeds spread around.
Another result of this Rube Goldberg-esque turn of events was that Kevin it turns out, has been conniving with a local office supplier company and has been taking some pretty creative liberties with his unit’s purse. Policy for public procurement is that everything has to go through a fair and competitive bidding process where service providers and suppliers get a fair shake at hawking their goods and services. With some exceptions, the policies for procurement can be skipped, like say, if theres no other competitor available for that particular product/service, or the need for an item/service is urgent, the bidding process is always followed to the letter.
Being a morale and welfare and procurement officer for his unit, Kevin managed to get himself in a whole another world of trouble by conniving with several suppliers into engaging their services in exchange for some personal “perks”. Kevin’s Unit is hosting a Christmas party and giving away door prizes and holding raffles? He skipped the bidding process and sales/promotions review and went straight to the local electronics store. He goes and buys all the electronic prizes from them, and in exchange gets to walk away with a brand new PS4 Pro and a Home Theatre bluetooth sound bar as a “lucky customer” who won their “random” draw.
Office running low on supplies and may need replacing some office equipment? Kevin goes to a local office supply shop and gives them the business. In exchange, his wife gets to “test” out a brand new high end gaming/office chair and keep the product for “free” after posting a review about it.
He may have turned out to have chosen the better deal, but the fact that he skipped the appropriate procedures and personally benefited from those misdeeds is what got him in real trouble.
Its actually the office supply shop that opened up this can of worms for him. With the wolf of economic disaster created by COVID hungry and at the doorstep, the proprietor of this business phoned his unit and asked if they need any more office supplies or upgrades to their equipment. With Kevin being suspended from work, there was no one to keep a lid on things. His replacement was puzzled and surprised.
“Whaa? Youre not in our system sir. In fact, our system shows that we have always gotten our supplies from X company, the one that won the bid and weve always used. When did you say we ordered from you and for how much?”
I feel pretty comfortable sharing this bit of gossip. Its a pretty open secret by now at our base that some Air Force dude just flushed his career down the toilet and has a pack of investigators and financial detectives waiting till he comes back to work so they can dissect his life and spending, and work it over with a fine toothed comb. And that he just managed to get a slap on the wrist from getting into trouble, and that there’s no way he will simply get another wrist slap from this one.
Right now, all is quiet. There is that one odd time when we saw Kevin disassembling and cleaning what looks like a gun in his backyard. Turns out it was a very realistic looking M4 style air rifle. As a result, both Milena and I have applied for permission from the local representative of the government to carry personal firearms. We dont take well to threats or implications of a threat. Were still awaiting for permission to be granted but believe me when i say we have been upping the intensity of our sparring sessions.
I am hoping it doesnt come down to that, but were ready if it does. In fact, i dont want it to escalate any more. Im sick of it. Personally, i believe it wont come down to that. Ive been in plenty of fights and spent enough time at 2 way ranges. I know what people who trully intend to use a firearm for its lethal purpose look like. They dont go around brandishing a gun and threatening to use it, before actually using it. People who fully intend to use a gun actually go ahead and use it from the get go.
But on the other hand, i wont let intimidation tactics make me cower and unhappy in my own home either. Milena and I love hosting parties. Before COVID shut gatherings down, we just wrapped up a weekend by being the final stop for a small hen party. Everyone had fun in the hot tub and had a safe place to go drink and sleep. Our neighbours have also come to love our summer barbecue shindigs. I can grill a mean steak and my surf and turf platters are just raved about. We both kind of are the unofficial mothers in our respective units. Whenever a new soldier or airman gets posted to our unit, we throw them a welcome party in our home. We continued and brought that tradition to our new home. Right now, im renovating my basement to be a retro style games room with vintage PacMan, PinBall, and other arcade game machines in one corner, a shelf full of board and card games, a full service mini bar, and a computegames room in our library. Were also planning on getting a pre fab shed and repurposing it into an axe throwing shed. We want our home to be a friendly base camp for any weary/homesick soldier, sailor, or airman that we have come to love and treat as our own siblings, or in some cases, children. No amount of intimidation will stop that from happening or take that away from us. Well, COVID probably would if this shite doesnt get any better.
For now, this is the end of the Kevin and Karen saga. Lets hope there isnt any more. Especially since the last time i checked, i was ahead and winning. 😂
PS
Sorry for the late post, i typed Part 1 and Part 2 in one go with the intent of publishing them one after the other. I had to put posting Part 2 on pause because I had to do some fact checking with some people to make sure im not recalling shit improperly.
PPS
Welp. Apparently i suck at messing with people. My one and only attempt and i sucked at it. Sorry for the links, its all Rick Astley links. I was trying to call induce a laugh but foiled tremendously because of that stupid ass thumbnail. Im so dumb. Im sorry. I suck. Ill go ahead and send myself to the time out corner.
PPPS
This is so dumb. Ill just strip the links. Thought it would be funny. Sorry folks. I got Rick Rolled by my own attempts to Rick Roll you guys. 😭

Hello and welcome to all those who wish to catalog the above! This includes all flooring, wallpaper, umbrellas, and songs that are ORDERABLE. Same goes for furniture
Locations:
-flooring, wallpaper, songs, and umbrellas are located NORTHWEST near the private beach. Upon arrival, go past nook crannys and continue WEST and then NORTH until you pass group #6 and there should be flooring, etc..
-groups #1-20 are located on the LEFT side of the wedding organ. #21-40 are on the RIGHT side of the wedding organ
Major thanks to /fireplayer who helped collect a lot of the stuff!
Rules:

• Nothing in pockets
• DIYs are free to take
• 3-4 people at a time on my island
• Be nice to other people and wait till they're finished cataloging the group you want
• You're welcome to skip groups, catalog some groups, or whatever you want
• LEAVE THROUGH AIRPORT~~~
• pls let me know if there's that catalog bug or you can't pick up items/drop items
• you're ALLOWED TO RUN OVER MY FLOWERS/ PICK THEM UP. I don't mind since I don't play that much anymore
• you're ALLOWED to shop at nooks or ables and buy anything you want

Table of contents(Credit to /par016 for the list) < Furniture ONLY

1. Potted Plants (39 Items)
2. Basic Instruments and Equipment (41 Items)
3. Intermediate Instruments (28 Items)
4. Advanced Instruments (36 Items)
5. Toys and Trinkets (49 Items)
6. Diner Set (54 Items)
7. Asian Items (37 Items)
8. Imperial Set (28 Items)
9. Rattan Set (60 Items)
10. Antique Set (30 Items)
11. Cute Set (50 Items)
12. Glow in the Dark (23 Items)
13. Fun at the Beach (63 Items)
14. Arcade/Gaming Room (49 Items)
15. Throwback Items (57 Items)
16. Containers (31 Items)
17. Work/Office (44 Items)
18. Living Room Essentials (65 Items)
19. Large Kitchen Appliances (38 Items)
20. Small Kitchen Appliances (52 Items)
21. Bathroom Furnishings (50 Items)
22. Audio / Video (44 Items)
23. Bedroom (55 Items)
24. BeaPanda Families (21 Items)
25. Pet (28 Items)
26. Clocks (39 Items)
27. School (59 Items)
28. Lighting (21 Items)
29. Workshop (24 Items)
30. Home/Office Electronics (48 Items)
31. Heating and Cooling (45 Items)
32. Home Furniture (66 Items)
33. Gym (54 Items)
34. Sports / Camping (57 Items)
35. Kitchen (65 Items)
36. Outdoor Items (65 Items)
37. Aroma Therapy (21 Items)
38. Interior Design (54 Items)
39. Exterior Design (39 Items)
40. Laundry and Sewing (47 Items)

Group 1 - Potted Plants - (39 ITEMS)

• 5 Anthurium Plant (Black, Brown, Light Blue, Pink, White)
• 1 Cacao Tree
• 5 Cat Grass (Black, Light Blue, Pink, Red, White)
• 5 Cypress Plant (Black, Blue, Brown, White, Yellow)
• 6 Fan Palm (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, White)
• 4 Floating Biotope Planter (Artistic, Black, Brown, White)
• 1 Mini-Cactus Set
• 6 Monstera (Black, Blue, Brown, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Moss Ball
• 5 Yucca (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, White)

Group 2 - Basic Instruments and Equipment - (41 ITEMS)

• 1 Alto Sax
• 7 Amp (Black, White, Red, Brown, Orange, Pink, Blue)
• 6 Effects Rack (White, Orange, Black, Pink, Red, Blue)
• 1 Marimba
• 5 Metronome (Black, Cream, Blue, Brown, Red)
• 1 Mic Stand
• 3 Pedal Board (Black, Pink, Green)
• 8 Record Box (Red, Black, Blue, Green, White, Yellow, Pink, Grey)
• 8 Rock Guitar (Coral Pink, Sunburst, Cosmo Black, Fire Red, Natural Wood, Chic White, Cool Blue, Orange-Yellow)
• 1 Silver Mic

Group 3 - Intermediate Instruments - (28 ITEMS)

• 4 DJ's Turntable (Black, Brown, Pink, White)
• 8 Drum Set (Black & White, Rose Pink, Pearl White, Golden Yellow, Cosmo Black, Marine Blue, Evergreen, Natural Wood)
• 8 Piano Bench (Blue, White, Light Green, Red, Green, Black, Brown, Camel)
• 4 Street Organ (Natural, Blue, Dark Brown, Yellow)
• 4 Upright Piano (Walnut, White, Black, Maple)

Group 4 - Advanced Instruments - (36 ITEMS)

• 3 Cello (Natural, White, Black)
• 8 Electric Bass (Chic White, Cosmo Black, Ash Green, Shocking Pink, Deep Ocean, Natural Wood, Space Silver, Sunburst)
• 7 Electric Guitar (Dark Red, Natural Wood, Cherry, Sunburst, Marine Emerald, Chic White, Cosmo Black)
• 3 Fancy Violin (Natural, White, Black)
• 4 Grand Piano (Black, White, Cherry, Walnut)
• 5 Harp (Light Brown, White, Brown, Black, Dark Brown)
• 6 Synthesizer (Silver, Red, Blue, Brown, Black, Yellow)

Group 5 - Toys and Trinkets - (49 ITEMS)

• 1 Bingo Wheel
• 3 Board Game (Kids, Simple Path, Territory)
• 3 Bottled Ship (Leisure, Pirate, Trading)
• 2 Chessboard (Black, Brown)
• 6 dolly (Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Red, White)
• 6 Electric Kick Scooter (Blue, Green, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 2 Electronics Kit (Black, Green)
• 2 Fortune Telling Set (Black, Purple)
• 3 Globe (Cool, Sepia, Standard)
• 1 Go Board
• 2 magic kit (Blue, Red)
• 1 Newton’s Cradle
• 1 Plasma Ball
• 1 Sea Globe
• 1 Snow Globe
• 4 Toy Box (Blue, Green, Gray, Pink)
• 4 Train Set (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)
• 5 Tricycle (Black, Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)
• 1 Unfinished Puzzle

Group 6 - Diner Set - (54 ITEMS)

• 7 Diner Chair (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 7 Diner Counter Chair (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 7 Diner Counter Table (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 7 Diner Dining Table (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 7 Diner Mini Table (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 7 Diner Neon Clock (Blue, Cream, Pink, Purple, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)
• 5 Diner Neon Sign (Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red)
• 7 Diner Sofa (Black, Blue, Cream, Pink, Red, Aquamarine, Yellow)

Group 7 - Asian Items - (37 ITEMS)

• 4 Autograph Card (Handprint, Illustration, Signature, Words of Wisdom)
• 3 Cypress Bathtub (Dark Wood, Light Wood, Natural Wood)
• 5 Elaborate Kimono Stand (Balls, Cranes, Hawk, Tree Peonies, Wisteria)
• 5 Hanging Scroll (Blue, Brown, Green, Pink, Purple)
• 1 Kimono Stand
• 1 Kotatsu
• 3 Low Screen (Brown, Dark Brown, Light Brown)
• 3 Paper Lantern (Dark Wood, Natural Wood, Orange Wood)
• 5 Screen (Bamboo, Dragon, Pine, Plum, Tiger)
• 4 Tatami Bed (Black, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Natural)
• 3 Traditional Tea Set (Floral, Goldfish, Plain)

Group 8 - Imperial Set - (28 ITEMS)

• 4 Imperial Bed (Black, Blue, Brown, Red)
• 4 Imperial Chest (Black, Blue, Brown, Red)
• 4 Imperial Decorative Shelf (Black, Blue, Brown, Red)
• 2 Imperial Dining Chair (Black, Brown)
• 4 Imperial Dining Lantern (Black, Blue, Gold, Red)
• 2 Imperial Dining Table (Brown, Red)
• 4 Imperial Low Table (Black, Blue, Brown, Red)
• 4 Imperial Partition (Black, Blue, Brown, Red)

Group 9 - Rattan Set (60 ITEMS)

• Colors are Brown, Reddish Brown, Light Brown, White, Grey, Black
• Items in each color are armchair, bed, end table, low table, stool, table lamp, towel basket, vanity, wardrobe, waste bin

Group 10 - Antique Set (30 ITEMS)

• Colors are Black, Brown, Natural
• Items in each color are bed, bureau, chair, clock, console table, mini table, phone, table, vanity, wardrobe

Group 11 - Cute Set (50 ITEMS)

• Colors are White, Sky Blue, Yellow, Red, Blue
• Items in each color are bed, chair, DIY table, floor lamp, music player, sofa, tea table, vanity, wall-mounted clock, wardrobe

Group 12 - Glow in the Dark - (23 ITEMS)

• 8 Floor light (Blue, Green, Light Blue, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White)
• 7 Rocket lamp (Blue, Red, Yellow, Turquoise, Purple, Green, Pink)
• 8 Soft-serve lamp (Vanilla, Purple Sweet Potato, Mango, Pale Sky, Green Tea, Chocolate Swirl, Strawberry Swirl, Rainbow)

Group 13 - Fun at the Beach - (63 ITEMS)

• 4 Beach Ball (Blue, Colorful, Red, Watermelon)
• 6 Beach Chair (Black, Blue, Orange, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 1 Beach Towel
• 8 Cassette Player (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 4 Cooler Box (Blue, Green, Red, Yellow)
• 8 Elephant Slide (Black, Blue, Gray, Light Blue, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Fire Pit
• 7 Hammock (Black, Blue, Brown, Light Brown, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 6 Lawn Chair (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red White & Blue, Yellow)
• 4 Life Ring (Blue, Orange, Red, Yellow)
• 6 Picnic Basket (Blue, Gray, Green, Red, White, Yellow)
• 2 Sand Castle (Natural Sand, White Sand)
• 6 Surfboard (Brown, Cool, Hibiscus Flower, Red, Stripes, White)

Group 14 - Arcade/Gaming Room - (49 ITEMS)

• 1 ACNH Nintendo Switch
• 3 Arcade Game (Combat Game, Fighting Game, Mahjong Game)
• 3 Arcade Seat (Red, Gray, Blue)
• 3 Billiards Table (Green, Red, Blue)
• 4 Candy Machine (Red, Yellow, Pink, Blue)
• 1 Dartboard
• 4 Desktop Computer (Black, Pink, Silver, White)
• 4 Exit Sign (Left and Right Arrows, Left Arrow, Red Exit, Right Arrow)
• 3 Foosball Table (Blue, Brown, Dark Brown)
• 1 Jukebox
• 7 Laptop (Black, Blue, Gold, Pink, Red, Silver, White)
• 1 Nintendo Switch
• 5 Pinball Machine (White, Red, Blue, Black, Brown)
• 6 Retro Gas Pump (Black, Green, Red, Retro, White, Yellow)
• 1 Server
• 1 Tennis Table
• 1 Velvet Stool

Group 15 - Throwback Items - (57 ITEMS)

• 7 Throwback Container (Black, Blue, Green, Light Blue, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Throwback Dino Screen
• 3 Throwback Gothic Mirror (Black, Red, White)
• 8 Throwback Hat Table (Baseball, Black & Orange, Black & Yellow, Blue, Green, Red, White & Blue, White & Red)
• 6 Throwback Mitt (Blue, Brown, Camel, Green, Red, White)
• 7 Throwback Race-Car Bed (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 6 Throwback Rocket (Silver, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black)
• 6 Throwback Skull Radio (Ash, Black, Gray, Green, Red, White)
• 7 Throwback Wall Clock (Blue, Gray, Green, Purple, Red, White, Yellow)
• 6 Throwback Wrestling Figure (Black, Blue, Gold, Green, Pink, Red)

Group 16 - Containers - (31 ITEMS)

• 7 Cardboard Box (Apples, Cherries, Labeled, Oranges, Peaches, Pears, Plain)
• 7 Garbage Bin (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Garbage Can
• 1 Garbage Pail
• 1 Metal Can
• 8 Oil Barrel (Blue, Caution, Damaged, Green, Light Blue, Light Green, Orange, Red)
• 5 Plastic Canister (Blue, Gray, Green, Red, White)
• 1 Tin Bucket

Group 17 - Work/Office - (44 ITEMS)

• 2 Aluminum Briefcase (Gold Bars, Stacks of Cash)
• 8 Changing Room (Beige , Black, Blue, Brown, Dark Brown, Gray, Green, Pink)
• 4 Director's Chair (Black, Dark Brown, Light Brown, White)
• 1 Judge's Bell
• 7 Modern Office Chair (Black, Blue, Green, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)
• 4 Office Desk (Beige & White, Brown & Black, Gray, White)
• 5 Popcorn Machine (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red)
• 2 Shaved Ice Machine (Green, Silver)
• 3 Smoker (Black, Green, Silver)
• 4 Writing Chair (Dark Brown, Light Brown, Natural, White)
• 4 Writing Desk (Dark Brown, Light Brown, Natural, White)

Group 18 - Living Room Essentials - (65 ITEMS)

• 8 Box Corner Sofa (Black, Magenta, Navy Blue, Orange, Pink, Turquoise, White, Yellow)
• 8 Box Sofa (Black, Magenta, Navy Blue, Orange, Pink, Turquoise, White, Yellow)
• 1 Breaker
• 4 Broom and Dustpan (Colorful, Dark Brown , Natural, White)
• 8 Double Sofa (Black, Blue, Dark Brown, Green, Light Brown, Red, White, Yellow)
• 4 Fireplace (Beige, Dark Brown, Red, White)
• 8 LCD TV (20 in.) (20 in.) (Black, Blue, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 5 LCD TV (50 in.) (50 in.) (Black, Blue, Red, Silver, White)
• 4 Light Switch (Gray, Brown, White, Wood Grain)
• 1 Retro Radiator
• 8 Wall-Mounted TV (20 in.) (Black, Blue, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 5 Wall-Mounted TV (50 in.) (Black, Blue, Red, Silver, White)
• 1 Wood Burning Stove

Group 19 - Large Kitchen Appliances - (38 ITEMS)

• 4 Double-Door Refrigerator (Black, Red, Silver, White)
• 4 Freezer (Beige, Black, Silver, White)
• 5 Gas Range (Black, Blue, Red, Silver, White)
• 7 Kitchen Island (Black, Blue, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Red, Silver, White)
• 1 Open-Frame Kitchen
• 8 Refrigerator (Black, Blue, Brown, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 8 System Kitchen (Black, Blue, Brown, Natural, Off-White, Red, Yellow, White)
• 1 Utility Sink

Group 20 - Small Kitchen Appliances - (52 ITEMS)

• 7 Espresso Maker (Black, Blue, Green, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 4 Microwave (Black, Green, Red, White)
• 8 Mini Fridge (Black, Blue, Gray, Pink, Red, White, Wood Grain, Yellow)
• 8 Mixer (Bananas, Blueberries, Carrots, Green Smoothie, Kiwifruit, Oranges, Strawberries, Tomatoes)
• 6 Pop-up toaster (Green, Light Blue, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 5 Rice Cooker (Berry Red, Black, Brown, Silver, White)
• 8 Soup Kettle (Borscht, Congee, Corn Soup, Cream Stew, Curry, Green Curry, Hot-and-sour soup, Minestrone)
• 6 Stand Mixer (Black, Gray, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)

Group 21 - Bathroom Furnishings - (50 ITEMS)

• 3 Bathroom Sink (Beige, Black, White)
• 4 Bathroom Towel Rack (Black, Copper, Gold, Silver)
• 1 Bidet
• 6 Claw-Foot Tub (Black, Blue, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 7 Digital Scale (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, White, Yellow)
• 7 Long Bathtub (Black Marble, Green, light blue, Pink, Two-Toned Tile, White, White Marble)
• 4 Shower Booth (Black, Blue, Pink, White)
• 4 Shower Set (Black, Copper, Gold, Silver)
• 1 Squat Toilet
• 1 Standing Toilet
• 5 Tankless Toilet (Black, Ivory, Light Blue, Pink, White)
• 3 Toilet (Dark Wood, Natural Wood, White)
• 2 Toilet-Cleaning Set (Colorful, Monotone)
• 2 Whirlpool Bath (Black, White)

Group 22 - Audio / Video - (44 ITEMS)

• 1 Film Projector
• 1 Hi-Fi Stereo
• 1 High-End Stereo
• 1 Phonograph
• 8 Portable Radio (Black, Blue, Green, Light Blue, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 6 Portable Record Player (Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Black, Orange)
• 3 Pro Tape Recorder (Black, Brown, Gray)
• 2 Retro Stereo (Black, Brown)
• 8 Studio Spotlight (Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White, Yellow)
• 8 Studio Wall Spotlight (Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White, Yellow)
• 4 Tape Deck (Black, Orange, Silver, White)
• 2 TV Camera (Black, White)

Group 23 - Bedroom - (55 ITEMS)

• 5 Accessories Stand (Black, Brown, Light Blue, Pink, White)
• 7 Bunk Bed (Black, Blue, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 4 Cartoonist Set (Black, Brown, Pink, Silver)
• 3 Corkboard (Blue, Natural, White)
• 6 Desk Mirror (Black, Blue, Gold, Pink, Red, White)
• 8 Loft Bed with Desk (Black, Blue, Brown, Light Blue, Natural, Orange, Pink, White)
• 2 Nail Art Set (Black, Pink)
• 8 Rings (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Pink, Red, Turquoise, White)
• 4 Safe (Black, Gold, Silver, White)
• 8 Simple Panel (Black, Brown, Copper, Gold, Light Brown, Light Gray, Silver, White)

Group 24 - BeaPanda Families - (21 ITEMS)

• 6 Baby Bear (Caramel Mocha, Checkered, Choco, Cream, Floral, Tweed)
• 1 Baby Panda
• 6 Mama Bear (Caramel Mocha, Checkered, Choco, Cream, Floral, Tweed)
• 1 Mama Panda
• 6 Papa Bear (Caramel Mocha, Checkered, Choco, Cream, Floral, Tweed)
• 1 Papa Panda

Group 25 - Pet - (28 ITEMS)

• 1 Ant Farm
• 1 Brine-Shrimp Aquarium
• 6 Cat Tower (Beige , Brown, Gray, Navy Blue, Pink , White)
• 5 Hamster Cage (Blue, Brown, Pink, Red, Yellow)
• 7 Kitty Litter box (Black, Brown, Green, Light Blue, Orange, Pink, White)
• 3 Pet Bed (Dark Brown, Natural, White)
• 5 Pet Food Bowl (Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Red)

Group 26 - Clocks - (39 ITEMS)

• 7 Cuckoo Clock (Black, Blue, Green, Natural, Red, White, Yellow)
• 8 Digital Alarm Clock (Black, Blue, Light Blue, Lime, Orange, Pink, Purple, White)
• 6 Double Sided Wall Clock (Black, Green, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 4 Hourglass (Black, Brown, Natural, White)
• 8 Old Fashioned Alarm Clock (Black, Copper, Gold, Light Blue, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 1 Pendulum Clock
• 5 Wall Clock (Black, Blue, Red, Silver, White)

Group 27 - School - (59 ITEMS)

• 1 Anatomical Model
• 3 Basic Teacher's Desk (Monotone, Standard, Wooden)
• 4 Book (Encyclopedia, Japanese Literature, Textbook, Western Literature)
• 7 Chalkboard (After School, Art, Blank, Club Activities, Foreign Language, Math, Music)
• 4 Essay Set (Blank, In Progress, Letter, Writer's Block)
• 1 Homework Set
• 1 Lab Experiment Set
• 2 Lecture-hall Bench (Dark Brown, Light Brown)
• 3 Lecture-hall Desk (Dark Brown, Light Brown, White)
• 1 Magazine
• 3 Microscope (Black, Silver, White)
• 4 Painting Set (Light Blue, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 1 Podium
• 6 School Chair (Beige & Green, Brown & White, Gray & Blue, Light Brown & Black, Natural & Silver, White & Red)
• 6 School Desk (Beige & Green, Brown & White, Gray & Blue, Light Brown & Black, Natural & Silver, White & Red)
• 1 Skeleton
• 7 Whiteboard (Blank, Brainstorming Meeting, Fact Finding Meeting, Language Classroom, Sales Meeting, Schedule, Strategy Meeting)
• 4 Writing Poster (Alphabet, Constellations, Multiplication Table, Periodic Table)

Group 28 - Lighting - (21 ITEMS)

• 4 Floor Lamp (Black, Brown, Natural, White)
• 8 Folding Floor Lamp (Black, Blue, Gray, Light Green, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 8 Shaded Floor Lamp (Blue, Green, Lime, Pink, Purple, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Table Lamp

Group 29 - Workshop - (24 ITEMS)

• 8 Tool Cart (Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Red, Silver, Yellow)
• 6 Toolbox (Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Red, Turquoise)
• 4 Tool Shelf (Black, Blue, Green, White)
• 6 Wall-Mounted Tool Board (Black, Blue, Camel, Red, White, Yellow)

Group 30 - Home/Office Electronics - (48 ITEMS)

• 7 Cordless Phone (Black, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 4 Fax Machine (Black, Brown, Red, White)
• 1 Intercom Monitor
• 8 Rotary Phone (Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 1 Surveillance Camera
• 6 Typewriter (Black, Blue, Brown, Gold, Green, Silver)
• 7 Upright Vacuum (Black, Green, Orange, Pink, Red, Silver, White)
• 5 Vacuum Cleaner (Black, Gray, Green, Red, Yellow)
• 3 Video Camera (Black, Red, Silver)
• 6 Wall-Mounted Phone (Black, Blue, Gray, Red, Silver, White)

Group 31 - Heating and Cooling - (45 ITEMS)

• 5 Air Circulator (Black, Green, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 6 Air conditioner (Black, Blue, Brown, Gray, Pink, White)
• 4 Fan (Black, Light Blue, Pink, White)
• 8 Humidifier (Blue, Brown, Green, Natural, Pink, Purple, White, Yellow)
• 3 Retro Fan (Blue, Green, Orange)
• 6 Round Space Heater (Black, Green, Light Blue, Orange, Red, White)
• 5 Ventilation Fan (Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, White)
• 8 Wall Fan (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)

Group 32 - Home Furniture - (72 ITEMS)

• 7 Baby Chair (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 4 Book Stand (Black, Brown, Colorful, Pastel)
• 6 Clothes Closet (Black, Blue, Light Blue, Orange, Pink , White)
• 1 Cushion
• 6 Den Chair (Black, Brown, Camel, Green, Red, White)
• 5 Den Desk (Brown Wood, Dark Wood, Natural Wood, Red Wood, White)
• 4 Floor Seat (Black, Dark Wood, Light Wood, Natural)
• 5 Floor Sign (No Entry, No Parking, Slippery, Stop, Warning)
• 6 Folding Chair (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, White)
• 1 Futon
• 8 Inflatable Sofa (Blue, Camouflage, Green, Lime, Pink, Polka dots, Purple, Rainbow)
• 6 Serving Cart (Black, Brown, Natural, Red, White, White & Silver)
• 1 Table with Cloth
• 1 Telescope
• 6 Tissue Box (Blue, Natural Wood, Rattan, Red, Yellow, White)
• 4 Vintage TV Tray (Black, Copper, Gold, Silver)
• 1 Wheelchair

Group 33 - Gym - (54 ITEMS)

• 1 Blue Corner
• 4 Climbing Wall (Blue, Natural, Pink, White)
• 5 Exercise Ball (Black, Blue, Gold, Pink, White)
• 4 Exercise Bike (Black, Red, White, Yellow)
• 6 Handy Water Cooler (Avocado, Blue, Green, Plaid, Red, Yellow)
• 1 Neutral Corner
• 4 Protein Shaker Bottle (Cocoa Flavored, Plain, Strawberry Flavored, Vanilla Flavored)
• 4 Pull-up-bar stand (Black, Blue, Red, Yellow)
• 3 Punching Bag (Black, Blue, Red)
• 1 Red Corner
• 3 Speed Bag (Black, Blue, Red)
• 3 Stadiometer (Blue, Gray, Pink)
• 4 Treadmill (Black, Blue, Red, White)
• 7 Upright Locker (Black, Blue, Green, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 2 Water Cooler (Black, White)
• 1 Weight Bench
• 1 Zen Cushion

Group 34 - Sports / Camping - (57 ITEMS)

• 4 Ball (Basketball, Dodgeball, Soccer Ball, Volleyball)
• 3 Basketball Hoop (Black, Blue, Green)
• 6 Camp stove (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, Yellow)
• 1 Campfire Cookware
• 8 Camping Cot (Blue, Camouflage, Green, Pop Pattern, Red, Simple Pattern, Snow Camouflage, Yellow)
• 5 Candle (Black, Copper, Gold, Silver, White)
• 1 football
• 6 Golf Bags (Brown, Green, Multicolor, Pink, Red, Silver)
• 8 Lantern (Black, Blue, Gold, Green, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)
• 6 Mountain Bike (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 1 Oil Lamp
• 8 Sleeping Bag (Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, White, Yellow)

Group 35 - Kitchen - (65 ITEMS)

• 8 Analog Kitchen Scale (Black, Blue, Green, Ivory, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Yellow)
• 6 Coffee Cup (Elegant, Floral, Plain, Polka Dots, Rose, Royal)
• 1 Coffee Grinder
• 4 Cream and Sugar (Brown, Floral, Silver, White)
• 1 Dinnerware
• 6 Dish Drying Rack (Black, Blue, Red, Silver, White, Yellow)
• 1 Kettle
• 3 Knife Block (Black, Natural, Silver)
• 3 Magnetic Knife Rack (Pop, Stainless Steel, Wooden)
• 8 Mug (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red, Turquoise, White, Yellow)
• 2 Pot Rack (Pop, Stainless Steel Wooden)
• 3 Revolving Spice Rack (Brown, Orange, White)
• 7 Simple Kettle (Black, Blue, Green, Navy Blue, Red, White, Yellow)
• 3 Stovetop Espresso Maker (Black, Red, Silver)
• 5 Table Setting (Black, Light Blue, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 4 Tea Set (Blue, Green, Red, White)

Group 36 - Outdoor Items - (65 ITEMS)

• 5 Barbecue (Black, Green, Red, White, Yellow)
• 1 Clay Furnace
• 5 Garden Faucet (Concrete, Mosaic Tile, Red Brick, Stainless, Wooden)
• 8 Garden Gnome (Sprightly, Sleepy, Surprised, Reliable, Hungry, Laid-back, Passionate, Rebel)
• 3 Garden Lantern (Black, Bronze, White)
• 6 Handcart (Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, Yellow)
• 6 Hose reel (Black, Blue, Green, Red, Silver, Yellow)
• 5 lawn mower (Blue, Green, Orange, Red, Yellow)
• 1 Outdoor Air Conditioner
• 5 Outdoor Bench (Black, Blue, Green, Red, White)
• 6 Outdoor Generator (Blue, Orange, Red, Silver, Turquoise, Yellow)
• 5 Outdoor Table (Black, Blue, Green, Red, White)
• 6 Plastic Pool (Blue, Colorful, Green, Orange, Pink, Polka Dots)
• 3 Poolside Bed (Brown, Dark Brown, Light Brown)

Group 37 - Aroma Therapy - (21 ITEMS)

• 5 Fragrance Diffuser (Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 4 Fragrance sticks (Black, Blue, Brown, Green)
• 6 Glass Holder with Candle (Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Red, White)
• 6 Incense burner (Cherry Blossom, Deep Sea, Forest, Rose, Sandalwood, Tea)

Group 38 - Interior Design - (63 ITEMS)

• 1 Butterfly-Fish Model
• 5 Celebratory Candles (Black, Blue, Brown, Light Brown, White)
• 4 Champions pennant (Black, Blue, Green, Red)
• 3 Formal Paper (Brown, Dark Brown, Light Brown)
• 5 Gears (Black, Colorful, Copper, Silver, Wooden)
• 1 Grasshopper-head model
• 4 Macrame tapestry (Blue, Green, Pink, White)
• 1 Mantis Head Model
• 5 Mobile (Gorgeous, Hot Air Balloons, Ocean Creatures, Sheep, Space)
• 1 Mounted Black Bass
• 1 Mounted Blue Marlin
• 1 Paper Tiger
• 6 Party Garland (Boating Stripes, Colorful, Gorgeous, Orange & Black, Pastel, Pop)
• 5 Pennant (Classic, Souvenir, Sponsor, Sports, University)
• 6 Sanrio Posters (Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty, Kerokerokeroppi, Kiki & Lala, My Melody, Pompompurin)
• 6 Tapestry (Animal, Bird, Fairy Tale, Floral, Geometric Pattern, Snow)
• 5 Wall-mounted Candle (Black, Copper, Gold, Silver, White)
• 1 Wasp-head model
• 2 World Map (Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean) - I know these are customizable

Group 39 - Exterior Design - (39 ITEMS)

• 8 Heart Doorplate (Blue, Green, Light Blue, Monotone, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red)
• 5 Colorful Wheel (Black & Red, Colorful Numbers, Items, Two-toned Numbers, Win or Lose)
• 8 Cone (Blue, Caution Stripes, Green Stripes, Red, Red Stripes, Reflective Stripes, White, Yellow)
• 4 Fishing Boat Flag (Bounty, Big Catch, Longevity, Launch)
• 3 Flashy-Flower Sign (Cute, Elegant, Pop)
• 5 Menu Chalkboard (Blue, Dark Brown, Natural, Red, White)
• 2 Mr Flamingo (Natural, White)
• 2 Mrs. Flamingo (Natural, White)
• 2 Skull Doorplate (Brown, White)

Group 40 - Laundry and Sewing - (47 ITEMS)

• 6 Automatic Washer (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, White, Yellow)
• 2 Clothesline Pole (Blue, Silver)
• 6 Deluxe Washer (Black, Blue, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 4 Drying Rack (Black, Ivory, Silver, White)
• 1 ironing board
• 1 Ironing Set
• 1 loom
• 3 Old Sewing Machine (Black, Green, Silver)
• 3 Pants Press (Black, Brown, Gray)
• 7 Sewing Machine (Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Red, White, Yellow)
• 6 Sewing Project (Black, Blue, Green, Ivory, Pink, Yellow)
• 1 Spinning Wheel
• 6 Sturdy Sewing Box (Black, Brown, Dark Brown, Natural, Navy Blue, White)

Brief summary:

• Arrived to Narita on the 21st Dec 2019 and left on the 11th Jan 2020.
• We stayed in Tokyo, Shirakawago, Shin-hotaka, Takayama, Sendai, Fukushima, Naoshima and Hiroshima.
• I have travelled to Japan many times before but it was my partner’s first time.
• Snow season started late this time so we didn’t see snow in a few places that we expected to but we still had pretty good experience with heavy snow falls in other places.
• Partner isn’t interested in temples and shrines and I’ve seen enough so we only went to a few small ones on our way.
• We did a lot of shopping and also had a few lazy days when we could sleep in and only have 1 or 2 plans for the day.
• I did a 2 years Japanese language course and spoke a little so it wasn’t too bad travelling around.
• When we were planning the trip, my relatives from Vietnam were planning to come to Tokyo during this period too. That’s why I decided to stay in Tokyo for 4 nights before we headed down south so I could hang out with them. Unfortunately, my relatives cancelled their trip last minute and we couldn’t be bothered changing our itinerary anymore.

Some tips: - Since we travelled between cities a lot, we decided to just stay in hotels near the stations rather than airbnbs. That also means we didn’t need to pack our pyjamas and some toiletry stuff. Most hotels also come with massage chairs for ¥200-300/15 mins, one hotel offered free massage chair in the common area. We stayed in Shinagawa for most of the time in Tokyo since it’s also one of the main shinkansen stops. - For the night before our departure day, we stayed in Oosaki, where we could easily find a bus to Narita airport for ¥1,000 per person. - Took the bus from Narita to Shinagawa, chucked all our suitcases in the bus, had a good nap without worries and the bus arrived at right in front of our hotel. - Shopping at this time was amazing, most things were 40-60% off for end of the yeanew year sale. - Can’t trust google on opening and closing hours during the new year holiday. Do check the stores/ restaurants’ websites or social media to be sure. - Make sure to do some research for special bus packages if you visit Takayama and the alps. - Sendai is such a good place for shopping without the crowds and impolite chinese tourists. - Most hotels provided umbrellas when it’s snowing or raining. - We used our debit card which doesn’t have any hidden fees so withdrawing cash or paying by card was so easy. It was also convenient using our Suica cards at conbinis or vending machines.

Details:

Day 1: Tokyo Arrive around 9am and pick our sim-card up at the airport post office. Took bus to Shinagawa.
Left luggage at the hotel and went to the station to take care of JR pass and reserve Shinkansen tickets.
After lunch we headed to Yayoi Kusama museum, tickets were reserved online for the 3pm session.
Headed to Shinjuku central afterward to exchange money and had some drinks at a small local bar in an old and depressing building. Nice cocktails and good selection of Japanese whiskey for reasonable prices.
Went to winter illumination nearby in Shinjuku before heading back to our hotel.
Day2: Tokyo Got up early and head to Aomi station in Odaiba for Teamlab Borderless at 10am. The queue was quite long when we got there. Spent 3 hours there and then proceeded to Teamlab Planet. We got tickets for the 1:30pm session. Lunch at the food stall at Teamlab Planets. Spent about 1,5 hour there.
Went to DiverCity for the giant gundam figure and headed to Yurakucho station to meet a friend for dinner.
Went to Shibuya to see another friend at Tsutaya, had dessert and drinks at the cafe on the 7th floor, nice vibe. Went to Tower Records and the Don quijote to get some stuff for winter (heated foot pads, gel, eyemasks, foot masks, etc).
Day 3: Shirakawago Took the train from Shinagawa station in the morning.
Arrived to Toyama and got bus tickets to Shirakawago. Arrived around 1:20pm. It wasn’t snowing there at all. We left the luggage at Shirakawago no yu ryokan and went to get lunch and walked around town.
The weather was pleasant, it wasn’t as cold as we expected. We took a pleasant walk to the observatory and back to the village around 4pm.
Took a bath at the onsen after we got back from our walk. It was less crowded then. I’ve been to this hotel before and realised they lifted the tattoo ban in the onsen.
We did another evening walk after dinner and returned early to rest.
Day 4: ShinHotaka Left Shirakawago at 10:20am to Takayama. Got the Okuhida Marugoto 3 days value tickets. Leave for Okuhida on the 11:40am bus. Started seeing a lot of snow on the way.
Got to Shinhotaka ropeway bus stop around 1:30pm. Left luggage at Hotel Hotaka and went to Ropeway terminal to have lunch at the restaurant there. The food wasn’t bad at all.
The mountain was covered in snow so it was quite nice for a walk before we checked in.
We decided before the trip to spend a quiet and peaceful Christmas in the mountain and rest up after all the travelling so we booked a room for 2 nights here. The rate is AUD720 for a room with views for 2 nights including breakfasts and dinners. The onsen was top notch. Clean and well taken care of. I tried to go early before dinner and I had the whole female bath for myself. The outdoor onsen was beautiful with mountains covered in snow views and their amenity was excellent. Dinner was delightful with so many local dishes. A staff dressed in Santa Claus outfit went around the tables giving out small packs of Christmas treats as presents. There wasn’t much to do around. My partner went to the onsen while I spent time on the massage chair. We bought some beer and enjoyed a slow and quiet Christmas’s eve in front of the fireplace at the lounge.
Day 5: ShinHotaka (Okuhida) Woke up with the view of the mountain covered in thick snow and a peak of the alps.
Went back to bed after breakfast because we were lazy.
Took the bus to Hiruya onsen and had lunch at a restaurant near the bus terminal.
Walked around town, had some onsen eggs, did some souvenirs shopping and bought some beer at a convenient store. It’s way cheaper than getting anything from ShinHotaka ropeway as there were no convenient stores nearby. We just enjoyed the snow and played with some Shiba inus on the streets lol. Had cake in a cafe near the bus stop and got back to ShinHotaka ropeway terminal around 4:30pm.
More relaxing time at the onsen. Dinner at the hotel and went to star gazing at 9pm, this was organised by the hotel.
Day 6: ShinHotaka - Takayama Went to ShinHotaka Ropeway in the morning. It was very cloudy and misty. We couldn’t see the alps at the lookout but it was snowing quite heavily and we went for a walk at the park outside the ropeway station. Had lunch at the ropeway station.
Took the bus to Takayama around 2pm and got to the city around 3:45pm.
Checked in at the hotel and went to a late lunch/early dinner at a place called Kyouya. Lucky we went early as you need a reservation for dinner. The food was good, we had more Hida beef yakiniku and tried some local beer. The owner and staff were very friendly and chatty.
Went back to the main shopping district and walked around after dinner.
Went to the hotel’s public bath and around 10pm we felt a bit hungry. It was raining at the time but we decided to go to Dekonaru yokocho for supper, it was 7 mins walk from the hotel.
We settled in an oden place which sat comfortably 8 customers at a time. There was English menu and the owner spoke English just fine. She used to study English in Melbourne (AUS) and we had a lot to share about the city. Some young customers were interested and tried to speak English to us too. The owner also tried to make us feel included in every conversation with other local customers. We had a lot to drink and left when it was almost 1am.
Day 7: Takayama Had a bit of a hangover in the morning so we slept in.
Went to a place called Ryu Ryu for lunch. Ordered Hida beef ramen and it was so good.
I decided to do a little food tour around Takayama old town. Went to Pudding Tei and tried their Snow pudding which was good too. Had Hida beef gyuman, Hida beef croquette, pumpkin cheesecake, Hida beef sushi, dango and sake tasting.
Went to the Showa museum and it was so much fun, especially since I was exposed to Japanese media/culture since the 80s-90s.
It was snowing very heavily in Takayama. And the old town was flooded with so many tourists. Shops started to close around 5pm.
We went back to our hotel for a bath and went to a sushi bar in Dekonaru for dinner around 10:30pm. The sushi bar sat about 8 people max. Sushi chef spoke fluent English and showed us an English menu. We ordered the premium set and it was delicious. Chef wasn’t very chatty but he was really attentive and polite. The food was great for 2 people for 50AUD.
Day 8: Sendai Took the train at 11am to Toyama. From Toyama took another train to Omiya and then to Sendai.
Went to the shopping centre next to Sendai station to find food but ended up doing a lot of shopping. There are a lot of good Japanese brands and brands from Europe. Shopping was a lot easier in Sendai since it doesn’t seem to be a big tourist spot or popular with Chinese tourists.
Had pizza for dinner and it was really good. Went to the arcade and spent an hour or more there. Met up with a friend from Sendai for a drink in Aoba.
Day 9: Sendai Took the train to Matsushima in the afternoon because we were dead tired from the day before and decided to sleep in.
Went to have “all you can eat” oysters (¥2000 for 40 mins) and it was good fun. I was so bad at opening up the shells and the Japanese girl sitting across me must have felt bad watching me. She signalled me to follow how she did and I master the art of eating oysters lol. After 30 mins I already got sick of oysters and thought I would never wanna eat oysters again for at least a month or two.
Visited the Date Masamune museum. It was a nice sunny day but the wind at the bay was quite chilly. We wanted to take the ferry around the bay but we got lazy and wanna walk around town instead.
We tried some other local snacks like the huge rice cracker and fish cake.
Got back to Sendai and did more shopping. So much better than shopping in Tokyo or Osaka since there were like 85% less crowded. We found some vintage stores too with so many items in good quality.
Stumbled upon a hedgehog cafe. Late Yakiniku dinner near our hotel. Sendai beef was so good too. I only knew about Sendai gyutan before this trip and was pleasantly surprised about how good Sendai wagyu was.
Day 10: Sendai We slept in again.
Queued up for almost 50 mins for gyutan at a popular place right next to our hotel.
Went to Aoba Castle area.
Did more shopping.
Went back to the yakiniku near our hotel since most restaurants are fully booked. The owner recognised me from the night before and I wrote a good review for them on google and he gave us free dessert as a treat.
Day 11: Aizu-Miyashita (Fukushima) We went to the station early for breakfast. Then took the 10:40am train to Fukushima and arrived at Aizu-Miyashita around 2:30pm. Our train from Koriyama arrived later than the schedule and we almost missed the Tadami train from Aizu-Wakamatsu. Train only came once every hour so the staff actually waited for people to board the train.
Views from Tadami train were lovely. It started snowing heavily on our way to Aizu-Miyashita too.
My friend in Japan helped me to book a guest house which is less than 5 mins from the station. It was a small guesthouse with 3-4 rooms and ran by one old lady. She single-handedly prepared all breakfasts and dinners and also tried to use a Japanese - English translator to communicate with guests.
It was snowing really heavily so we only did a short walk to the Triple Arch Bridges. The town was so quiet. The only conbini opens until 7pm by an elder man. We stocked up as many drinks and snacks as it was the last day of the year and everywhere else would be closed for new year.
We had dinner at the guesthouses with other guests and exchanged our stories. The owner lady prepared dishes that Japanese always have for new year. There was a fireplace in the dining room and we just relaxed there drinking beer while watching Gaki no tsukai.
We wanted a quiet new year and that was it. In a town that the majority of the population is elderly, most shops and restaurants were closed for the new year holiday. Guess what we did for our new year’s eve? Watching NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen and other gameshows on TV lol.
Day 12: Aizu-Miyashita (Fukushima) We had a late breakfast and walked to the nearest shrine. Snow started melting then :(
Then we took a walk to the famous viewpoint of the Tadami river’s bridge. Took almost 50 mins since the roads were covered with snow and ice.
By the time we reached the viewpoints, the next train was coming in an hour or so. We basically just sat around waiting for the train to pass. Had some good views of the bridge but snow already melted a lot and it was quite windy so the water wasn’t very still.
Walked back to town and went to check out the onsen in a ryokan nearby.
Went to another viewpoint for another train passing by. This viewpoint is only 20 mins walk from the guest house so it was easy to get there.
We went back to our guesthouse and it started snowing again. Had dinner and rested up early since we were taking an early train the next day.
Day 13: Tokyo Breakfast at 7am and we took the 9am train back to Tokyo.
Got to Shinagawa around 2pm and checked in to our hotel.
Had a quick lunch in Ebisu and walked around Ebisu before going to Roppongi Hills for Mori Art Museum. The queue was a bit long since it was public holiday. We spent about 2 hours there and took a walk around Roppongi Hills. Had dinner in an udon restaurant in Roppongi.
Went back to the hotel early and had couple of drinks in a bar near the station
Day 14: Tokyo I wanted to take my partner to Meiji jingu. I don’t feel bad if he comes to Japan and not visited any of the major attractions but by the time we got to Harajuku station, it was flooded with people going to Meiji jingu. It was so crowded it probably would take up 30 mins to move for 100 metres. So yeah, screw it we went shopping.
We spent the whole day from Harajuku to Omotesando and then Aoyama then back to Harajuku.
Motsunabe for dinner. Well, my partner can’t eat this so he ordered something else and I was craving for motsunabe since I was in Sendai. However, most restaurants required at least 2 people for the dish and I couldn’t order motsunabe for one and I ended up finishing the whole pot for 2.
I wanted to check out some clubs in Tokyo but walking the whole day for shopping wore us out so much we ended up going back to the hotel to rest.
Day 15: Tokyo Headed to Harajuku again because some shops were closed on the previous days.
If you are interested in Japanese designer brands, check out Studious stores in Harajuku.
Went to Shimokitazawa for vintage clothings and had a couple of drinks in a bar there.
Went to Shinjuku to exchange for more cash and showed my partner Kabukicho at night.
Went to Ebisu so I can have Afuri ramen. It’s always my favourite ramen chain in Tokyo.
Day 16: Naoshima From Shinagawa we took the 8am train to Uno station.
Arrived at Naoshima around 2pm. We rented a bike and left our suitcases at the bike shop. Our luggage was delivered to the hotel by the bike shop staff.
Went to Chichu Art museum and had lunch there. Went to the yellow pumpkin and then Benness house.
Cycled to our hotel which is nearer to Honmura area. The italian restaurant attached to the hotel was actually really good. The pizzas were delicious and the dessert was beautiful.
Day 17: Inujima and Teshima Took the 9:20am ferry from Naoshima to Inujima.
Visited Seirensho Art Museum.
Walked around the island for the "Art House Project" and the dog statue.
Had lunch at Ticket center cafe.
I quite enjoyed Inujima, there aren’t many artworks on the island but every single one of them was memorable. The island population is only 50-70 people and majority of them are over 50-60 years old. We met some local who were very friendly to tourists. I’m glad this art project was done in this island and attracting more visitors. It felt very tranquil there.
Got to Teshima around 1:35pm. From the port we did a short walk to Yokoo house.
We walked back to the port and took the bus to Teshima Art Museum. The architecture was impressive.
We took the bus back to the port and got back to Naoshima around 4:40pm. Went to Naoshima famous public bath house “I Love Yu”.
Got back to the hotel and went to the nearby okonomiyaki restaurant for dinner. Food was delicious.
Day 18: Naoshima - Okayama - Onomichi In the morning we walked to Honmura for Naoshima Art House Project.
Personally I like every single art house project we visited that day. The staff was very attentive and informative and that helped us to understand the art works better.
Visited Ando museum. It’s a small building showcasing most of his works on the island and nearby islands. For someone who wasn’t familiar with him before, it was a good to visit the museum after actually seeing his works in person.
We walked back to the hotel and called for a cab to the port. Left Naoshima around noon.
My partner wanted to get some jeans from Momotaro jeans but we couldn’t find his size in Tokyo. We decided to stop by Okayama and went to the flagship store there. We walked around the main shopping district near Okayama station and had lunch there.
Arrived to Onomichi around 4pm.
Walked around the town centre and ended up having dinner in a modern looking restaurant that opens till late. We had different kamameshi sets with some drinks. Hiroshima lemon cocktails were so delicious.
Day 19: Onomichi The weather was terrible. It was raining heavily since the morning and was very windy. We went to Onomichi museum of art in the morning. Another building by Tadao Ando, it’s smaller than we expected. We walked around the area for half an hour and ended up having lunch at the cafe nearby.
I also got to try my favourite Yamaneko pudding near the station.
Despite the weather, we decided to follow our itinerary and visited Okunoshima in the afternoon. We got to the island around 2:30pm, had fun watching and feeding the rabbits and the poison gas museum. We didn’t actually read about the museum’s existence so it was quite interesting to see a dark past of Japan on an island full of wild rabbits.
We got back to Tadanoumi Port around 4pm. I saw on google map there was Princess Kaguya museum nearby so we took a walk there. It was a small old building but it was cute seeing all little details about the folklore.
Arrived to Onomichi around 7pm and I had Onomichi ramen in the shopping district while my partner opted for pizza in another italian place and it was surprisingly so good. For such a small town, there are quite MANY Italian restaurants.
Onomichi is really a quiet town, shops open late and close early, I wonder how they do business there. It didn’t look like there were many tourists either.
When I first came to Japan 5 years ago, my friend and I accidentally booked a hostel in Onomichi instead of Hiroshima center. We only stayed for 1 night but I had a good impression of the town and its people. That’s why I decided to come back to visit. Well, that’s not entirely true, another factor was that I’m a big fan of the Yakuza game franchise and Onomichi was one of the main locations featured in Yakuza 6 and I would love to visit and walk through the paths in the game.
It was fascinating to see how students taking the train back to Onomichi then waited for the ferry to return to their homes on another island. I remember taking a 15 mins direct bus to school back in highschool and I was often late or lazy to go to school then.
Onomichi is a really small city with not a lot to do to be honest. There were some new trendy-looking cafes popping up, good food and it made me feel like I could actually slow down and relax there. Will I come back? Definitely! And next time I would rent a bike and do the biking trails.
Day 20: Miyajima and Hiroshima We visited Miyajima in the morning. Got to the island around 10:40am.
I already read about the torii is currently under renovation but my main objective here is to try the oysters on Miyajima. And I thought I already got sick of oysters from Matsushima. How wrong I was…
Headed straight to Kakiya Honten for an early lunch and to beat the crowd too. Got a special set with lemon beer. It was so satisfying.
We walked to Daishoin Temple and Itsukushima Shrine. I got attacked by deers :( They tried to eat my paper map and my coat.
Tried oyster bun and more oyster snacks on the way back to the port.
We got to Hiroshima around 2pm. Took my partner to Peace memorial museum and even though I had been there 3 times, I still got so emotional. We took a walk to the park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.
We checked out the shopping district and had Hiroshima okonomiyaki for dinner.
Returned to Onomichi around 10pm.
Day 21: Tokyo We were supposed to take the 9:30am train to leave Onomichi and we got to the station almost 20 mins early, and then we took the wrong train lol. Neither of us realised that we took the train from the wrong platform even though I checked my tickets several times. Brain fart moment there.
We were desperate to take the train back at the next stop but guess what, every stop on from that train line is 12-15 mins apart from each other. By the time we arrived at the next stop, we were already late for our train. We still managed to rebook our tickets at Fukuyama JR station and ended up arriving at Tokyo around 4pm.
We returned to Harajuku because I wanted to get some coat from a shop there. Unfortunately the coat was sold out and the only place that had it in stock is in Takashimaya Shinjuku. We went to Shibuya to get some basketball cards for our friend and then headed to Shinjuku for last day shopping.
Apparently there was a 50% off for the coat I love after I left Tokyo earlier. So instead of buying 1 coat, I ended up getting 2 different ones :) We went to Don Quijote for some souvenir shopping and bought a small suitcase.
Returned to our hotel in Oosaki and started packing :(
Day 22: Last day in Tokyo Our flight was at 7:30pm so we had the whole morning hanging around the Ginza for window shopping.
Had my favourite chirashi don for lunch in a sushi restaurant while my partner opted for wagyu burger in another place.
Ginza Dover street market & Ginza 6 were such a temptation since almost everything was on sale.
We got back to our hotel around 3:30pm, picked up the suitcases from the hotel staff and took a 5 mins walk to the airport bus stop. We got tickets for 4pm bus and arrived at the airport around 5:30pm.
More souvenir shopping at the airport and i had some ramen as my last meal. Surprisingly it was quite decent, not the best ramen but definitely the best airport meal I have had.
Some photos from the trip part 1 part 2 part 3

Sorry/not sorry for ultra long report, but I wanted to get my thoughts down for my own sake, with the hopes a random statement is useful to someone else. See my report on churning sub for airfare/lodging. I essentially paid nothing for a trip that has a cash value that exceeds my yearly take home pay.
Accompanying album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/186635503@N05/sets/72157712853171208/
Day 1: Arrived at NRT, took out cash (highly recommend Charles Schwab for truly no fees worldwide if you’re a regular international traveler). Took Narita Express to Shinagawa instead of Tokyo Station, wife read it would be easier transfer there. It was pretty smooth at Shinagawa. Then hopped on Hikari Shinkansen for Kyoto, very limited snacks and beverages available, so definitely stock up before you depart. Picked up snacks at Kyoto station and took taxi to hotel. Driver didn’t speak English, but used “mappu” on our GPS to get to the hotel.
Note: we were rushing after getting seats assigned for N’EX and Shinkansen, so didn’t pickup prepaid smart card, and actually never ended up getting one. Oh well!
Another Note: It’s been over a month since we got back, and I checked my Sprint bill. We were never charged for international roaming (I have unlimited plan). This served me well 95% of the time, so I think I will opt not to get a pocket wifi or SIM next trip. But this time, we brought along a Skyroam Solis.
Day 2: Took a stroll around the Kamo River area, breakfast at a tourist-friendly Eggs and Things. Accidentally walked through Nishiki Market before it was open. Despite it being late morning, we decided to tackle Fushimi Inari, so much for best laid plans to go there before sunrise. There’s a conbini at the base, so definitely get a drink before starting the walk. We weren’t sure how far we wanted to go, but a little over 2 hours later, we made it to the top. Quite challenging for someone who works a desk job, but the crowds definitely thin out as you keep going. Even though it was lunch time, there were moments when I couldn’t see another person above or below me on the trail. Came back down on the shorter path, stopped by some gift shops and headed back to shower and rest. Dinner at the Ritz’s in house restaurant, Mizuki. Known for their tempura, so I opted for that tasting menu instead of their kaiseki. Food was great, though if I’m being bougie, probably the weakest of all Michelin stars I’ve ever had. That said, the staff was incredibly nice. Chef Hayashi used his limited English to explain the ingredients, suggested salt pairings with each one, even used Google translate to show that our anniversary lined up with the restaurant’s anniversary of earning their star. Bonus treat, we got an additional dessert to celebrate!
This is where I started realizing that customer service, and just people’s kindness in general would be far above what I’ve experienced in other countries.
Day 3: breakfast at Ogawa Coffee. Nice sandwiches, great iced matcha, and lemon pound cake that blows away the ones at Starbucks! Popped into a liquor store to pick up souvenirs for ourselves and friends. Took a taxi from hotel to Kyoto station, then train to Arashiyama area. Lots of shops in this area. We popped into bamboo forest for a bit to say we’ve been there, and done that. Crowded as I expected. The Togetsu-kyo Bridge was lovely to walk across with the cool breeze on a surprisingly humid and muggy afternoon. Thankfully I’m from Atlanta, so this level of humidity is nothing new, but I was surprised it was still around in Kyoto in October. Chose the monkey park over the train ride, not realizing the park was tough 20 min uphill hike! Had I known, probably would not have done two walking-intensive activities on back to back days. The path is actually a little dangerous, as there’s no handrails or anything to prevent you from falling off into the woods. I cringed at the kids running around. The view at the top is great though! The monkeys are friendly, and you can buy snacks to feed them from a little shack.
Day 4: Spent this day to just walk around and shop. Hit up Takashiyama (giant Harrod’s-like department store), drug stores, Disney store, Sanrio store, Starbucks (collect their mugs), Adidas and Puma (for some “Japan exclusive” merch). Not the brightest idea to lug all this around instead of putting it up in a locker somewhere.
Continued walking to Higashiaya area, as I really wanted to see buildings that are always plastered on social media when you search for Kyoto. This is when I had the realization that Kyoto is not the “rural” picturesque little town portrayed online. Not only was there a mass of tourists, but I started realizing all the modern buildings I kept walking by, and just the sheer volume of the population that makes up the 1.5 million residents. Anyways, I chugged uphill until I finally found Hokanji temple, and the street north of it where you can get that shot for the gram. More importantly, there was a little dessert stall that had some snacks and black latte (sesame flavor). Spent the night at Aeon Mall to experience a food court, their arcade, and a little more browsing. Uniqlo isn’t new to me as I’ve seen them before in LA and NYC, and online, but there was a decently sized store here.
Day 5: mild rain as this was as worse as things got in the area due to Typhoon Hagibis. Picked up early morning breakfast from a nearby bakery. After resting and getting ready, took a walk at lunch time to Kichi Kichi, thanks to the hotel concierge being able to book the ONE day all week where lunch was served where we were in town. Very efficient staff. This honestly went by like a blur. Chef Yukimura was entertaining one minute, then we ate, and I swear we were out of the restaurant in 20 minutes. Solid food, though I will say it’s more about the presentation and experience than food itself. Beef stew is better than omurice, just as the man himself said in the infamous BuzzFeed video. Killed more time afterwards by shopping at various shops at Shinkyogoku. Got a good knife for my parents from Kikuichimonji. There’s actually plenty of options here, including a great stationary store. Again, more resting the remainder of the day, as I just chilled at the pool, and got room service. Solid udon.
Day 6: Google showed me a nearby laundromat with pictures, so headed here and spent an hour. Great machines that do both, but did need an extra dry cycle even though I barely filled it ⅓ full. One more return to the Shinkyogoku area, but to get lunch at a tonkatsu place called Katsukura Tonkatsu (Nakagyo). LOVED it. The meat was super tender, great flavor, and just delicious meal all around. Definitely my standout that I did not expect. Shinkansen ride to Tokyo.
Checked into the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku. Really dig the skyscrapers, as I’m a fan of urban exploration/city life. The staff here surpassed my expectations, and now I’m thinking it’s just the Japanese standard. The concierge here, who had booked a reservation for me, had a letter waiting for me with my name regarding the reservation confirmation, as well as a Google map, and pictures of how to actually get to the restaurant. It’s little touches like that that stand out! Went out for Ramen at Ippudo, inside this giant multi use building. There’s a LOVE statute nearby if you want pics and selfies with your SO. Thought the ramen was great, not as heavy handed as American versions, but still flavorful. Another great glass of Suntory beer. Honestly were ready to call it at night, as it was already past 10:00pm. But we had some friends who also happened to be in town, and wanted to meet up before they left town the next morning. Hesitantly took a walk to Golden Gai, but really glad I did! Sure, it was touristy, and reminded me of a combination between New Orleans’ Bourbon Street and Times Square… lots of drunks tourists walking about small alleys. But if you have friends, the setting becomes way more fun. We only ended up in 2 bars total, but they were both a blast. One was called Animeholic, and the other was Nothing Suspicious. Friendly bartenders at both, pretty cheap drinks, but lots of good times! This is the kind of experience I wish every traveler could have, but I realize it’s nearly impossible unless you have a group, or make new friends while in Tokyo.
Ended up trying a Japan-exclusive sandwich from McDonald’s on the walk back. It was exactly what I thought it would taste like, nothing special, but I can say I’ve tried something on the menu.
Day 7: After a great breakfast spread at the hotel, took the orange train line and promptly went the wrong way! LOL. This is gonna happen at least once, esp if you’re departing from large stations like we did from Shinjuku. Luckily noticed it after one stop, turned around, and got to Akihabara eventually. We didn’t have many definite stores to check out. I spent some time in Super Potato, but it felt really sticky, humid… appropriate for a vintage game store I suppose. Spent more time and coins in the Sega store as well, making way up the floors. Eventually went to a shop that I honestly can’t even remember the name for, but they had floors upon floors of figurines and collectibles. Granted, I’ve been jaded by my years of attending comic cons and seeing similar merchandise, but the breadth and depth on display here was still amazing!
I thought I was being smart by venturing a little out of the way towards 2k540. I told my wife she’d love the locally made, unique items there. Well, she did, but the prices there were quite absurd. We only walked around for about 15 minutes before heading back to the main Akihabara area. Lesson learned: unless you’re ready to drop some cash, avoid this artisan alley. Lunch time was at this large food court, Akihabara UDX Restaurant & Shop Akiba. We circled around a few floors before deciding on something different, a Chinese restaurant. They had surprisingly decent food despite my initial assumptions after seeing the menu, and after seeing it mostly empty.
Afterwards, took a stop at a random ice cream place to try THE best green tea ice cream I’ve ever had. Sadly that was also my only time trying that dessert. I remembered how it’s considered rude to walk and eat, so I just huddled up close to some other people who were eating by an alley. Didn’t feel so bad. Also made good use of the wet wipes you should also carry around, because the ice cream melted all over my hands. Bonus: no trash to hold on to since I got it in a waffle cone!
Hopped back on the train and rode further east, to the Ryogoku Kokugikan, the main attraction for the evening. I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was a young boy, so seeing a big event from New Japan Pro Wrestling was a bucket list item. FYI, I used BuySumoTickets to secure tickets ahead of time. They charge a fee, but I can definitely vouch I had actual tickets, and they were mailed to me well in advance of the show. The venue itself divided into North, East, South, West, as opposed to numbered sections in the US arenas. So once we got a worker to point us in the right direction, it was great. Note, this venue had lower level seats that required sitting on a mat with 2 other people in your little box. Thankfully learned that ahead of time, and I opted for second level which had actual seats. Sadly ring side seats were not available unless you joined the NJPW fan club pre-sale.
What can I say about the show? It was a fantastic wrestling show for a purist like myself. 4 hours of incredible action, far cry from the entertainment spectacles of the WWE. The highlights for me were the emotional clash between Minoru Suzuki v. Jyushin Thunder Liger, and then the subsequent high flying match between Will Ospreay v. El Phantasmo. I also loved seeing the crowd in attendance, which again, was a stark contrast to typical 18-35 male-dominated WWE crowds in the US. This was a wide range of demographics, all ages and sexes. The cheering was LOUD when it needed to be, and quiet to show respect when it called for it. Seemingly forever long train ride back to Shinjuku (be aware when you’re making these cross town trips), but was rewarded with some great foggy views of the Metro building that made me feel like I was living in the future from Bladerunner.
Day 8: Started the day slow because there would be lots of walking at night. Spent several hours shopping at Shinjuku station. Wife had made a list of brands and stores to check out, and was well rewarded with some good finds in makeup, as well as hard to find clothing brands. I got some Onitsuka Tiger sneakers here myself! With all this stuff in hand, we walked to Don Quixote to buy a large suitcase. We had originally brought one collapsible duffle, but it wasn’t enough to carry everything we’ve bought so far. I would recommend our original strategy to everyone nonetheless, just maybe bring 2? We traveled with only one carry on and one back pack each, so adding one checked suitcase on the flight back wasn’t a big deal. Oh, go find the Godzilla head right around the corner!
After a rest, took a long train ride to Tokyo Disney. Bought the 6pm starlight passes ahead of time. Long lines already by the time we arrived around 5:45pm, but it moved quickly once they opened. I was surprised at the amount of cosplay found here, compared to what I’ve seen at US theme parks. People put some effort into these! (even by my snobby comic con standards). This was really the wife’s big event, but I enjoyed it as well. The park, esp early on was PACKED. Could hardly move through the stores. Our goal wasn’t to ride anything, but just look at the park, eat foods, and shop. Mission accomplished. We ate at a cute bakery that had lots of themed foods and pastries. These were surprisingly good for theme park food, and I think more cost efficient than US parks that rip you off. The next big event was watching the nightly parade. I think everyone had a good seat because they implement a system where most people up front have to sit down, so no one’s view would be obstructed. Again, the politeness of the country makes the US look like selfish savages! Lovely production of floats and costumes and actors. Afterwards, we waited around for the fireworks behind the castle. Quick 5 minutes, but impressive display. We had just enough time left to line up for one ride, so chose the Haunted House. It was one of those sit in the carts as they take you to different sections. I was impressed with the holographics and animatronics! Pretty happy that we had seen the different sections of the park in 4 hours, and probably had time to ride something small too, like the merry go round or dumbo ride. But opted to start walking back early. This day definitely won most steps taken, as we crossed 20k!
Day 9: Early morning and long train ride to Odaiba. At the station’s exit, follow signs for an easy straight path to TeamLab, and don’t make the mistake I made of walking all the way around a building and wasting time. Took advice from here to go first then we it opens. We arrived a little before 10:00am, and only had to wait a few minutes to enter. Actually had a pretty easy time navigating without too much crowds. This isn’t to say the place was empty, far from it. But it was nothing like the horror stories, and I think it’s because I went early in the day. The Nest was a bit weird, little too dark and unstable climbing on ropes. Floating lanterns was cool, but the limited time you get there definitely flies by. My favorite was probably Crystal Worlds, with all the lights and mirrors, plus it’s easy to get pictures without other people in it. Also stumbled on some cool smaller rooms, one with an eerie vibe, and one with soothing waves. I’m sure I missed some exhibits, but 2 hours there was plenty for me, and well worth the price of admission. Took a short stroll over to see the Gundam Unicorn statue. Not many people around that either. I’m sure it’s cooler when you come at night, or the times that it moves. Still pretty epic, even though I’m not much of an anime fan anymore these days.
Next stop was Pokemon Center DX and Cafe. Wife went to buy the tickets the day they were released and some times were disappearing within hours. They’re pretty strict about times, so don’t bother showing up early. We spent time in the store, where you can find at least one piece of merchandise from every Pokemon. There are also some limited edition items like this Pokemon with a shower cap. Once our time came, we were seated, and the tablet took our order. Not only was the presentation of the food top notch, I was actually quite impressed by the taste of the food. Pikachu eventually came out to play and take pictures too. There’s also exclusive merchandise only found inside the cafe as well. Called it a night without venturing out anywhere, simply opting for the Hyatt hotel bar. I had my sights set on Ben Fiddich, but I was honestly too tired at this point. The bar does take reservations, but only 24 hours in advance, and for time slots up to 8:00pm. Since my night plans were fluid, I didn’t make a reservation and figured it’s one of those things I’ll see next time I’m in Tokyo.
Day 10: Last day started at Takeshita Street. Crowded, rather uninspired stores. But if you keep stumbling upon nearby blocks, you’ll find lots of fun stores to visit. Some I enjoyed included another Onitsuka Tiger store, Niko & Tokyo, a niche wrestling store called Piledriver, and a cafe portion of Ralph Lauren. Of course took a picture at Tokyu Plaza Omotesando. It was a rainy day, but just wandering around and shopping was a fun and chill way to spend the day. I originally had plans to venture out to Scramble Crossing and pork cutlet sandwich store, but it’s really hard to stay energized this late into a trip.
Thankfully the last planned activity was a great way to cap it all off. We got reservations at Umi, thanks to hotel concierge. I picked that place after reading reviews of friendly staff. Sure enough, they were a blast. In spite of a language barrier, Chef Taira was jolly and made small talk with us, often translating through his staff. As for the food… well I can certainly say I’ve had world class sushi! I never liked uni in the States, but loved this version. The various cuts of fatty tunas were amazing and melted like butter. I think we went past 25 pieces in all by the end. If you want top notch food without the feeling of stuffiness often found at other Michelin-star restaurants, I’d recommend Umi for sure.
So there you go. A dream trip that was a dream come true. I didn’t pack anywhere as much into my schedule as most itineraries on here, and I still couldn’t do everything. And that was OK! I had a blast enjoying the unexpected and the simple things. I plan on returning within a few years to see more of this wonderful country, its people, and its offerings.

Something I wanted to write about since last December, but only got around to writing it now. This mini-article covers why I believe people get really nostalgic for older technology. Something I call technological nostalgia. So anyway, let's define some things, specifically as to what I mean about technological nostalgia. I define it as a specific form of nostalgia for old tech such as computers, TV, telephones, cars, and even appliances. We all know this, we've all seen it. Have you ever passed by vintage clothing/electronics store and saw a CRT TV from the 70s and smiled, then you know what that means. Have you ever found an old computer with a functioning 3.5 inch disk drive and found the distinct buzzing noise it made when loading up an old floppy beautiful in a way? It happens all the time for a lot of people, so I'll go on to describing my personal experiences with this first. I discovered emulation (without knowing it) back in the mid 90s when I was visiting a friend's house and he showed what appeared to be a C64 emulator that ran multiple C64 games. I never got to know what that program was (though I think the game I saw was 720, a skateboarding arcade game by Atari that was ported to numerous systems) because my dear buddy friend straight up deleted the entire program and its contents just to annoy me. But that was at a time when I wasn't even a teenager yet, and the computer he had was an 486 running DOS 6.22. I remember being excited about it, because even at that time I remembered having a Commodore 64 but I was far too young to really be able to use it properly. I also used to make jokes to my brother many years later about games like Mr. Freeze that were old as hell and strangely... never that exciting. Just the name was the thing that really made me laugh and thought was cool. I discovered emulation and what it was capable of doing very gradually. In 2000 I discovered both a capcom emulator called Callus (which has long since been abandoned) and abandonware in general. At that point video arcades still existed in Dubai in some places, but I mostly just stopped going since I didn't need to anymore. After all, why go to an arcade when you have these games at home? I only went there because I couldn't play them at home, or because the games available at the arcades were very different than ones available... usually. I mean, if I could play it at home, I wouldn't bother paying to play it. This was the case when I had caveman ninja, a 1991 game by Data East. It was ported to DOS and I had it, and I played the hell out of it. When I passed it by in the arcades after I just looked at the attract screen, because I liked watching those a lot, but never bothered to put in any money once I had it at home. Why? The MS-DOS port was nearly arcade perfect. It wasn't 100% perfect, the animation wasn't as smooth and the music was mildly inferior, but other than that, it was nearly indistinguishable. This was remarkable because even back then your typical port of an arcade game was usually vastly inferior to the original, which is why the originals still made a lot of money even though they could technically be played at home. It also was the reason why arcade enthusiasts still went back to play even if they had their favourite game at home. The differences were big enough for them to go back and throw in more coins into a machine. But I digress. Where was I? Yes, technological nostalgia. So with emulation I stopped going back to those old places, most of which closed in short order because progressively better technology made them obsolete. Arcades became rare or were turned into indoor amusement parks (if they weren't already). The thing that replaced them were internet cafes, which often had computers full of games that people could play, as well as movies. In fact that's how I watched many classics like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But even those went to the wayside as wifi became more common and with internet so accessible and cheap even LAN centres went under. Old tech goes away because new tech is better... so why do people yearn for things like VHS tapes (which I only got rid of recently), and audio cassettes and CRT monitors. Why do some people yearn for old, dead venues like video arcades and (if you're a North American baby boomer) malt shops? LCD screens are vastly better than any CRT TV could ever be. For decades TV makers worked tirelessly for ways to produce flat-screen TVs and the people wanted them. Look up on YouTube the old UK ads for Toshiba FST (if anything they're catchy as hell). It was a series of TVs from the 80s that advertised as being completely flat. Audio cassettes sound nice, but they degrade with time, and the quality of their players can also heavily affect how they sound or quickly they go bad. The same can be said of countless other things. People still homebrew games for the Atari 2600 even though it is a horribly obsolete piece of hardware. People like me for some reason still want to work with Windows 98 or even windows 95 for very specific tasks. It isn't even just nerds, but if you go anywhere you will see radios that look like stuff from the 1940s and 50s for sale, but with updated technology (ever wanted a cathedral style radio that is also blue-tooth capable and has a CD drive? There's one for you!). Even major film makers succumb to this. Film grain was once upon a time something that was hated and something we needed to get rid of. With digital filming techniques film grain was gone completely and... movies looked a bit weird without them... so they added them digitally! What gives? What exactly drives technological nostalgia? Is it a yearning for a 'simpler' time? People who remember the past as it was can tell you it wasn't. I sure as hell know it wasn't. I remember CRT TVs and the finicky nature of analog TV antennas, how a slight breeze or an airplane flying overhead or even just your neighbour moving something heavy upstairs could result in your picture going to hell really fast. There was nothing nice about the fuzz you see on the screen, but the same fuzz added to the start of a video on YouTube pulls people's heartstrings. Technology also wasn't simple back then either. VCR weren't simple, they were very complex mechanical objects that you needed specific training to disassemble and fix if they had a problem. Computers were also far harder to use the farther back you go. Windows 10 is much, much more user friendly than Windows 98, which was much more user friendly than MS-DOS (all versions) which was also more user friendly than other DOS based systems that came before and around the same time. So what precisely do I think makes old tech nostaglic and why people seek to emulate it or recreate it? In my opinion... it's control. https://webcassette.klevgrand.se Go to the above link. This is an emulator for cassette players. There are even bigger emulators (and are all paid for, so I can't give a link) that have even more features. You can adjust the quality of things like the tape, the head, the motor and noise cancellation, tape type, etc, etc. As a kid I, too, had shitty mixed tapes, because I recorded one tape while having the radio listen to another radio/TV playing (which heavily affected quality), so when people talk about lo-fi music, I know exactly what they are talking about first-hand. We also had a radio breakdown and we still managed to play a tape through it, the resulting distortion was hilarious to us. It played some parts super fast, others slow, and others mangled to make the voices unintentionally funny. But such a specific breakdown would be extremely hard to emulate, and no one in the 70s to early 00s period who had a tape player wanted that to happen. What the above link allows is something no one in the era could have. Complete, instantaneous, 100% control over the distortion and the effects. You want a perfect quality tape? You got it! You want a terrible tape that sounds like you soaked it in acetone and left the radio out in a thunderstorm? You also got that! The same thing with VHS tapes and video quality. There's a guy who made an app that makes your videos look like they were recorded on an 80s era camcorder. We didn't have a camcorder as a family, but on the rare occasion my dad or brother borrowed one to make a film and I specifically got to film with it I noticed that the look and the feel of the record was really nice, even if there were some things I wish I could fix (there's that control aspect again) like when I recorded my computer screen and the picture was distorted (I learned in the past 10 years or so from old guides that if you wanted to photograph or film a CRT screen you need a stationary camera and there must be no light other than the one coming from the CRT screen to get a decent picture). I am digressing again. Anyway, with those apps, you can have all the flaws of previous technology added to your videos on command, and if you wanted to, you could make them just go away. I mentioned arcades previously and how I liked going to there to play the games I couldn't play at home. I loved going to those places as a kid because I also loved the ambience. I loved watching other people play, and watching the attract screens and how so many really made a show out of them to get you to try to play the game. But while I loved this part, I wouldn't have gone there if I had the games at home. Why? Because the places were also full of creeps and assholes. The other thing is that I was a poor kid with little money. It was a very rare time that I entered an arcade with a ton of cash to spend, so most of the time I couldn't play what I wanted to play because I couldn't spare the money. But around the same time I got nostalgic for arcades (in 2018 of all times!) I also discovered NRA: Neon on steam that had a virtual arcade you could customize and do what you wanted with. It was strange that I had that nostalgia because I felt that with emulation I already achieved that childhood dream of having my own video arcade (with home console games, too!). But this was some next-level stuff. I could have my own arcade and adjust the machines to my liking. It wasn't perfect, but nothing is. The other thing is that it is my own private space, which means no one can come to bother me when I decide to play the games in an emulated environment. The screens are also much smaller than on regular MAME and I can add a CRT filter that would actually reduce the picture quality. It would be even lower res than the original games... but I can just remove that filter and have it play in HD if I wanted. I can also just press a button to add tokens in, without having to go through that money barrier that blocked me from finishing 99% of all the games as a kid. The same game also has a place for a VHS tape player on an CRT-style TV screen, and even a movie theatre. The fact that it is a VR game completely symbolizes just what I have said, that it is fully in control of what happens there and any flaws or drawbacks that are added in solely as an embellishment than something that is a sign of a breakdown or something that has to be resolved. While I am sure that there are plenty of other reasons for technological nostalgia (I sure have some), I feel that nostalgia for old tech will happen as soon as old tech starts to be phased out and the technical issues of previous technology no longer exist.

Each year, after about a week, the Hidden Gems thread in /gamedealsmeta more or less slows to a stop. This is a thread that compiles most of the hidden gems listed in that thread into one, relatively easy to navigate page. In an attempt to get as many game recommendations as I can get my mitts on, I'm crossposting this to other subreddits!

If you feel like you know a hidden gem, post it down below!

Even if you feel like they're flawed or imperfect, if you feel like it's something worth people's time, post it!
Table of Contents:

• Useful Links
• Single Game Recommendations
  • There's a Lot to Say
  • Not much to say
• Larger Compendiums
• Too Big for one Thread
  • Overwhelming Praise
  • Larger compendiums
  • I have my eyes on these

Useful Links

• Steam250: Hidden Gems: An automated list of games that would be worthwhile.
• Steam DB Filtered: Shows the games at least 70% off, 80%+ user rating and under $5. Thanks to msgs for this.
• Hidden gems II: Old Threads
  • Gem Towers
  • The Sales Strike Back
  • The Eleventh Hour
  • The Last Gemenai
• Hidden Gems II on other Subreddits:
  • On GamedealsMeta

Single Game Recommendations

Commented Recommendations

I suppose I should do my annual E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy recommendation. Probably the greatest FPS you've never played (Personally, I rate it up there with HL2 and Deus Ex). Extremely deep, very weird and hilarious. If Tommy Wiseau was a Warhammer 40k fan and game writer, this is the game he would have written. It's Euro Jank at it's finest but that's doing it a disservice, it really is a truly great game, the world building is fantastic, the atmosphere is amazing, yes the dialogue is bizarre but it works in context with the world, the guns feel great and the levelling system is very in depth. At this price it's a steal. {boo909}
... Check out Critter Crunch ($1.74), an excellent puzzle game with great hand-drawn visuals. It has both local and online multiplayer with co-op and battle modes. I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned in previous hidden gems thread, so check it out. {IllIllIII}
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action: It's historic low for $9.89 USD with Overwhelmingly Positive overall and recent.
Classic Racers ($1.19/80% off): This was a casual arcade racer of vintage cars I didn't know I wanted. The physics model is quite convincing (within arcade flavor) and you can definitely feel the difference of each car. Totally playable with a gamepad, but it also supports wheel controllers. The pastoral hillclimb scenery is quite nice too. Quick, simple, to the point fun without all the genre fluff. {stray_pengo}
Hardly a hidden gem but I feel a lot people newer to PC gaming have never played Half-Life 2 for $0.99 (and its subsequent HL2 Episode 1 and Episode 2 stand alone DLC which is a continuation of the main story). The Summer and Winter Sales always bundles them for just a few dollars. It's a great and I mean great FPS game and still very much holds up today. And it should run on a most all potato PCs. There's a great graphics and game play tweaks Half-Life 2 MMOD for those wanting some improvements to the base game. The MMOD trailer is an excellent showcase of HL2. HL2 might be the best $1 you spend this Summer Sale.{msgs}
I would highly suggest the Creeper World titles. Here is the summary from CW3, but it applies to them all: "Creeper World 3 is what happens when cellular automata takes over a strategy simulation. Instead of discrete units that attack your base, a fluid-like substance spreads over the terraformable terrain. Your base, your weapons, your strategy... you must adapt them all." It is a Real-Time with Pause RTS where rather than outwitting an AI, you're battling fluid dynamics. I love the games and have played them for ~15 hours even though they make me motion sick. The most recent one is: Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal ($4.94, 67% off) {messem10}
This is a bit of a deep cut but if you don't mind ASCII art games (not quite like rogue/nethack, there's a UI in here) I can't recommend this game enough: SanctuaryRPG Black Edition. With a Steam sale price of $0.79 you won't be disappointed, I've spent nearly 100 hours on this game. {ABPos_worksafe}
Aztez's release fell right in the middle of a bunch of big AAA releases, and their refinement of the game caused them to just miss the wave of indie game love. The designer Ben Ruiz authored a series of Combat Mechanics analysisblog posts, a must read for anyone who loves beat em up games. {moo422}
Really doesn't matter the price. Even if you're not into the story-centric and character-centric genre of games you'll die from Oneshot. Seriously, I'd kill to get more people to play this game. Just look at the reviews. {NikoOnDiscord}
Breakneck ($1.99/80% off) ... is an unabashed Race the Sun ripoff, and all the better for it. In place of the abstract zenscape of RtS it boasts futuristic industrial skin, and there's a new graze mechanic which adds to the manual boost meter. Unlockable perks, daily challenges, leaderboards... it's all there. If you already own Shatter (if not you should,) there is a complete-the-set bundle to stack additional -25% discount. {stray_Pengo}
Project Zomboid In terms of offering an actual well-thought out, comprehensive, detailed zombie apocalypse survival experience I couldn't point to any other game. The isometric perspective might be a bit offputting, but behind that is this great, detailed crafting system, awesome zombies, and a trope not often seen in video games (however when it is present it works incredibly well) - inevitable death. The RP community on it is also amazing and it's where I've been playing it the most. The game is having a large update coming soon and with it they are having a long overdue price increase, so this is the last sale they're having until full release which will probably be several years from now. I'm not affiliated with the devs, just an enthusiastic player. It's well worth the price imo, you can easily clock upwards of a thousand hours with multiplayer and mods to keep you going. {m1st3rm3lanch0ly}
I recommend this every sale, so here I go again. Binary Domain. It's basically Terminator: The Game, and it's so damn good. I highly recommend it, even if you don't care for Terminator (I don't). It's one of my favorite underrated/underappreciated gems. {puglifejm}
Let me suggest a sleeper hit: 868HACK (2.82€/50%). A difficult and unique rogue-like. Give it a shot, there is a free version somewhere online. This is a remake and I think it is worth it. Also available for Mac OSX (yay!). {tidytuna}
Going to recommend Superflight if it hasn't been posted already. It's 50% off at $1.49 (always a steal) and for a pretty simple game (wingsuit-flying around randomly generated maps) it's a ton of fun. It's a great game to open up for 5-10 minutes, play a few maps' worth, and close until the next break. {Viscous_Crescendo}
I found 嗜血印 Bloody Spell randomly in the sale, and decided to give it a go despite not usually buying early access games. So far it's fucking awesome, and a definite hidden gem with tons of potential. It's like a mix of Dark Souls and Devil May Cry, and shockingly deep in terms of combos/weapons loadouts. I even like how it's still somewhat poorly translated lol. There's still some jank to be found, and it's not a perfect game by any means. But, if you like supporting smaller devs that actually put out good work, and you like the idea of a character action game based around Dark Souls level difficulty, I'd say check it out. {GNARKILLGUCH}
[The] Brothers in Arms [Franchise] is one of the greatest WW2 video-game series you can find out there (really underrated too)... each one of it's games on steam has a 75% discount ($2.49 each, bringing down a total of $7.49). Brother In Arms: Earned in Blood, Hell's Highway, and Road to Hill 30 {Tuldbluck}
Someone mentioned this game on a previous sale and I am so glad they did and now I can return the favor: Sky Force Anniversary Arcade like shooter with beautiful graphics for a buck. Think the guy the created Xevious said "I always liked my game but after 35 years it is a bit dated; why don't I just rewrite it with modern tech" I keep coming back to it when I want just a not easy but mindless arcade game on the big screen game to veg to; great bang for the buck. {RudorTheBarbarian}
Anyone who likes Arena-Shooters like Quake,UT or Xonotic should try out Alien Arena. For 49 cents its a steal. It has an smaller but active and friendly community, and regular tournaments. Its under active development since 2007, getting frequently new features, skins and map-packs. {Bronan87}
The Temporal Invasion is super cheap now. Its an arg and it has quite some challenging puzzles. 10 cases with 10 puzzles per case giving a total of 100 puzzles. I am about halfway through and so far has encountered cryptograms, morse codes and more. Just be careful you don't wander too far down wikiland. {rambell}
Trails in the Sky is 50% off. Actually, most Nihon Falcom games are on sale(thanks u/guynumbers). If you love JRPGs, I can't recommend the Trails games enough. They're old-school JRPGs. Slow at first, but the story gets better as you play. The worldbuilding is just top notch. {BelleCranel}
I'm a little late to the thread but PARTICLE MACE is $0.49 and really good. It's an arcadey twin-stick shooter except you only use one stick, because the only weapon you have is a cluster of space junk you whip around like a mace to smash your enemies. Good music and stuff too {PM_ME_UR_SICK_BEATS}

Less Commented Recommendations

Soma ($4.49/85% off): Excellent horror game made by the creators of Amnesia. {stride640}
Dues ex is 89cent if you have not played yet. {Mr_biggles98} Here's a link to the collection. {kdnewton}
Dark Souls Remastered is $3.99 (90% off) for owners of the Prepare to Die edition. A mediocre $23.99 (40% off) for everyone else. {IllIllIII}
Divinity II: Developer's Cut {AlfiqHar}
The Cave ($2.24/85% off): I believe it's a historical low {luc4_blight}
Everspace is only $6. Fun space sim dogfighter game. {Gramis}
HEARTBEAT is a 16bit RPG with charming characters and pokemon like elements on its very 1st sale.
Dead Pixels for less than a buck. Great game.

Smaller Compendiums

Here are some of DerLuftwaffe favorites.

• Recursed ($2.71/75% off), 98% Positive

Pulled the trigger on this one today. Gotta say, one of the most fascinating puzzle games I've played. The game looks as if it is in 2D, but it actually is in 3D. Only kinda like Fez. Not only that, but your power as a character allows you to pick up items and modify the level (a la Baba is You) to move closer to the solution. It's not overwhelming at all so far, but it makes you stop and think about clever ways to manipulate your surroundings. Go and read the Steam reviews as well.

• Elminage Gothic ($2.00/80% off) 66% Positive

This is absolutely a niche, hardcore RPG title. Don't write it off by the review score- If you enjoy pen and papeold school dungeon crawlers, this is your jam. Even if not, it is a very interesting experience for $2. With the amount of classes, races, and spells available to your 6 slot party, there's plenty room for replayability and experimentation. There really is a sense of wonder discovering this sparsely documented game's mechanics. If you liked Legend of Grimrock for its difficult elements, you'll ave a field day.

• Dandara ($6.74/55% off) 67% Positive

Super Mario Galaxy meets metroidvania. This game will challenge your intuition for getting around like no other metroidvania I've seen. The movement and combat are so refreshing to see in the growing pile of metroidvanias being released today. Reading from the reviews, it seems a lot of recent reviews come from the unconventional KB+M controls. I'd recommend a controller, but even if you don't have one, it's well worth the unique experience. Just remember someone beat Dark Souls using only banana controllers, so anything can work.

Linkums reccomends various indies

Voidspire Tactics ($7.49/50% off): Voidspire Tactics is an indie turn-based Tactics RPG with a heavy emphasis on exploration, character progression, and highly tactical combat. It's kinda like Zelda, but a tactics game. You can use all of your battle moves outside of battle to interact with the world, and all battles also take place right in the overworld, so you can set yourself up for victory before engaging in many cases.
Alvora Tactics ($4.99/50% off): Improved / Tweaked combat engine from above, but in a shorter game and semi-procedurally generated dungeons.
The King's Bird ($7.99/60% off): Escape into a world kept secret by a tyrant, and discover the truth about your freedom. The King’s Bird is an artistic, momentum-based game that seamlessly combines precision-platforming with physics-based gliding. A new yet easily accessible take on the precision-platforming genre.
Mushroom 11 ($7.49/50% off): Really unique physics puzzle game with a neat atmosphere.
Out There Somewhere ($0.49/50% off): Short but sweet platformer with a cool gameplay mechanic (shoot walls to teleport to them).

wleen has a few reccomendations

Vaporum (-50%; $9.99) scratches the itch for old-school dungeon crawling, similar to Wizardry series and the more recent Legend of Grimrock. No huge open spaces like in LoG 2, but the game is still really good.
NEO Scavenger (-75%; $3.12) is a brutal turn-based survival game. It's not that hard to get into, but you will be dying a lot. If that appeals to you, and you enjoy rogue-like elements, this is a no-brainer.
Monster Slayers (-75%; &1.49). I may have 1k hours in Slay the Spire, but before it came out, I've spent 60 hours playing Monster Slayers and I didn't even notice it. The game has 86 on Metacritic for a reason.
The Last Door Season 1 (-75%; $2.49) A great P&C adventure for any gothic horror fan. Never mind the heavily pixelated graphics, the visual presentation is great overall and the game is genuinely creepy. There's also a second season, but I still haven't played that.

Dohi64 offers a list of non-puzzle recommendations.

capsized: (-75%, 2.49 eur) a shooter in an alien world with great music. not my kinda genre but I enjoyed this a lot.
deathspank: (-75%, 2.49 eur) really funny arpg, don't think it goes on sale a lot.
driftmoon: (-75%, 2.99 eur) a charming top-down fantasy rpg with funny writing, likable characters, pausable real-time combat and multiple endings. demo available.
geo: (-75%, 2.24 eur) dig as deep as possible to uncover rare materials, upgrade your base, hire employees to up your stats, etc.
greed: black border: scifi arpg, get used to the controls and big levels, but I really enjoyed it, save for the fucking boss fights.
rampage knights: (-70%, 2.99 eur) really fun and funny, if short, brawler with a ton of items and unlocks.
shattered haven: (-85%, 1.49 eur) aka the game by arcen only I liked, unique and fun, if only people gave it a decent shot.
shattered planet: (-80%, 2.49 eur) really fun scifi roguelike, a bit mobiley and light on content, but still a good amount.
tachyon: the fringe: (-75%, 2.49 eur) a great space sim with 2 factions to join and bruce campbell voices the main character.
urban trial freestyle: (-90%, 0.69 eur) a trials clone, 100 or so levels, if I remember correctly, but that's why I played it first, to be able to complete it within a week or so.
waking mars: (-80%, 1.99 eur) a unique scifi adventure on mars, plant stuff to see how they interact, etc. really good stuff.
willy-nilly knight: (-72%, 4.19 eur) a charming fantasy rpg with 4th wall-breaking references, a bit linear and about 15 hours long, but that was exactly why I got it, not to play it for 3 months.
zombie vikings: (-70%, 3.59 eur) a great brawler, really funny and really frustrating if you're playing it alone, like I had to (I also suck at games), but good fun with others.

Dohi64 provides a list of lesser-known puzzlish adventure games

the darkside detective: (-30%, 8.04 eur) a really funny adventure with relatively easy puzzles (except when you can't pick up an item until you need it and by then you forgot it existed), nice graphics, fantastic music & tons of references.
experience 112: (-70%, 2.99 eur) a unique adventure where you controlthe main character indirectly (and a bit awkwardly) by using cameras, changing lights, etc. in your operating system of sorts. a good scifi story with plenty of puzzles and mysteries.
four last things: (-66%, 2.71 eur) a short & sweet renaissance adventure with renaissance art and renaissance music. if more people knew about it, it could bring on the renaissance of point & click adventures, renaissance or otherwise. the sequel's on its way.
fran bow: (-75%, 3.74 eur) a creepy and disturbing point & click adventure about a girl who might not be entirely sane. no, she definitely isn't. very unique art style, interesting story. has a demo.
julia: among the stars: (-75%, 4.19 eur) an underrated sci-fi adventure with cool puzzles, varied and beautiful locations and alien languages.
julia: among the stars dlc: (-75%, 0.99 eur) a collection wiring puzzles, similar to the ones in the main game. it easily could've (and should've) been a stand-alone puzzler, a very good addition to an already good game.
primordia: (-70%, 2.99 eur) one of the best point & click adventures in recent years. looks like the classics, takes place in a dystopian future & the main character is voiced by logan cunningham (the narrator in bastion).
safecracker: a house full of safes to crack and puzzles to solve in this underrated first-person adventure.
the silent age: (-90%, 0.88 eur) ever wondered what it's like to be a time-traveling janitor? now's yoir chance. great presentation and story, but it's on the easier side, so don't expect difficult puzzles, just enjoy the ride.
technobabylon: (-70%, 4.49 eur) a modern point & click classic. cyberpunk setting, multiple playable characters, meaningful decisions and great voice acting and music.
voyage: journey to the moon: (-70%, 1.49 eur) a sci-fi point & click adventure based on (or inspired by) jules verne's book. aliens, smart inventory puzzles, one of kheops studio's best & longer and more difficult than some of their other titles.

Hallonbat offers a list of favorites

Slipstream -Very intense and fun arcade racer in the vein of Out Run, but the next step. Good and pumping music.
One Finger Death Punch and One Finger Death Punch 2 Game where you only use two buttons to fight. Reminicent of those old stick flash movies, kind of a rhythm game. When you enter the zone you're kicking down hundreds of guys. Very cheap.
Avian Attorney Comedic lawyer adventure in the vein of Ace Attorney, but with birds in 19th century France. A real steal.
Celestial Hacker Girl Jessica Puzzle, adventure, ball roller? Don't know how to define it really, but it's a game on the lighter side, but has it's weird indie charm.
Hypnospace Outlaw Police a exaggerated late 90s internet service, looking for rule breakers, and browse around all the weird pages and find a bunch of fun things and games. Has a ton of catchy music.
Hitman GO I included this because I think many would look past this game, but this is a really good turn-based puzzler set in the Hitman universe. A real steal.
Killer7 Suda51's odd railshooter action puzzler. You're a hired assassin with multiple personalities, seven each with their own gun and abilities. A port of the game from the Gamecube, now with mouse support that makes the game much easier. Oozes style.
Minit Adventure game in the style of Link's Awakening, but you have only 60 seconds to live or... a minit.
Rez Infinite The cult classic music railshooter. Has a new vr-mode.
SEUM: Speedrunners From Hell A 3D-platformer where you jump and dash through hell—literally, trying to get the best time. Reminiscent of oldschool shooters, but the focus is more on traversal than shooting.
Snakebird You're a bird, you're a snake—you're snakebird. Fun, colorful puzzler.
Styx: Master of Shadows Fantasy stealth game with some RPG elements with a variety of ways to handle situations. Has a dark sense of humour. Also check out the sequel.
Tower 57 Top-down dieslpunk shooter with gorgeous pixelgraphics. A variety of weapons and characters to play with.
Subsurface Circular A text-puzzle-adventure where you play as a robot detective, stationed in the city's subway. From the maker of Thomas Was Alone (which is another recommendation).

stray_pengo likes accessible semi-bullet-hell shmups

you can't go wrong with Studio SiestA stuff:
The Hurricane of the Varstray -Collateral hazard- ($0.99/90% off) is a traditional vertically-scrolling sci-fi anime shmup.
Trouble Witches Origin - Episode1 Daughters of Amalgam - ($2.49/75% off) is a kawaii sideway-scrolling shmup with lots of moe characters.
The production value is decent, and both titles feature frenetic action and bullet-cancelling mechanic which make them enjoyable even for a shmup noob like me who like the genre regardless.
Watch out if you suffer from OCD like I do though, as the bundle arrangement is kinda messy. To get everything for the former you'd need: Triple Bundle Edition + Vanilla OST. For the latter: The base game + OST + Additional Character Pack + Cotton.

u/WalrusJack a big fan of horror games, so some quick recommendations. All prices in Canadian.

Fantastic games, listed in no order:
Darkwood (-50%, 8.49$) Top down survival horror, you'd be surprised how scary that can be.
Monstrum (-80%, 3.99$) Survival horror with perma-death. Each time you start from zero, no saving.
The Forest (-40%, 13.67$) Open-world survival horror, tons to do in this game and exploring the caves is terrifying and thrilling.
The Cat Lady (-50%, 5.74) Absolutely phenomenal. A 2D psychological horror that's mainly about the story. May take awhile to get into but certainly worth it.
Good games listed from favourite to least favourite.
Amberskull (-25%, 4.26$) First person game, with 4 different episodes. Each are fairly short but each are unique. Highly recommended.
DreadOut Keepers of the Dark (-90%, 0.77$) Technically a third-person shooter. In this you have I think 10 levels to choose from, and in each you need to defeat various ghosts with your camera. You don't really need to play the original to play this. Controls are somewhat clunky.
LIMBO (-80%, 2.39$) Short adventure puzzle game, great art style. You've probably heard someone on reddit rave about it.
Downfall -50%, 5.74$) Made by the same guy who did The Cat Lady. I wanted to like this more, but it is a step down from The Cat Lady. I can still recommend it though.
DreadOut (-90%, 1.69$) The prequel to Keepers of the Dark. Same basic idea fight ghosts with your camera. While Keepers of the Dark basically forgoes a plot and focuses more on gameplay. The original starts with a basic premise of a plot and sort of forgets/muddles it up down the road.
A Girl's Fabric Face (-75%, 0.82$) Very simple game where you are trying to record evidence of a ghost in a haunted house.
Betrayer (-85%, 0.82$) FPS set in the 17th century. Loved the art style and setting, however it gets pretty repetitive.
Irony of Nightmare (-50%, 0.59$) Short game where you explore a house, a few puzzles here and there. Takes maybe 30 minutes to complete.
Distraint (-86%, 0.76$) Another 2D adventure puzzle game. Can't say I loved the unique design of the world and characters. I had a decent time playing this, at times it created a very creepy atmosphere. I think my main complaint would be the dialogue.
Fibrilation (-30%, 3.14%) A horror exploration game, where you avoid ancient robotic creatues. I wish everything was a bit tighter in this game, controls, plot, directions, gameplay. Could have been fantastic, however I did enjoy it for what it was.
Very iffy game:
Statues (-80%, 1.09$) Statues starts off great with a very basic premise. You are chased by a statue that only moves when you aren't looking. If they had kept this premise I'd highly recommend it. However they change the game at certain points which makes no sense. The original parts are fun and actually scary, so it maybe worth it for those sections.

EnfantTragic hopes people won't mind his recommendations for a few hidden gems

Assault Spy
Yomawari: Night Alone
Cinneris Somnia
A Rose in the Twilight
The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
Not so hidden gems:
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Dead Rising
Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Non Visual Novel/platformeroguelike/pixelated/PnC/puzzle games from xCAKSx

Serious Sam One, Two, and three ( kinda horror FPS )
Painkiller series ( Horror FPS )
Singularity ( Alien Horror Survival FPS )
Sleeping Dogs ( Chinese GTA )
Homefront 1 ( Action FPS )
Mad Max ( Third person RPG )
Conan Exiles ( Third Person Survival )
Gas Gauzzler Extreme ( Arcade shooting Racing )
Kingdom New Lands ( 2D Survival )
Overlord 1 and two ( 3rd person RPG )
Saints Row 3 ( Weird GTA )
Bully Scholarship Edition ( High School GTA )
Age of Mythology ( RTS )
Life is strange 1 ( Story based mystery )
Tomb Raider 1 ( Action RPG )

Too big For One Thread!

There's a lot people have to say on the topic of what's good and what's not- Not everything could make it into this thread. While most of it has been replicated in the comment section below, links are provided to the original comment.

Large Compendiums

• Dohi64 has a long list of puzzle games!
• Kazmakistan made a Recommendation Guide!

Overwhelming Praise for a single title

• Zellisgoatbond sings the praises of 428 Shibuya Scramble, citing it's unique place in the visual novel genre, with a photo aesthetic that makes it easier for folks to digest.
• Dohi64 loves the Drod Collection, and has a lot to say on it. From it's long history and tantalzing puzzles, he has a lot to say.
• Dalenacio: loves Deadbolt, and talks about it., talking about it's unique abilities.
• Chariblaze: loves Car Mechanic Simulator, for it's intricate puzzles.

I have my eye on you!

• Here's a list of games folks are looking over before they commit.

Hey look, an update! I’m as shocked as you are.
There’s another list of all the regular stuff that happens every week, so don’t forget to check for all your karaokes, trivias, and so on. There are also links to all of Tally’s theater options, both stage and independent cinema (from fancy to cult).
TUESDAY, 9/3

• Animal Service Center: Low Cost Rabies Vaccine & Microchip Clinic. 3pm
  
• Aloft: Anitra Jay (head-bopping acoustic soul). 6pm/free/all ages
  
• Junction @ Monroe: Stumblefeet & Friends, 66th Birthday Party. 7pm/free
  
• My Favorite Books: Open Mic Poetry & Storytelling Night. “My Favorite Books is excited to announce our next Poetry and Storytelling Open Mic Night, hosted by artist Linda Marie with special guest and local poet, Marina Brown!” 7pm
  
• Tully Gym: First Bachata Lesson of the Fall! “Come out to the first bachata lesson of the Fall semester and learn to dance Bachata for FREE! No partner or experience needed!! As always, we will be in Tully Gym on FSU campus. Please arrive at 7:30 to sign in and social dance! We will have warmups at 7:45 and the lessons start at 8:00pm. Hope to see you there!! “ 7:30pm
  
• The Bark: The Jerome Stern Distinguished Writers Series presents David Kirby. 8pm
  
• Blue Tavern: 1st Tuesday Jazz Sessions with Bob Dogan Trio. 8pm
  

WEDNESDAY, 9/4

• Bird’s: LCP & the Gangbusters in the Lab. 6pm
  
• The Sharing Tree: Map Art, Adult Night. “Join us in one of the most popular subject matters- maps, travel, adventure Life was meant for exploring and maps are so visually exciting in all different forms. I will be posting examples and will guide you through the basics of mod podge and composition.” 6pm
  
• The Bark: Writers for Migrant Justice Reading & Fundraiser. “Tallahassee's literary community is joining forces with Writers for Migrant Justice and Immigrant Families Together in order to raise money for the bonds, bills, housing, and food of those currently suffering from the Trump's administration's cruel policies and inhumane actions.” 7pm
  
• The Moon: Classic Albums Live performs: Queen 'A Night at the Opera'. 7:45pm/$27
  
• Landis Green: The Last Black Man in San Francisco. “A wistful odyssey populated by skaters, squatters, street preachers, playwrights, and other locals on the margins, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO is a poignant and sweeping story of hometowns and how they’re made — and kept alive — by the people who love them.” 8pm
  
• Bajas: Green Velvet. 10pm
  

THURSDAY, 9/5

• Andrews Downtown: Hot Mess! 5pm
  
• The Globe Rm 2500: Planned Parenthood Generation Action: FSU Presents Sexy Trivia. “WELCOME BACK, 'NOLES! Join us on Thursday, September 5 at 5:30 PM for our first GBM of the semester! You'll be able to gather information about how to get involved with Generation Action and our campus campaign for the semester, as well as meet some really cool people. We'll end the meeting with everyone's favorite game: Sexy Trivia!” 5:30pm
  
• Lake Ella: SwinginHarpoon Eats Food Truck Thursday. 5:30pm
  
• Midtown Reader: September Story Slam — "Wisdom" Theme. 6pm
  
• Cascades: 5th Annual Cascades Goes Gold. “This event will feature fun-filled activities for the whole family with community vendors, testimonies from families who have battled pediatric cancer and our annual "Walk to Remembrance" to pay tribute to those we have lost.” 6pm
  
• Museum of Florida History: Mystery on the Hiawatha. “A grandfather lost in the wilds of Florida. A granddaughter desperate to find him. Can you solve the mystery? Explore Florida history while enjoying an evening of challenging enigmas, conundrums and fun. Special prizes for those who can obtain the clues to find the missing grandfather. Don't miss out on this fun and mysterious evening. Light refreshments provided during the event.” 6pm/free
  
• Madison Social: Foodie Photography Class. 6pm
  
• 621 Gallery: September Soft Opening. “Join us Thursday evening for the Soft Opening of "Mining the Landscape" by Jason Brown in the Main Gallery space. "Let me tell you this, someone in some future time will think of us" an exhibition by Annie May Johnston is opening in the Nan Boynton Gallery. Jason Brown's sculptural exhibition questions the relationship humans share with the natural world. Brown received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1999 and has been teaching Sculpture at the University of Tennessee since 2001. Annie May Johnston uses printmaking , drawing, painting and digital processes to visually describe our surrounding environment. Johnston's exhibition has enlarged risograph prints and uv printed oranges on wood. Annie and Jason will be with us this evening to give a short lecture on their work. Please come to support these artists & make community connections!” 6:30pm
  
• Warrior on the River: A Feasting Beast / Scold / Exanimate. 7pm
  
• Cap City Video Lounge: Prince Of Space & Space Mutiny: MST3K Thursday! 7:30pm
  
• Calvin’s Coffee House: PRIDE Art Gallery Opening. “We're also hosting an Open Mic to give a voice to queer performers! We're limiting the event to five performers, first come, first serve, feel free to sign up at this link: https://forms.gle/hFp7hYCTYx5QRvj16” 8pm
  
• Railroad Square Craft House: Throwback Thursday. “Dj Jon J playing all your favorite oldschool hits hip-hop, rap, rock, r&b, and more.” 8pm/$5
  
• Blue Tavern: Matthew Fowler w/Eliza Schneider-Green. 8pm
  
• The Bark: TGTG / Dorms / Baer & the Lady. 8:30pm/all ages
  

FRIDAY, 9/6

• Tallahassee Junior Museum: Home School Wild Wetlands K-5th Grade. “Students will explore the shoreline of Lake Bradford in this hands-on learning experience! This class will collect samples using dip nets, take a closer look at specimens with digital microscopes, and learn about animals that live in our local wetland ecosystems.” 10am/$17
  
• The Bark: CPE's Radical Rush. “Join CPE at The Bark this coming September 6th, First Friday, to meet and greet others in Tallahassee interested in creating community! This is an event where students and community members can connect with each other, and with local organizations working to make our communities safer, more beautiful, more just, and more free!” 4pm-8pm
  
• Happy Motoring: Vintage FSU Clothing Pop-Up. 4pm
  
• Flippin’ Great Pinball: $5 First Friday. “Come on down to Railroad Square for $5 First Friday at FGP, visit some great locally-owned businesses and artists, and eat some amazing food. Pay $5 for unlimited play on our 40 arcade and pinball games throughout the evening with free re-entry. Check out Tallahassee's best entertainment deal and bring your friends!” 4pm-Midnight
  
• Collegetown: FNBP Presents: Ray Fulcher. 5pm
  
• LeMoyne: Tallahassee Artists Mixer. “Mix and mingle with old friends and make new ones during our upcoming Artists Mixer. Meet the new staff and enjoy complimentary libations, heavy appetizers and check out the latest facility upgrades. Get the inside scoop on everything happening at LeMoyne, including this years Holiday Show. We want to celebrate our local artists, and provide an evening for you to indulge, connect and unwind.” 5pm
  
• Adams St Near Andrews: Adams St. Block Party! “Fridays before FSU home games, bring it downtown to the Adams St. Block Party! We're shutting down the street and turning up the festivities with free, family-friendly fun to cheer our Noles and celebrate the season. Enjoy local live music, libations, food, bounce houses & games for the kiddos and more, downtown on Adams Street. The party starts at 5:30 with groovin' local bands and fun for everyone. Before the game, bring it downtown!” 5:30pm
  
• Midtown Reader: Ann & Jeff VanderMeer with The Big Book of Classic Fantasy. 6pm
  
• Railroad Square Craft House: First Friday w/ Boys Who Cry, Pearl Crush, Britt. 6pm/free/all ages
  
• Railroad Square: Cube of Truth. “We should be set up at the intersection of Industrial and McDonnell, near Black Dog Cafe. The Cube of Truth is a peaceful static demonstration akin to an art performance. This demonstration operates in a structured manner that triggers curiosity and interest from the public; we attempt to lead bystanders to a vegan conclusion through a combination of local standard-practice animal exploitation footage and conversations with a value-based sales approach.” 6pm
  
• Cascades: JJ Grey & Mofro. 7pm
  
• The Warrior on the River: Evil Engines "Punk Show" w/ Subversive Overdrive & Bon Yard. 7pm/$10
  
• Fifth & Thomas: 36 Strong. 7pm/21+/free
  
• Crum Box Gastgarden: Sofia Camille. 7pm/all ages/get that sausage
  
• Opperman Music Hall: An Evening of Music and Dance with The Tallahassee Ballet. 7:30pm/$23-$48
  
• Jan’s Gallery (in RR Sq): Ken & Kaye Play the Blues. 8pm/free
  
• American Legion Hall: Right Place, Right Time with Crooked Shooz. 8pm/$8 for 1/$15 for 2
  
• Cap City Video Lounge: First Friday Burlesque Bingo. 8pm/18+/21+ byob at no charge/$5 Admission (includes 1 bingo card, 1 marker)/$10 VIP (includes front row seating, 1 bingo card, 1 marker)/$25 Birthday Special - add our birthday special to your ticket purchase for a personalized song and dance PLUS a birthday gift from Shaken not Stirred Burlesque!
  
• The Bark: Nick Cossum's Birthday. “Some might know him as the guy who buys shots for everyone at The Bark. Others might know him as the person who fell asleep in front of the speaker at a BMI show and made Jeff Rosenstock rant about it. He's also famous for continually going to college for over a decade (and somehow getting student loans the whole damn time). Honestly, though, most probably know him from Nick's Scary Water. Essentially, it's his fault for any hangover this has caused. Come celebrate Nick being young at heart (though his heart's not doing too well these days either) with a show curated by Nick himself: a not so carefully chosen lineup of acoustic acts playing 2-3 songs each. Probably mostly covers of folk punk you forgot (and probably wish you hadn't been reminded about) as well as some local Tallahassee staples.” 8pm/all ages
  
• Corner Pocket: Your Captain Speaking. 8pm
  
• Blue Tavern: Mia Borders Solo. 8pm
  
• The Wilbury: CDU Presents: Jitwam w/ Andy Altizer. 8:30pm/$12 GP/18+
  
• Bradfordville Blues Club: The James Armstrong Band. 9pm
  
• Fire Bettys: Taller Trees (possible last show). 9:30pm
  
• Bajas: LiL Durk. 10pm
  

SATURDAY, 9/7

• The Bark: The Bark Turns 2! “"The terrible twos is a normal stage in a restaurant's development in which they can regularly bounce between reliance on adults and a newly burgeoning desire for independence. It is a stage that most establishments will go through in varying degrees." We've made it two years! Come celebrate with us! During the day will be a record swap, and then once dusk hits we will have a dance night hosted by DJ Dead Lassie. Prize wheel! Free champagne with any purchase if you are wearing a Bark shirt (and 21+ of course)! Vegan Jello shots! + More TBA.” All Day/all ages
  
• Milk and Honey Acres: GOAT YOGA. 8:30am/$20
  
• Piggly Wiggly Parking Lot: Free Brake Light Clinic. “Brake light burned out? Stop by our free brake light clinic on Saturday September 7th for a free bulb and a helping hand. Our goal is to reduce unwanted interactions with law enforcement and to save folks the headache of a pricey ticket.” 9am-2pm
  
• Leon County Humane Society: Adoptabull Dog Event. “We have so many bully mixes in our program getting overlooked right now, we wanted to give them a chance to really shine! We will have a whole bunch of adoptabull, lovabull pups looking for forever homes! Adoption fees have been lowered to $150 for this event!” 10AM-1PM
  
• Challenger Learning Center: Free Planetarium Show - September Skies Over Tallahassee. 10am
  
• La Tiendita: Brazil Day 2019! “Come celebrate Brazil's Independence Day at La Tiendita with food, drinks, desserts and live music!” 10:30am-9pm
  
• The Bark: Record FaiSwap. “Come hang with local vendors selling VINYL, CASSETTES, CDS, VHS (and other formats!). Featuring LIVE VINYL CUTTING BY TYLER BISSON (audiogeography)!” Noon-5pm
  
• My Favorite Books: Story Hour with Tallahassee RollerGirls. “Get ready for some hands on fun while we read skating stories, lead movement activities, and get crafty! Win a skate lesson from Skate World Tallahassee!” 1pm
  
• Junction @ Monroe: Revival. “Revival is a rock 'n' roll band based in Tallahassee, Florida led by the powerful vocals of Avis Berry. Drawing from the rich traditions of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, blues, and gospel, Revival's mission is to perform music that nourishes and rejuvenates the human soul.” 8pm/$15 general or $20 reserved seating/all ages
  
• Fifth & Thomas: Top Shelf Band. 8pm/21+/free
  
• Blue Tavern: Joël Johnson. 8pm
  
• Proof: The Nitro Groundshakers. 8pm
  
• Centre of Tallahassee: Disciples Of Music Presents: A Tribute To Earth Wind & Fire. 8pm
  
• 327 Meadowbrook Ln: Pop-T.ART. “Join us September 7th to celebrate the release of T.ART Vol. 2 at the first Pop-T.ART event hosted by Cat Family Records and 621 Gallery. The quarterly zine T.ART, Tallahassee Art, will be premiered along with live music and various forms of interactive art. The immersive event takes place in an in-home setting allowing music and the arts to fill an atmosphere outside of their traditional settings. Guests will expect to see works of sculpture, painting, and other enticing installations.” 9pm/$7/all ages
  
• Bradfordville Blues Club: Sheba The Mississippi Queen and the Bluesmen. 9pm
  
• Bird’s: Grease 2: A Trash Cinema Event. “It's a dirty, filthy, hilarious musical romantic comedy that critics hated and initial audiences stayed away from in droves and, over time, has become a beloved cult classic with songs about playing with balls and scoring at the bowling alley entitled "Score Tonight" and more crasstastic songs like "Reproduction!"” 9pm
  
• Local 501 on Macomb St: First Saturday, Tally’s #1 AfroCaribbean Party. “Sounds By DJ HeadphonzE🔥🔥🔥 with the best of reggae, afrobeats, basement jams, dancehall, kompa, and soca.” 10pm/$5
  
• Klub 1K (Quincy): Trina. $10
  

SUNDAY, 9/8

• 926: 926 Community Clothing Swap and Donation Drive. “Gently used clothes, costumes, shoes, accessories for men, women and children are welcome. Items will be organized rummage-style and by garment type. (Leftover costume parts will be donated to local schools, designers or theater closets. Depending upon level of maturity.)” 11am-3pm
  
• Opperman Music Hall: An Evening of Music and Dance with The Tallahassee Ballet. 2:30pm/$23-$48
  
• Cap City Video Lounge: Trivia and a Movie Presents Bring It On! “Before the film we do a short round to see what you might know going in. Then we watch this amazing masterpiece while you fill in a few fun facts - don't worry, this could be your first time seeing it and still totally have fun. Afterward, we'll do one last round of wacky facts. The winner takes home a fun prize and some free rentals! Teams can be between 1 and 4 players. There is soda, popcorn, and munchies available to purchase at the snack bar. Don't bring in outside snacks! This ain't AMC. BYO alcohol, but get your mixers from the snack bar. IF YOU TEAM HAS ANYONE IN COSTUME, IN RELEVANT CLOTHES, OR WITH A RELATED TATTOO YOU EARN AN EXTRA POINT!” 4pm/$5 per playeall ages but the host cusses a lot
  
• The Unitarian Universalist Church: Building Bridges with Beethoven - A Music for Food Concert. “In lieu of an admission fee, audience members are asked to give a donation of any amount or non-perishable food donations. All proceeds benefit our local Second Harvest of the Big Bend food bank.” 4pm
  
• Jan’s Gallery: Second Sunday Songwriters Jam. “Bring your instrument(s) and show up at 6:45 pm, at 645 McDonnell Dr., for a music jam. If you don't have originals, play some covers. There is a piano there. Drinks served for donations. ACOUSTIC.” 6:45pm
  

MONDAY, 9/9

• Student Services Building Rm 219: FSU Students for Justice in Palestine General Meeting and Welcome. “Our first General Body Meeting of the year will be about meeting new people and learning about Palestine! Whether you are a new or returning student, we want to welcome you to the Fall 2019 semester! Whether you are a veteran SJP activist or can't point to Palestine on the map, we want you to join us for another year of political education, mutual aid and activism!” 6pm

TUESDAY, 9/10

• My Favorite Books: September Coffee Klatch. “Come on down, grab some refreshments, and join in on some very interesting conversation. The Book Club will follow the Klatch from 11AM-12PM. Anyone who has read and enjoyed a book is welcome.” 10am
  
• Midtown Reader: Reggie Garcia with How To Leave Prison Early. 6pm
  
• Ruby Diamond: An Evening with Brandon Stanton (founder of the street portrait blog, Humans of New York). 6pm/free to students, $50 general admission
  
• Burrito Boarder: Tallahassee Puzzled Pint. “These aren't jigsaws – they are custom logic and word puzzles, each one unique and original.” 6:30pm