This not a paid promotion but wanted to share with any one in the area that hasn't seen or tried this place yet. Called Bluesmoke it's in the Beldin village mall food court. Prices are about what you would expect for a BBQ joint...I can say this I have a hard time eat BBQ out since I started making my own and I will be going back to this place...

[M]/ I accidentally mislabelled this pot as an [Event] instead of [Econ], so have to re-publish it. Plus a couple extra links in case someone wants to have a read. /[M]

Introduction

While being humorously "America junior" Canada has remained distinct in many respects, with its competition policy being arguably one of the starkest difference not just with the United States, but any other major economy. While remaining firmly on a more relaxed side when it comes to competition enforcement, Canada has take a step further, explicitly allowing greater market concentration in the name of market efficiency through the so-called "efficiencies defence" clause in the Competition Act.
Moreover, Canada trails many other developed countries when it comes its institutional design. Unlike other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, Canada is a highly judiciary-centred model, where even the enforcement body - Canada's Competition Bureau - first has to prove there's a formidable threat to competition, brining the matter the quasi-judicial Competition Appeal Tribunal, rather than act unilaterally, akin to the European Commission.
However, despite having CAT in place, the scope for private enforcement and complaints to the Tribunal has been pretty limited, which combined with a heavily restrained and underfunded enforcement agency made it Canada's competition regime to be arguably the most tolerant when it comes market concentration among the industrialised economies.

Taking competition off the leach

Following extensive consultations with stakeholders, finalised through an unanticipated round of bilateral talks with provincial and territorial governments, Ottawa is "releasing" the nation's competition enforcement institutions - a policy but at the centre of Canada's Fall Economic Update 2023. Namely, the Competition Bureau is being removed from under the jurisdiction of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada - previously Industry Canada - and granted full operational independence from the Government of Canada.
Aiming to give the CB real capacity to act on its own, a new funding mechanism is being introduced: in addition to direct funding from Ottawa, the House of Commons also gains right to order the Government of Canada to expand funding through a simply majority vote, including as component of a private member's bill or acting on upon recommendations of theStanding Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU).
Additionally, the Commissioner of Competition - the person leading the CB - is set to be reposing to INDU and the Parliament, directly bypassing the executive brach, with any changes to the position to be approved by the House at the same manner of the Privacy Commissioner. Notably, the Commissioner is being granted the right to sponsor amendments to the Competition Act that regulates CB's activities every parliament, including re-introducing changes that could not be passed due to the House being dissolved.
Under its newfound powers, the Competition Bureau also obtains partially adjudicative role, as opposed to a strictly investigative one. Namely, CB no longer has to bring their decision under the consideration of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, so long the opposed party reforms from contusing the decision. For its part, CAT is set to be the final decision-maker when it comes to any process relating to competition matters, including mergers and acquisitions, whenever there's a contradiction between the judgement made by the Bureau and the opposite party. Under the agreement with the provinces, CAT is set to be expanded on a two track-basis. First, the Tribunal is expanded to include an independent representative from each provinces, territory, and the Government of Canada - all appointed through a confirmatory vote in their respective legislatures every 5 years, aiming to achieve the greater possible degree of independence for the Tribunal, with one judicial member appointed from each provincial and territorial bar association, with the Chairman having no special powers, apart from nominal representation in the CAT.

Levelling the Playing Field

The Government of Canada is set to follow though with the proposals of the Competition Bureau as it relates to amending the Competition Act, making all the adjustments recommend, with a notable exception of the Efficiencies Defence.
While not removing the clause completely from the Act, the government is restricting its use to solely to export-oriented companies, namely where over 60 per cent of the its revenue comes to exported products sold outside Canada. Moreover, efficiencies defence is set to be non-applicable whenever there's a possibly of creating a gatekeeper, capable in the long-run to support the creation of new market barriers to entry, defined as a player with more than 20 per cent of sales, including those made in Canada through importing products.
Unlike recommend, rather than allowing for CB to commission market studies, this power is being grated to the newly created Competition & Markets Commission of Canada (CMCC) comprised of the Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Head Commissioner of the Competition Bureau, as well as provincial appointed a provincial, territorial, and federal consumer protection authority is set to set direction for the CMC. Being an intergovernmental agency, whose funded and responsible to the Parliament, CMCC aims to provide better policy diffusion between consumer protection - traditionally a provincial matter - and competition considerations, through issuing policy recommendations, as well as commissioning market studies, and playing a central advocacy role to incorporate market entry and concentration concerns thought the public policy space.
CMCC gains power to "red flag" both existing and future legislation and regulations issued by governmental bodies of those may result in increased market concentration, create conditions conducive to future market entry barriers or significantly restrict supply for any purposes other than public health, safety, or existing international commitments, and appeal the matter directly to the CAT or request further investigation by competition watchdog.
Notably, the new version of the Competition Act explicitly equates both monopolies and monopsonies as per their negative impact on the market, emphasising possible repercussions for local markets, be that an employer monopsony collaborations or exerting pressure on suppliers.
Additionally, the Act is set to be automatically reviewed every 5 years, or upon the request of the Commissioner for Competition, included acting on behalf of a provincial consumer protection agency. The Act also openly permits private action and direct legal acton from private actors to the Competition Appeal Tribunal when there's a perceive violation of the terms of the Act, with CAT being able to order the Competition Bureau to pursue further investigation of the matter. Additionally, the concept of a nation-wide "level playing field" is being inserted into the Act, that both the Competition Bureau and the Competition Appeal Tribunal is tasked to protect.

LPF is defined as "regulatory, institutional, legal framework that governments a marketplace an manner that is neutral or more favourable towards new entrants, and where consumer sovereignty is preserved"

Moreover, the Act reverses the roles when it comes to competition enforcement: it's set to be up to the defender to prove their actions shall not result in immediate or long-term lessening of competition, new entry barriers, or consumer harm, with the efficiencies gain remaining restricted to export-oriented companies.
The Act also introduces the so-called "Competition Override" committing the Government of Canada to prioritising competition considerations when conducting any public policy, including problem procurement, government subsidies, and issuing or amending legislation relating to consumer protection or federally regulated industries. The override can be used by the Competition Bureau to bring the Government of Canada to CAT, and directly challenge any decision or regulation, including those issued by other independent agencies on competition grounds. However, this can only be used after an extensive enquiry by the Competition & Markets Commission of Canada has been conducted, unless the Bureau is compelled to act by a prior Tribunal ruling.
The Competition Act also allows for direct federal-provincial cooperation, permitting the Competition Bureau and the CMCC to conduct enquiries on behalf of provincial governments, as well as brining respective public agencies directly into the CAT process, treating legal proceedings launched by provincial consumer protection agencies as essentially equivalent to those pursued by the Competition Bureau.
Those enjoying such legal equivalence include:

• Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Consumer Services
• Consumer Protection BC
• Consumer Protection Office within Manitoba Justice
• Financial and Consumer Services Commission (New Brunswick)
• Digital Government and Service NL, Consumer AffairsConsumer Affairs at Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (Northern Territories)
• Service Nova Scotia and Internal ServicesConsumer Affairs at Department of Community and Government Services (Nunavut)
• Consumer Protection Ontario within the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
• Consumer Services at theDepartment of Justice and Public Safety (Prince Edward Island)
• Office de la protection du consommateur (Québec)
• Consumer Protection Division of the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan
• Consumer Services at the Department of Community Services (Yukon)
• Office of Consumer Affairs (Government of Canada)

A Canadian Single Market at last?

However, as one of the most important changes is concerned with last minute changes to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement - an intergovernmental treaty negotiated to eliminated non-tariff barriers to trade between Canada's provinces and territories. The Competition Act is now directly referencing the CFTA as a framework for intergovernmental cooperation when it comes to competition enforcement, grating the Competition Bureau the right to directly petition both Ottawa and the Provinces to support and maintain a "level playing field, through promoting free and unrestricted movement of goods, services, capital, and labour within and across Canada".
The Act also permits unilateral action by the CB through CAT or any other legal means to protect and further develop the free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital, so long those remedies "do not result into changes to the division of powers between the Provinces and the Government of Canada or legal alteration of the Constitution of Act." The Act also exempts restrictions imposed on the grounds of public health safety, or environmental protection from being challenged by the Bureau.
While otherwise possibly interpreted as an infringement of provincial rights, the clause of the Competition Bureau being explicitly allowed to bring federal and provincial governments to courts over breaking either the Level Playing Field provision of violating freedom of movement for goods, services, and capital may provide the necessary incentive to expedite further liberalisation of internal trade. Effectively, allowing the Bureau to become an additional stimulant whenever the institutions outlined in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement fail to deliver.

Impact of Domestic Politics

Canada's has been going through a period of surpassingly sticky inflation, that has been in large part driven by increasing prices of food. Which in turn resulted in acquisitions the grocery sector been too monopolised, allowing retailers to extract exorbitantly high prices at the expense of already struggling households. Additionally, Canada received its fair share of negative coverage, thanks to its lacklustre productivity growth, that has also been partially attributed to far lower completive pressures in the economy. Moreover, with the Trudeau government making somewhat expensive commitments betting on repositioning Canada's during the global green transition some believed subsidy regime oversight was needed. It also may give the federal Liberals something to counter the conservative narrative, looking much tougher cracking down on "gatekeepers" across Canada.

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They are the 3 worst shawarma shops in Tvm in my opinion which are worst in terms of taste and overpricing. The first one is Istanbul. After Zam Zam, I used to like their shawarmas. They used to make good shawarma a few days ago when I tried their shawarma for me it tasted like raw chicken(probably uncooked) because of the sauces it taste good but still chicken was uncooked. The pricing was ok.
The second one is Leymon Shawamars in the Lulu food court. This shop is considered one of the most overpriced shawarmas in Trivandrum. They have 3 flavors but they tasted all the same. One small shawarma costs 190 Big one cost 210 better
The third one is Al Taza One of the overrated and overpriced shawarmas in Tvm after Leymon Some of the shawarmas are salty. Quantity is more which is good one. But one shawarma cost 295(on Zomato and Swiggy)😭.
What's your opinion???

My entire life I've had social anxiety. I wouldn't talk to kids at school and I would feel very anxious anytime I had to talk to someone and I would even ignore people and pretend like I didn't hear them. It's pathetic that I was that anxious and I just don't understand why. I refused to go to school in 7th grade and my mom had to go to court because I didn't show up to school practically the entire year.
My conselour at school said I was a narcissist or acting narcissistic. I feel like that wasn't appropriate to say to a child. The workers at school told my mom to call the police on me and told her to drag me to school. The caseworker told my mom to send me to a foster home. I became home schooled in 9th grade I feel like if i didn't become homeschooled I would've killed myself cuz I couldn't stand to be at school so anxious , insecure , not really any friends. I would try not to be anxious but no matter what I was on edge. I got derealization and depersonalization.
No matter what I do or what I say I feel insecure and anxious. I'm also autistic. I don't even want people seeing me and knowing I exist because I'm so insecure and hate myself. I reached out for help when I was a kid but never got proper help and didn't get proper therapy or medication.
I honestly feel like I have a right to be socially anxious considering how rude people are. I had some teenager at the mall who was trying to interview me and my sister and recording us. And there's fucking cameras everywhere and people record everything. I can't comprehend how I person can be so anxious. I have panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. I'm anxious about everything even right now I just woke up and I'm anxious for nothing really. I know I shouldn't be , I called myself a p*ssy and tell myself to get over it and tell myself I'm being dramatic and that hasn't cured anything obviously. I know I'm being dramatic , I know I shouldn't be anxious but my body doesn't care

I knew this country was more than capable of overturning Roe, but when it happened it was still a whirlwind of confusion, anger, I guess a little disbelief too. A year later, I'm not sure if I've processed it and not sure *how* to even process it. Please, I'm open to all suggestions lol. I live in a state with completely banned abortion and I'm so angry at the fact the courts aren't moving fast enough, the president could create an executive order if he wanted to but he doesn't, there are countless people turned away from Emergency Rooms, living in fear of going to prison, having to use their rent and food money to travel hundreds of miles. I'm seeing national and statewide domestic violence and sexual violence centers completely turn a blind eye and ignore the fact their own patients could be going to prison or living through extreme trauma.
I still see updates on the news every once in a while (a court doing the bare minimum or not enough, the Supreme Court justices who decided this are engaging in millions of dollars of bribery, women losing their uterus and ability to have children permanently due to negligence, etc). I can't put into words how angry I am, but more importantly how powerless I am. And please don't say "get involved" because I give so much time every week to this cause by volunteering. It just never seems like enough.

What are your food recommendations for the Financial District?
Coming for 4 days for meetings so looking for lunch and dinner ideas.
Last time I was there I went to the food court for lunch and it was too stressful lol

Yeah, so we crashed in the hills in Kamala, and I felt the stone road guard scrape against my leg and arm as we drove next to it and next thing I Remember I was on the floor. I opened my eyes as my friend is kickstarting the moped and people gather round, saying ring Ambulance. My friend said hop back on as I hoped up and got on the back bleeding out. We drove to the nearest pharmacy. They treated my wounds and wrapped me back up for 1400 baht.
My friend didn’t wanna drive anymore so even though I was injured I drove back home. After I passed out in my bed as we got back and got Rks passport and emergency cash he told us to get for him.
I woke up and looked up and everyone from the community we stayed at was at the hanging in the door looking in after hearing about my injuries. I could barely move as I took the pills the pharmacist gave me for pain and passed back out.
I woke up after something told me to get up I thought about Rk. I went on Snapchat and saw his character moving closer to the house. I called him he said the police is dropping him home to get his passport and they want to see me with my passport.
I got up immediately as I realised I gave my passport for deposit in Patong for the moped. I got changed not even considering my injuries and wrapped my leg and arm as I ran for the ped. I drove to Patong. It took me 2 hours to find the moped company. I found it eventually. I called home protested that the police have Rk and my friend from home gave the money to my sister who was gonna transfer it but was gonna have to be the next day.
I told Rk he said come they just wanna talk. I went there with my passport and they took it away and said I have to pay 100000 baht to the rental company and 40000 to the driver we crashed into. And Rk had to pay 40000 for court fees and we had 1 day to pay the 40000 to the guy we crashed into.
Rk got released and stupid us to go party with the Thai lady stacy the one we crashed with. We got fucked and went bayhill celebrating rks release. Nothing too wild. No crashes since we learned to get cabs in Thailand. ( funnily I write this from bayhill.)
We got home as reality hit us and this would be our last night out for a while. We went home ringing everyone we knew trying to get money for the company’s. We didn’t know how long this would take.
We went to the police station to pay the guy we crashed into and for anyone that don’t believe this is a true story I have evidence of everything.
I’ll fast forward time 1 week we payed off the rental company. After we was penniless we had learned our lesson the hard way and we aren’t rich we had 3k English spending me and Rk and my other friend had 1k we were far from well off.
Once we paid off the company we walked past a few times after seeing they had 2 new cars and the other one we crashed was in repair. We realised we had been fully extorted for everything we had as they smiled and waved. I had no money at all at this point and my leg was infected I was treating it day by day as I walked round with a crutch.
Now we were trying to get home but no one had enough but my other friend,(who crashed)his mum was booking him a ticket. We went to extend our visa. I didn’t have enough money so I couldn’t extend my visa, I barely paid off the company, I needed help from friends. They got there visas done and my other friend only got a 3 day extension due to being Russian. He had to leave and we wanted to give him a good send off as it set into mine and rks brain that’d we’d be stuck here.
The last day my friend was here we went partying again for the first time since the night after the crash which was about 2+ weeks ago.
(Forgot to mention Stacy snitch to police on me about the whole crash we learned in them 2 weeks and Rk had her at the house for 2 weeks near enough and she hated me and didn’t try help me even though I couldn’t walk. We came to the decision she needed to leave.)
We went out like we usually did and partied and went bayhill after I was on xannax and barely rember anything but next thing I’m in a bush and Rk and my friend were speaking to 2 girls who said come back to there hotel. They told me and bring me I went back in bayhill to get me a girl. They left me after this without telling me properly and I went back to see them gone. I had a English sim and no credit or data. I sat outside bayhill as everyone was coming out asking if my friend had been seen. A girl told me to get on the back of her ped randomly and I had no other choice lol. She took me back hers we hugged you could say lol. I woke up she took me for food and dropped me back to my friends and she demanded I gave her what she spent on me. I just was shocked thinking she done it out of good heart. I gave her 1000 baht.
I met Rk after he dropped my other friend at the airport. It set in we have to move place Tommorow and we didn’t know where we were going. We got wasted and got cab back to our place with a girl who was rks.
I woke up to the air bnb owner telling us to get out. I packed my stuff as fast as I could. We got all our stuff together and got cab to Patong. We found a small hotel off bangala road called Acca. This would be the start to our new beginnings and a downgrade you could say from our last place.
Acca was a weird hotel, my visa had run out so I had to make excuses to why I couldn’t show my passport everywhere. I forgot the first couple days at Acca but we were struggling for money bad and calling home near enough everyday. There were few days we would have enough money to enjoy ourselves. And the days we didn’t we had to tell the hotel we were waiting for money.
Acca so many memories there, we had made a few friends there so we knew most things by this point (Thais and tourists). The famous person we met the night we crashed had a YouTube channel. So people who watched his videos had seen us on there and were coming up to us asking questions. We planned on doing YouTube but nothing for us goes to plan.
I still couldn’t go out in the day because my leg couldn’t go near the sun. I was trapped inside all day and Rk would go out and meet up with the friends he met there. We got messages from friends in london I had when I was 15. They were coming to patong for a holiday and wanted to meet up.
They came and booked our hotel (different room) and we all stayed together our room slowly turned into a mess as we would get ready and go out everyday and get xannyed, drink beer and smoke weed.
We thought they were gonna be help but it made it worse they loved xannax and had money so A lot of problems would arise.
Fast forward time, Stacy was stalking Rk and I forgot to mention, Stacy was a pro Muay Thai fighter who was the champion of a popular Thai island and when she was mentioned to any local girls they would be scared knowing what she could do.

B129 surely one of the worst places in Bangkok to eat, unbelievably bad

I’ve been living with my inlaws for over 9 months now and just hate it. My husband (then bf) and I had been living together for about 6 months before his mom moved in with us for her cancer treatment.
His mom is very difficult to deal with and everyday I live in constant stress of facing her. It all started even before we started living together. It started when he told her that we were dating and wanted to get married. She started calling him at odd hours and crying to him about her insecurities concerning me. Then expected me to call her everyday. I am very introverted and never liked calling anyone. Somehow, after a lot of fights with my bf, she was okay with me calling once a week.
Then, there were issues relating to her moodiness. She kept feeling hungry all the time and got annoyed at weird things. Things got worse when she would randomly give me silent treatment and then I would stop talking to her. My mom also came over to take care of her sometimes, but I felt that would result in frequent episodes of MIL disrespecting her. She would bear it, but I couldn’t and I requested her to stop visiting her. MIL would keep my house dirty (still does, but it’s better now, thanks to DH), demand that things be cooked for her even before us (who would go to office and had to get lunch packed for ourselves), run the washing machine to wash just 2-3 clothes, leave the lights and fans on wherever she goes, leave the boiled milk outside the fridge all day and stop me also from doing so, waste a lot of food and leave the geyser on without any use. And I started to complain to my bf because I wasn’t used to all these habits. I agree the timing may have been wrong but these habits really got to me. But I was the one who ended up apologising to her for all this.
Then there was so much drama over our marriage. It was first supposed to happen at his native place (in UP) and as per his traditions, but due to his mother’s sickness, we had to do it at mine. My parents were more than willing to arrange for everything. Then happened the drama over the date of the wedding. Was supposed to happen on Dec 5 initially, but later due to her sickness and less time for prep here (they only said in the last min that they were incapable of doing it at their native), all decided it would be on Jan 27th. Now, again a few weeks before the wedding, they requested to postpone by another 10 days because his mom was immunocompromised due to her chemotherapy. There was no guarantee that she would be able to attend the reception even after 10 days. Also, in their tradition, the groom’s mother does not attend the pheras. My parents very politely explained to them that rescheduling again and again would be very difficult. And they didn’t understand that till date. My parents suggested a court marriage, they disagreed. They suggested having just the pheras on 27th and a reception later, they didn’t agree to that as well. Till date they are mad at my parents and they are not on talking terms. So the wedding still happened on Jan 27th and after that they called my parents and disrespectfully stopped them from visiting me at my house in their presence (they want to live with us in the future and that means my parents can never visit me). I’m so mad at them and will be till they apologise to my parents. They’ve blocked them everywhere and don’t want to be in touch. In a way, it’s a good thing for me cuz of all the drama they do and things my parents get to hear from them.
Now, after our marriage, inlaws have been mostly nice with me, but it really annoys me that all my freedom has been snatched away. I’m under constant stress. They ask me to touch their feet EVERYDAY, pray EVERYDAY, wear sindoor, bichiya and a glass bangle in each hand EVERYDAY. It’s really uncomfortable and I don’t like wearing all these symbols of patriarchy. I don’t mind on occasions or whenever I want to wear them, but hate to do it everyday. My husband does these things in solidarity with me, but we both face discomfort. Initially they expected me to wear a bindi everyday. I wore, but slowly stopped. But one day my FIL again reminded me to wear a bindi on western outfits. The problem with me is I can’t be assertive, I can’t say no, but that one day I just said it doesn’t go well with western. He told me I had to wear these things as I was married. MIL took my side that day and asked him not to force me for this. But I cried all day. I hate people asking me to do things I don’t like. Now, the treatment is done and I can’t wait for them to go away to their native. FIL is retiring this year and I’m afraid they’ll move in with us. I don’t want them to. I want my space and my freedom. Right now, I just want them gone to their house and I want my house back with me. I hate that they have hijacked it. I want to get rid of the sindoor, those glass bangles and all signs that display patriarchy. If I had it my way, I would not want to live with them ever. I’m fine taking care of them, they could live nearby and occasionally visit us, but I don’t see myself living with them permanently. I have had panic attacks, my heart rate goes up very very frequently and my mental health ruined because of them. My husband is trying to help me, do things with me, calmly handling his parents, but he can’t keep them in a separate house. Parents in their culture live with their sons, and he being the only son has to keep them. I can’t live with them like this but don’t know how else to deal with this. Everytime I visit my parents house, I feel so free. I feel I can live my life on my terms. Then I’m reminded that I need to call MIL everyday even from here or she’ll start complaining and annoy us even more. I don’t like calling her as she gives me stress and makes me feel guilty for coming here. Then I get even more frustrated and it leads to fights between me and my husband.
My husband is the absolute opposite of them. Values logic and reasoning. Doesn’t believe in imposing things on anyone. Believes in ‘live and let live’. Whatever progress we have made on this topic, is mostly because of him. But he too has become frustrated. I’m afraid if this goes on for long, it’ll cause the end of our relationship and I don’t want this. Please help!

I own a home and I have been allowing a couple of people I know who needed a place to stay to rent 2 of my rooms. There is no lease and they are just a month-to-month. I have had to give one of these individuals a 30-day notice to vacate the premises due to many ongoing issues including food theft and taking things that don’t belong to them, as well as using my internet to download illegal material (for which I have any notifications of copyright infringements from my ISP). He has also been running an Ethernet cable from my router directly to his room, and I have both told him to stop and disconnected the cable several times before only to have him come back out and plug it back in. Yesterday he claimed that he was calling the courts because I’m messing with his internet by unplugging his cable. I told him he can use the WiFi in my home just like everybody else. But it got me wondering…. Am I obligated to provide internet service to everyone in my house? From everything I can find I am to provide basic utilities, but internet is not mentioned anywhere. Can anyone help shed some light this?

Alrighty, I'll describe my first time travel in japan, what went well, what didn't go well, my overall impression of Japan. We travelled trough quite a few cities, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible as I'm not much of writer. And we've visited quite a few places, so if you'd like more details, comment and I'll go more in-depth :).
A bit about the travelling party. Me(25M) and a work colleague(26M), Lithuanians(Europe) software engineers, reasonably fit and somewhat fluent in english, Omnivores(my colleague is allergic to cheese), our height is around ±185cm.

TL;DR

Cities/islands visited

Tokyo(Shinjuku) -> Osaka -> Nara -> Kyoto -> Onomichi Islands -> Matsuyama -> Hiroshima -> Miyajima -> Kumamoto -> Aso(region) -> Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Nagoya -> Takayama -> Magome -> Matsumoto - > Tokyo(Chuo) -> Tokyo(Shibuya) -> Tokyo(Teito) -> Hakone.

Expenses

I was slightly more conservative with my spending so my expenses are on the cheaper side, my colleague spent quite a bit more, especially on food and booze.
Total amount spent: slightly more than 3k euros in japan + 1.1k euros flights back and forth.
EDIT: Daily food expenses: 30-40 eur or 5k-7k yen.
Daily food expenses: 3k-4k Daily travel fares(bus, metro), museums and other activities: 1k-3k
Average hotel stay: ~60euro
Food: - Breakfast - usually something from a convenience store. Chicken, power gels, chocolate, melon bread(my favourite), - Lunch - something from a convenience store or a restaurant - Dinner - restaurant usually a ramen place

Activities

Museums, castles, shrines, forests, mountains, walks around the city. We did a lot of walking, total around 400km of walking(at leasts that's what google fit shows)
Alright that's a brief summary, now for the more in-depth write up.

My key takeaways

• Japan is a very safe country, I felt safe everywhere, even in the shady parts of Tokyo.
• People are very polite, they'll go out of their way to help you, even if they don't speak english.
• People are very quiet, you won't hear people talking on the phone, or talking loudly in public transport.
• Be polite, if you don't understand or thing that this is not how it should be, don't be rude, just accept it and move on. You are an alien in their country, not the other way around. So please don't ever raise your voice, japanese people are not malicious, they'll try to help you, but they might not understand you.
• If you want to feel appreciated, learn at least the basics on japanese, it's not that hard, and it'll make your life easier. I did it through doulingo, reached unit 14 in a month and that was sufficient to have very simple conversation.

This is it for the TL;DR part. I'll go more in-depth for the rest of the post.

Planning for the trip

We started planning the trip, where we'll go, where we'll stay, what we'll do, expenses, trains, all that you can plan was started to be planned around a month prior to the trip. We created a word doc as our itinerary, that was around 60 pages long. From what I've read on this page about you can't plan everything. Well I believe we did, we might've even over planned :D.
So we booked the following hotels: - Tokyo - Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower(04.25-04.26) - Osaka - APA Hotel Namba Kita Shinsaibashi Ekimae(04.26-04.30) - Onomichi island - TOMARIGI Hostel(04.30-05.01) - Matsuyama - Hotel Patio Dogo(05.01-05.02) - Hiroshima - Wholeearth Ryokan Hiroshima(05.02-05.04) - Kumamoto - Hotel Wing International Select Kumamoto(05.04-05.08) - Nagoya - Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagoya Shinkansenguchi(05.08-05.10) - Magoame - Magomechaya(05.10-05.11) - Matsumoto - Hotel M Matsumoto(05.11-05.12) - Tokyo - APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Station Yaesu South Gate(05.14-05.17)
Extra things we bought in advance: - Water proof bags - Hiking boots and socks - Bigger backpacks - JP Rail pass, we booked the trains in advance, but honestly that wasn't necessary even during golden week - Bandages for foot blisters, medicine(for headaches, motion sickness, diarrhoea). - Ubigi eSim internet(10GB was plenty for me throughout the trip) - Sun screen(did not use and got sunburned to a point where I was shinning red) - Portable battery

The trip

Day 1(04.25)

We arrived at the Haneda aiport, exchanged some cash to yen(was at a better course than locally), printed out our JR passes(IMPORTANT TO DO SO HERE, only major stations let you print it out) and went to the metro. We took the train to Shinjuku, and walked to our hotel to check-in. We were quite tired, bought some chicken from lawson and went to explore a few places, a few drinks in golden gai district and ramen in a nearby place. Eventually we ended up at rock bar mother. Really cool place, for each drink you can request 2 songs to be played. After that back to hotel, visit the top floor onsen and sleep

Day 2(04.26)

Got up early, travelled to osaka. Left our luggage in the hotel, we were too early for a check in. We went to see Osaka castle(quite beautiful), tried takoyaki there. More city exploring, then we went check-in. After that we went to see the Umeda Sky Building in the evening(we bought the ticket in advance) very beautiful, it was very clear and beautiful. Got back to the city, got some ramen, went to the hotel and sleep.

Day 3(04.27)

Went to USJ, bought tickets(basic, no express stuff) in advance. We went there 30minutes before opening, and there was already a huge line. We went to Nintendo first, the zone looked very nice, but ride it'd say was okay'ish for me. After that the dinosaur rides, minion land, grabbed chinese food for lunch, went to the harry potter zone, at this point the lines got quite long around 1h to 1h 30min of wait time. After that we went to see Water world where they were doing a play, was really awesome, I'd say a must see even if you don't understand Japanese, the acting is very good. After that we went to Osaka aquarium(no lines, thank god), it was beautiful, cute chonks and other sea creatures.

Day 4(04.28)

Trip to Kyoto from Osaka. We went early by metro, to see the bamboo forest(7:40'ish), beautiful, few people. Walked around the park then climbed the mount a fed the monkeys(50 yen for a bag of fruits or nuts), very cute, tried petting the hand of one, didn't go well got an aggressive show of teeth. After that we visited Ryoanji temple, went to nishi market, we we're running a bit late so we took a taxi to Kiyomizudera, we saw the geish district on our way to there, looked interesting. After the temple we went to a bar and got back to Osaka and then after a bowl of ramen to our hotel.

Day 5(04.29)

We went to Nara, took this hiking track saw the deer, bought some food, did the whole bow thing then fed them. One thing to keep in mind is to crumble the cookie and give it in small pieces, otherwise you'll run out of food to give quickly. They might be very "assertive" and try to take it from you, don't be afraid, just stick your empty arm out to get some distance and that's it . They're not gonna bite you. After that we went to see the Todaiji temple, it was beautiful, the buddha statue was huge. Got back to Osaka, got some ramen, went to the hotel, scheduled to send our luggage to our next hotel and went to sleep.

Day 6(04.30)

Got up early, went to Onomichi, rented some bikes and began our cycling journey through the islands. A lot of cool bridges, very beautiful nature. We cycled to north Omishima port, where we transfered to rabbit island pet and fed the rabbits, got back and cycled to our ryokan and straight to sleeping.

Day 7(05.01)

More cycling, more cool bridges, more beautiful nature. We arrived at Imabari, returned our bikes and took the train to Matsuyama. We ate some stree food, relaxed in the open hot springs for feet. Walked around and went to sleep. To be honest I'd say this was the favorite city of the whole trip for me. I liked the vibe, the people, the food, the nature, the onsen, the layout, the architecture. In general, beautiful city.

Day 8(05.02)

Early in the morning visited a public onsen nearby, then went to see the Matsuyama castle, it was beautiful, tried the orange juice there, it was really good, got back to our hotels, got some dango. Packed our stuff, got a taxi and went to the port and took the ferry to Hiroshima. Checked in the ryokan. Took a train to Hiroshima city center, visited the castle and then the nuclear museum. Get the english audio for best experience. It took me around 2hours to walk through everything, read it and take it in. It was very nerve racking, but I'd say a must see. After that we went out to eat some Okonomiyaki, it was delicious, then back to the ryokan and sleep.

Day 9(05.03)

Went to Miyajima island first by train then transfer by ferry. It was very beautiful, the mountain hike was also fun, the view on top was amazing. When we came down from the mountain there was a low tide, so we could go near the Itsukushima shrine. Got back to Hiroshima, went to the city center for a couple of beers, got back to Ryokan and went to sleep.

Day 10(05.04)

First day of the Golden week, wouldn't say that I've noticed anything different, maybe because we were travelling to the far south of Japan - Kumamoto. This is one of those cities that I also enjoyed more than the big common ones, it looked very nice, had a beautiful castle, was not crowded as Hiroshima, Osaka or Tokyo. We rented out bikes, cycled to Honmoji park(the place near Honmoji park is god damn maze, keep you google maps always open or you will get lost) found a place to eat, visited Lafcadio Hearn House and went to our hotel and then to sleep.

Day 11(05.05)

We rentend a car and went to Aso, highly recommend renting a car here, since the public transport is not that good. The drive was very nice, we went to see active volcano crater, luckily it was not erupting, so we were allowed to get close. Then we went around and climbed the other inactive mountain caps. Climbing that was one of the most fun hikes I've had. It was very windy, you could barely see past 5 meters anywhere, because of the fog. There was no smell of sulfur, so it was safe. We visited Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Takadake, overall the place looked like Mordor, the vibes, the weather everything. After that we visited Ayugaeno Falls, the ravines and everything was just majectic. After that we got back to Kumamoto, gave back the car and went somewhere to eat. Car rental cost around ~7k yen in total. So I'd say a good price. After eating, we went to our hotel and then to sleep.

Day 12(05.06)

We went to Fukuoka, by train, walked around the city, visited Tochoji temple, Fukuoka castle ruins, Ohori park and explored the huge ravine type shopping mall. Went to the science museum(big mistake, it's for kids...). After that we tried Ichiran ramen(originated in Fukuoka so we thought it be better). Was the same as everywhere else. It was rainy so we got back pretty early to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 13(05.07)

We went to Nagasaki, by train, visited the atomic bomb museum, it was very interesting, just as good as the one in Hiroshima. We took a boat ride to see Gunkanjima, though we couldn't get on the island, because of the weather, it was still very interesting to see and hear the history of the island. Explored the Dutch district, walked around the shops, tried some whale meat. It was raining the whole day, so we also got back quite early and went to sleep.

Day 14(05.08)

We got up early and went got straight to the train station, and caught the train to Nagoya. The longest train ride by far. We arrived at Nagoya, checked in our hotel, went to the city center, visited the castle, it was very beautiful, then we wanted to explore the abandoned tunnel near Aichi. Apparently it was closed, we decided we're going to enter through the exit, like rascals, but apparently after we circled around there was a police officer that was guarding traffic through the bridge and wouldn't let us through. So our trip ended there. After comming back to Nagoya we visited the sky scrapper, it had interesting installations on the windows. We had our stay got back to hotel and went to sleep.

Day 15(05.09)

We went to Takayama, by train, one of the most scenic train rides so far. We strolled around the city center, visited the early morning market, bought some souvenirs, tried some white strawberries, mushroom tee and other local cuisine. Visited Takayama Showa Museum, which was 10/10. You could touch almost everything, the museum gave a great vibe, it was like you were in a house of a family that lived there. There was also an old nintendo with mario kart that you could play, put on a old yukata and take photos. Play pachinko(no money needed), watch an old-school movie. We visited a few sake tasting places, I've found a few flavours that I liked. After that back to Nagoya, eat ramen and sleep.

Day 16(05.10)

We sent out our luggage to Matsumoto, caught a train to Nagiso and then hiked the Nakasendo trail to Tsumago and then Magome where we checked in and stayed at the local ryokan. The hike was very nice and relaxing one of the easier hikes I've had, the places we saw we're quite old and beautiful. At ryokan we met people one American and one from Germany, they had a guitar so we chatted a bit, played the guitar and had a few beers. The dinner at ryokan was amazing, looked very traditional Japanese dinner. Was also very tasty, would definitely recommend this place. After that we went to sleep.

Day 17-19(05.11)

Got up early and took a bus to Nakatsugawa Eki-mae station where we travelled to Matsumoto. We left our bags and went to the RubyKaigi conference. Overall good conference, I've learned somethings, but most importantly I've had bit of time to rest and catch up on some sleep, since we weren't exploring new cities. So overall the following 3 days were wake up -> breakfast -> conference -> lunch -> conference -> drinks -> dinner -> sleep.

Day 20(05.14)

Slept in, had breakfast and travelled to Tokyo by train. Left our luggage at the hotel and moved on to explore the Chou region. Walked around the Ginza, Imperial palace, Yasukuni shrine and went to check in. After that it was getting dark, so travelled to Akihabara to experience the anime night life, was quite bright and interesting. Though the amount of requests to visit a maid cafe was too damn high. If your planning to buy a PS5, a new GPU or Nintendo switch, this could be the place, I saw PS5 with two controllers for 60k yen, with a 10% tax refund that is around 370 euros. After some exploration, got back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 21(05.15)

This was our Hakone day trip, we bought the 3 day pass for it, so we could use the train, bus, ropeway and boat. Was worth it, even for one day. We climbed Mt. Kintoki, thankfully the weather was great and we could see Fuji. The climb was very nice, the view was amazing, the weather was great, no bears to be seen. After climbing down, we played some golf that was near there. Travelled back to the station were we used the rope-way to get around the mountains, the view was just majestic, we saw the sulfur pits, the stench was, well strong to say the least, but overall enjoyed the experience. We didn't make it time to the boat, so we had to travel back by bus, which wasn't so bad, since the scenery was amazing.

Day 22(05.16)

Explored more Tokyo, so we went to Teito district, went to the Ueno zoo, National science museum. After that we went to Kaminarimon gate, Asakusa shrine and moved to Shibuya next. There we went to the Yoyogi park, Meiji Jingu shrine, paid our respects to Hachiko statue. The last activity was to visit TeamLabs Planets, which were amazing, one most interesting experiences, not gonna spoil any details, overall great experience, would do it again. As it was getting late we got back to Shibuya, walked around more, had a drink and went back to our hotel.

Day 23(05.17)

Last day in Japan was spent buying souvenirs, snacks and other stuff to bring back home. Packing our luggage, to accommodate for the extras, getting to Haneda airport and back to Lithuania.
I'm very happy I had the opportunity to go on such a trip, I enjoyed it a lot even though, I'm quite the couch potato so 3 weeks is a bit much for me, but nonetheless, wouldn't change a thing.

Noida, a bustling city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, has witnessed rapid urbanization and economic growth in recent years. With its strategic location, excellent infrastructure, and a thriving business environment. Commercial property in Noida has become a preferred destination for investment. In this article, we will delve into some of the emerging commercial property trends in Noida, focusing on notable projects.
Sky Bhutani located in Sector 140A, Noida, is a remarkable commercial property project that stands out for its luxurious design and prime location. Developed by the renowned Bhutani Group, it offers a mix of office spaces, retail outlets, and serviced apartments, catering to the diverse needs of businesses and consumers alike. With state-of-the-art facilities, premium amenities, and excellent connectivity, it has emerged as a top choice for businesses seeking a prestigious address in Noida.
Cyberthum Noida, located in Sector 140A, is a revolutionary commercial project that epitomizes the concept of a futuristic business hub. Developed by the renowned Bhutani Infra, it boasts of iconic twin towers, intelligently designed office spaces, high-street retail outlets, and sky gardens. The project's standout feature is the inclusion of the world's largest infinity rooftop pool, providing a unique experience for the workforce. With its cutting-edge design, advanced technology, and strategic location, it has set a new benchmark for commercial real estate in the region.
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Noida's commercial property market is experiencing a wave of innovative projects that cater to the evolving needs of businesses and consumers. Development projects are shaping the future of commercial real estate in Noida. With their luxurious designs, state-of-the-art facilities, and strategic locations, these projects are revolutionizing the way businesses operate and thrive in this vibrant city. As Noida continues to grow as a commercial hub, these emerging trends are poised to shape the landscape of the city's commercial property market for years to come.

So, this is going to be about a different “TTI” I went too. I don’t remember the name of it, but I remember quite a bit.
This “TTI”/wilderness was an “optional” adult version of a kid version. I don’t remember the name, which is why I’m putting it here. A few on the list has scratched some itches, but I can’t for the life of me remember.
Memory issues relating to trauma for the win /s
Now, some context: In 2018, I was living with my brother abusive best friend in Oklahoma. It was a horrible situation and it’s own fucked up story, but long story short, she was collecting food stamps off me and when I wasn’t complicit in it she got a judge to rule me a danger and I was “recommended” (read: forced) to go to a program. To this day, I cannot remember the name of the place.
It was a wilderness program. It was one of those “optional” adult wilderness programs. What no one tells you is that once you’re court ordered, it’s no longer optional. The only good thing that happened was that it cost my brothers bff tens if not hundreds of thousands and I ran away from her the moment I got out.
They started us off like how my old “therapeutic group home” (others words, that thing was the least therapeutic thing i’d been in until this one) would punish us: By having us sit and live in a stone circle. This was the case for idek how long, but it’s something that everyone had to do, some (like me) multiple times for “acting out”. We had one pot, one cup, a sleeping bag, some string, and a tarp. Everything else was either something we brought with us here (the “lucky ones” who knew ahead of time) or we had to make it from things in the wild (it was a densely wooded area, even if it was around winter).
The temps got cold. Like cold cold, at least for a California native. I don’t know where they took me (it was dark out when we got off the plane, and they told me that if i looked at any of the boarding stuff or anything then i would be “punished”. As a at-the-time DV Victim, this scared the crap out of me), but it was around March or April and cold enough at night that if you didn’t have the right position your fingers and feet froze overnight. There was a fire, but it was built far enough away that the heat never made it to the circle.
Everyone would do their own camping, and their own solo thing with the rocks when they first came here. As you were there longer, you were allowed more “privileges” in the form of chores. This would include digging what we called “the shitter” (a 7-8 foot hole that you would dig and then someone else would pull you out of), setting up the fire, and if you told them that you knew how to shoot a gun- hunting for the food yourself. When i would come back without any food, I would be punished by being put back on the solo.
(Note: I don’t think there actually was any wildlife, cause in my weeks of hunting i never even saw anything wild. Also the staffs only weapon was a BB Gun and a pocket knife)
Solo people would have to build their own circle and set up everything themselves. We were allowed to make one fire a night, and however long we kept that fire going until morning we could keep it in the circle. The staff would purposefully stop the good fire makers from keeping their fire by throwing water at us and claiming it was an accident while the others shivered.
We would have to hike for hours on end, though we made sure to never get too far from a river near us, since according to staff it was our “only drinking source”. Sometimes we would go a few miles(?) away where there were higher trees with sturdier branches. If we weren’t “relaxed” enough, they would have us climb those trees until we were exhausted.
Food was minimum, as a few had EDs that made them overeat. Because of this, we were given about 3-4 small portions. The only ones who didn’t go through this were the diabetics, and the staff would brainwash us into hating them because they got to eat more.
Unlike other “TTI”, these were all adults. Either their family had wanted to give them some sort of “help” (quite a few drug addicts), there were some there were there as a “temporary” measure from the courts (the longest time through that I had heard was 3 months, with a release date of the next day. The next day he was sent off to an “RTC”. I think they said Equinox? But I’m not sure. I know he had been moved to the “adult” one from the kid program because his parents didn’t want him home, and then he was transferred after a week. That’s the gist of what I got, but I was fighting for what felt like my life so idk).
Of these adult “TTI” “campers” (idk what the adult name is), about 6 of the 10 I talked too were from teen programs and sent here after “aging out” of their original program. I remember that scaring me that I’d be forced through more of this horror, but they assured me that as an adult, they can’t force me somewhere else without telling me. The court order was “special” because it was just that: ordered.
I remember going in around March and ended up getting out on May 4th, 2018. I remember this because my brother had flown out to come get me, and we stopped at a hotel just on the outskirts and one of them refused to let us check in cause I was “one of those mentally challenged people” and because they were fully booked due to the discounts of “may the 4th be with you” (I watched someone walk up with a lightsaber and get 4% off their hotel room.)
There’s more, but m hands are shaking, so I’ll leave it at that. Hopefully someone knows the name of this place so I can get closure. I feel like I can’t close this chapter without knowing, or at least having an idea. I know there aren’t many “Adult TTI” programs, though. I wish I had the paperwork and all the stuff, but me and my bro burned it all when he took me to his place as a celebration and to leave all of that behind.

By Chuck Hustmyre
William Bailey's forehead shattered the mirror like a sledgehammer. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was the feeling that he was falling through the mirror. Sub-cranial hematoma, a concussion, maybe even a cracked skull--that had to be the reason for the strange feeling. The mirror was mounted on the wall just to the right of the bar, four feet tall by about three feet wide. As consciousness slipped away, common sense and his strong belief in the rational world told him that he couldn't fall through the mirror. He must have bounced his head off the wall and be falling toward the floor.
It seemed like just a second or two before William's eyes popped open. He lay on his back, on the hard wood floor of Fausto's, with Johnny Davis towering over him. Big Johnny probably wanted to finish him off, maybe kill him, and finally end their twenty-year-old feud. Either Big Johnny Davis and the ceiling lights above him were spinning, or William's head was spinning, but either way something wasn't right.
He raised his head and looked to his left, toward the bar. Except the bar wasn't there. Instead, he was staring at the bathrooms. That didn't make sense. It must be his brain that had gotten spun around. William turned his head and peered over his size-ten wingtips at the busted mirror. The wooden frame and most of the glass still clung to the wall, the rest sat broken on the ground. The bar had to be on his left. He looked again, and still saw the bathrooms. A brain bruise, maybe some fluid pressure building up might be the cause of it.
"Get up!" Big Johnny Davis said.
William looked up at him. Johnny stood behind him, just beyond his shoulders. Perfect place for him to stomp my head into the plank floor. Except Johnny Davis was holding out his hand.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here."
Davis looked scared. It was the first time William Bailey could ever remember Johnny Davis looking scared. William had always been scared of Big Johnny, but Big Johnny wasn't scared of anything or anyone.
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Johnny glanced over his shoulder. William craned his neck to look where Johnny was looking, saw he was staring at the front door like a man terrified something bad was going to come through it. Big Johnny looked down at him again and pumped his hand. "Come on, get up. They'll be here any second."
"Who?" William asked. "Who'll be--" But before he finished, Big Johnny Davis reached down, grabbed him by both arms, and jerked him to his feet.
As he was dragged toward the door by the only man in town who truly hated him, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door. He had to have a concussion, probably severe; that had to be it, because the letters on the sign were backward. It said TUO.
As Johnny Davis pulled him out the door, William heard tires skid on the pavement.
"Where's your car?" Johnny asked.
William twisted away from the big man's grip, then turned to his left. "In the alley." He started to run, still not sure exactly what he was running from.
Behind him, Big John shouted, "The alley's over here."
William kept running but turned his head back toward Johnny. "I know where the alley--"
Something hit him across the midsection and toppled him to the ground. He got his hands up just in time to break his fall and managed to keep his head from slamming into the sidewalk. When he looked up he saw a shopping cart tumbled onto its side.
Once again, William found himself lying flat on his back, this time amid the spilled contents of the cart. It had been filled with junk: paper bags full of dirty clothes, canned food, bags of potato chips, a diamond shaped, orange road sign, and other trash that looked like it had been collected from back alley garbage bins.
The homeless man who'd been pushing the cart was scrawny, and wafer thin. His skin was the color of old shoe leather, and he wore a long gray beard, tangled and matted with food and bits of filth. He was sprawled on the ground next to his cart, half sitting up, staring at William with his bright blue eyes.
Car doors slammed, men shouted.
"You better get going," the homeless man said, as he cocked his head. "The police after you?"
Police!
Before William could assure the old man that the police weren't after him--he was a respected businessman and family man--someone behind him grabbed him under both arms and pulled him to his feet. William turned and found himself staring into the face of Johnny Davis. "The alley's that way," Johnny said, pointing to the other side of Fausto's. With one hand gripping William's jacket, Johnny dashed across the front of the bar toward the alley. The alley--right there, plain as day--on the other side of Fausto's, right where it shouldn't be, where it couldn't be. William had been here a thousand times. As you stepped out of the bar, the alley was on the left, Brockton's Ace Hardware on the right. Now everything was mixed up and in the wrong place.
Johnny Davis turned down the alley, dragging William behind him. After just a few steps, a spotlight flashed in front of them.
"Stop!" a voice commanded. "Get on the ground."
William couldn't see because Johnny was in his way. "Who's that yelling?" he asked.
Big Johnny stopped and William plowed into his back.
"Get on the ground," the voice boomed again.
William poked his head out from behind Johnny Davis's back. The blinding white light was in his face. He couldn't see a thing.
POP! POP! POP!
Gunshots.
Big Johnny sagged, then crashed to his knees. Instinctively, William bent forward and grabbed hold of Johnny. "What's the matter?"
More pops.
Johnny's big hand reached out and shoved William back toward the street. "Back door," he wheezed, then plunged forward onto his face.
William stood alone. Behind the white spotlight he saw blue police lights flashing. He was totally exposed.
POP! POP!
He saw flashes--little yellow spurts of flame--as something tugged at his jacket.
William had said "back door." What back door? Fausto's had a back door, but it didn't lead anywhere except to the open space behind the building used for trash and deliveries. Twenty feet of asphalt between the bar and the back of the building on the next block. William had parked his car at the end of the alley, but the police cars--or whatever they were--had the alley blocked off. The building behind Fausto's also had an alley that ran alongside it, but the owner had closed it off to keep the bums out. He'd put up a gate, padlocked it, and topped it with razor wire. It was a dead end.
Two more pops. Dead end or not it was better than standing here and getting shot. William turned and ran. He burst through the front door of Fausto's, dashed through the bar, past the shattered mirror, hit the back door at a dead run, and was outside behind the bar within seconds.
He could see the tail end of his car sticking out from the corner of the building, but with the cops blocking the alley, his car was useless to him. William glanced across the open space to the alley that ran next to the other building. The gate, the padlock, the razor wire--all still in place. To his right an overflowing garbage dumpster sat beside the back of Fausto's, jammed against the fire ladder.
The fire ladder.
An iron ladder bolted to the cinderblock wall.
William looked up. The top of the ladder was lost in shadow, but he knew it went up two stories to the roof. Last summer, when the toilet had stopped up, he'd come out back to take a leak and had stood behind the dumpster, peeing against the wall like a kid, one hand draped over the bottom rung of the ladder.
He slipped behind the dumpster. The smell made him gag. The bottom of the ladder was four feet from the ground. William reached up as high as he could, grabbed hold of the third rung, then hauled himself up.
Through the partially open back door came the sounds of heavy feet pounding on the hard wood floor of the bar.
Halfway up the ladder, he was exhausted--and scared. Shaking, he white-knuckled the ladder. Being more than ten feet off the ground terrified him. He needed a break, just a second or two to catch his breath. There was enough moonlight so he could see into one of the second story windows. Inside, junk was piled everywhere. Old barstools, a busted jukebox, furniture stacked almost to the ceiling. Years ago, old man Fausto lived on the second floor, but Jake, who'd bought the place from the old man and had decided to keep the name, used it for storage.
Below him, William heard the back door thrown open so hard it banged against the wall. He scrambled up until he reached the top of the ladder, then hoisted himself over the edge of the roof. Down on the ground a voice shouted, "There he is, up there."
Another gunshot. What the hell was going on?
The unmistakable sound of feet--fast feet, in shape feet, boot shod feet--scurrying up the ladder. Standing on the tar and pebble roof, William glanced around for something he could use as a weapon, shocked he was even thinking of such a thing. A five gallon plastic bucket was all there was. It stood upright, filled with rainwater. He picked it up and peered over the edge. A uniformed policeman was three quarters of the way up the ladder. Two more cops were right behind him.
William looked at the heavy bucket in his hands, thought about just dumping the water onto them but knew it wouldn't stop them. There was only one way to stop them, and that was to knock them off the ladder. He thought about warning them, maybe trying to scare them away. But they were cops. You couldn't scare them away.
So why had they shot Johnny Davis, and why were they shooting at him?
The first officer looked up and saw William staring down at him with the bucket in his hands. Their eyes locked for just a second and the cop stopped. In those eyes that stared back at him, William saw an almost maniacal determination that sent a shiver down his spine. The officer held his grip on the ladder with his right hand while his left dropped to the pistol resting in his gleaming leather holster. In one smooth motion he drew his gun and raised it toward William.
William Bailey tossed the bucket down the ladder. A shot rang out an instant before the heavy bucket thudded into the cop's head. Like a gruesome traffic accident happening before his eyes, William couldn't help but watch as the policeman fell, taking his two partners down with him. The last thing William saw before he turned away was a jumbled heap of black uniforms resting on the concrete below the ladder.
* * *
Hiding in the shadow of a telephone booth, thinking. Home. He had to get home. Had to get back to Marge and the kids. Maybe somehow he could explain what had happened. Vincent, his attorney, he would know what to do--maybe--but he was a civil lawyer not a criminal attorney. He wrote contracts and did personal injury on the side; he didn't get people out of jail who'd killed a cop by dropping a bucket of water on his head and knocking him and his buddies off the side of a building.
As the cab he'd been waiting for pulled up, William stepped out from the dark and climbed into the back seat.
The driver turned around. "Where to?"
William pulled the door shut. "Uptown. 1721 Audubon Court."
"Fare's gonna be about fifteen dollars. After dark, I gotta have the money up front."
"What?"
"Company policy." The cabbie shrugged. "A lot of drivers been getting stiffed."
William opened his wallet, pulled out a twenty and handed it across the seat. The driver took it and almost slipped it into his cash box, then took a second look at the bill. His face tightened. "What the hell is this?"
"Huh?"
With the bill stretched between his hands, the cabbie stared at it for a second then looked up at William. "You're either the dumbest counterfeiter who ever lived or you've been had."
"What you are talking about?"
The driver faced the bill toward William but didn't hand it back to him. "It's printed backwards."
William looked at the twenty-dollar bill in the man's hand. It looked like--it was--an almost brand new bill, nothing wrong with it as far as he could tell.
"Get out of my cab," the driver said.
William didn't know what the man was talking about but knew he didn't want to get out. This cab was his only way home. He reached for the twenty. "If you don't like that one I've got another--"
The driver pulled his hands away. "I ain't giving this back. I got to turn it in to the police." He dropped one hand behind his seat back, then came up clutching a pistol, an old German Luger by the looks of it, the muzzle aimed straight at William's face. "In fact, I bet they give me a reward if I bring you in with it."
William jerked the door handle and rolled out into the street. He sprang to his feet and ran, the driver's yells just background noise. Has everyone gone crazy or is it just me?
Home. He had to get home.
* * *
Rain. Driving, relentless rain. William was just two blocks from Fausto's. In two hours, that's as far as he'd gotten--one block an hour. Police cars prowled the neighborhood, shinning spotlights into every nook and cranny, lighting up every shadow. Everyone in Fausto's knew his name. He'd been going there three or four nights a week after work for years. The cabbie had his address. William had given it to him when he told the hack driver where to drop him.
Ten o'clock at night, with nowhere to go and no way to get there, William sat behind the closed Goodwill store, under an overhang that barely kept the rain off of him.
Huddled in the dark, head sunk between his knees, he hadn't heard anyone approach.
"You don't look so good."
Startled, William looked up, prepared to run again. It was the homeless man he'd knocked over outside the bar. The one with the shopping cart and the leathery skin. William relaxed a little. "Excuse me?"
The man pushed his cart closer. "You're not supposed to be here."
William looked around. "Why not?"
The old man grinned, half his teeth gone.
William found it nearly impossible to tell his age. The guy could be forty and maybe had lived a hard life, or perhaps he was a well-preserved seventy, pickled by a lifetime of booze. William waved him off, expecting a plea for money. "I can't help you."
The old man stopped just a few feet away. "Everything's out of place isn't it?" He had a strange lilting voice. Almost like an accent.
And he was right. Everything was out of place--from Johnny Davis to the cab driver--everything was wrong.
Strapped to the back of the old man's shopping cart was a plastic sign about the size of a loaf of bread. William recognized the sign, the words, the colors, the logo of a local supermarket chain, all were familiar to him, but the letters were backward, unreadable.
Rainwater ran down William's face. He pointed to the sign. "Why's it written like that?"
The old man looked at the sign then back at William. "Like what?" he said, then shuffled away behind his basket.
* * *
The rain came down even harder. William slouched in a darkened doorway across the street from Fausto's. Nothing made sense. Everything was messed up, backward, out of whack. Almost like this wasn't his home, like he was a stranger seeing it for the first time.
But that was crazy. He'd grown up here, gone to Brother Martin High School, dated Jenny Underhill who went to Cabrini, lost her to Johnny Davis, then got her back only to lose her again the first year of college to some kid who drove a Mustang. Two years later William married Marge at Saint Luke's. They had two kids.
This town was his home. He recognized it. He knew the people here, Big Johnny and Zeke, the bartender at Fausto's. But things were different, little things. John Davis for one. In trying to help him, the big man had gotten himself killed. That wasn't John Davis--at least not the one William Bailey had known since seventh grade. Everything looked the same but wasn't. Nothing was quite right.
But they knew him--or someone like him.
A strange sensation crept over him that made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Maybe he didn't belong here. Maybe everything wasn't as it appeared. Maybe this wasn't his home. But if that were true, then whose home was it? Another thought, even scarier seeped through his brain. If he was here, who was there--at his home?
Crazy.
William dropped his head into his hands. Just considering such nonsense was a waste of time. Yet, here he was scanning the street, thinking of going back inside Fausto's, back to that mirror.
Not much time to think about it. The bar closed at three AM and it was already two-thirty. When he'd left--run for his life with Big Johnny--most of the mirror was still in the frame hanging on the wall.
Something about that damned mirror.
But Fausto's was dangerous, so a couple of hours ago William had found another mirror. In the men's room of a twenty-four hour gas station. The Chevron on North Rampart.
He had approached it cautiously, afraid he was going mad. As he peered over the sink into the mirror, he saw what he always saw, his own reflection. Holding up his left hand, he looked at the image in the mirror, at the watch strapped to his wrist. He noticed that the man in the mirror wore his watch on his right hand. Just the opposite.
William stood in the gas station bathroom for twenty minutes before he worked up his nerve. Finally, he took a deep breath, leaned back, then slammed his forehead into the dirt-streaked mirror. The glass shattered and cut his head. Blood dribbled off the tip of his nose into the sink. His reflection stared out at him from the other side of the mirror, blood running down his face, too.
I have gone crazy!
So the gas station hadn't worked out. Ducking police cruisers, William had wandered the streets, his head reeling. What was he doing?
On the sidewalk, he found a sopping wet magazine that the wind had blown up against the side of a newspaper machine. The cover caught his eye. He picked it up. It was printed backwards, the letters reversed, words running right to left. The spine was on the right. As he flipped through the pages, he couldn't read a thing. Then William had an idea.
In the bathroom of an all night restaurant he held the wet magazine up to the mirror. Perfect. The reflected image was normal, spine on the left, words running left to right, all the letters printed correctly. He could read it clearly. But what did it mean?
Then he drove his head into that mirror. The glass cracked. Someone walked in, a skinny waiter wearing an apron. He stood gawking as William leaned over the sink with tears of pain filling his eyes.
The waiter looked at the broken mirror, then jabbed a finger at William's bloody forehead. "What the hell are you doing?"
"An accident," he mumbled, pressing his fingers against the fresh cut.
The waiter turned. "I'm calling the cops."
William Bailey ran.
Now he was huddled in the rain staring at Fausto's across the street. Because he had nowhere else to go.
He stood and walked toward Fausto's. When he was halfway across the street, a police car glided around the corner, headlights reflecting off the wet pavement. The cops in no hurry, just cruising. William forced himself to keep walking, not to run. One foot in front of the other. In the downpour, odds were that the cops wouldn't even recognize him.
But they did recognize him.
The police car slid to a stop as its high beams clicked on and its blue strobe lights started popping. Both front doors flew open.
Like a sinner seeking the sanctuary of a church, William ran straight for Fausto's door. As he burst inside, Zeke looked up from behind the bar. "William! What the hell are you doing here?"
He ignored the bartender, running right past him, eyes focused on the broken mirror and its busted frame hanging on the wall.
Zeke again, "The cops been looking all over for you. Say you killed two officers and--"
Behind him the front door banged against the wall. "Police!" a voice behind him commanded. "Stop."
But William didn't stop. He kept running--running straight for the mirror. Reflected in its fragmented pieces he saw two uniformed police officers behind him, heard their boots pounding on the wooden floor. Just ten feet separated him from the mirror. At full speed he took two strides then dove. He stretched his arms out overhead and tucked his chin into his chest as his feet left the floor.
He felt one hand hit wall and the other strike broken glass. Then his head hit. More glass cracked, more skin split.
Darkness.
* * *
William's eyes popped open. He was staring at the ceiling. Rough voices, even rougher hands. They rolled him over onto his stomach and jerked his arms behind his back. He felt cold steel on his wrists and heard the metallic ratcheting as the handcuffs tightened and bit into his skin.
He tilted his head up and rested his chin against the floor. Blood poured down the side of his face; he watched it pool on the floor then seep between the wooden planks. By rolling his eyes up he could just see the empty spot on the wall where the mirror had hung. Lying on the floor, three feet from his head, was the broken frame and the rest of the glass.
The two cops grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet, sending waves of pain through his shoulders and wrists. As they spun him toward the door, one of the officers said, "You're under arrest."
"Why?" William asked.
The officer pressed his face into William's. "Murdering your family for starters."
"My...my family." William felt his stomach cinch and his bowels turn to ice. A thought he'd had earlier in the night echoed inside his head. If he was here, who was there--at his home.
As the cops dragged him across the floor, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door.
OUT.
He was home.
THE END

How is everyone! I'm a newer user and wanted to share that I'm very surprised how little info is found in the Canadian and USA nutrition databases for restaurants and fast food choices. For instance, Costco food court, Starbucks and even subway doesn't seem to exist. It's really difficult to go back/forth from their websites to the app entering the info. Anyone ever try copying the url from a restaurant and seeing if the nutrition info will magically be pulled? Also why does the camera scan for nutrition labels appear only sometimes? Thanks all!

For the first time in my life, I'm currently being pursued. He made it clear that he isn't courting me yet rather he simply wants to get to know me better. He is giving me food at work as a gesture of friendship. I was advised to return the favor by one of my coworkers. A friend of his commented on a shared post on Facebook, implying that the female he is courting have to say yes now because he has already spent a lot of money on her.

In the case of commercial properties in Delhi, the importance of architectural design and style can't be understated. Delhi is the capital of India and is a bustling center for business, commerce as well as trade. Delhi is filled with a diverse variety of commercial buildings which offer distinct design and architectural facets. In this piece, we will examine the importance of architecture and design in the commercial properties of Delhi and focus on a few notable designs.
Omaxe Chandni Chowk:
The most recognizable commercial building in Delhi is Omaxe Chandni Chowk. The location is in the middle of the city, the project is the perfect mix of modern designs and classic architectural style. Omaxe Chandni Chowk offers an exciting mix of shops for retail, commercial areas, and a food court. The design of the project captures the spirit of the historical Chandni Chowk area while providing modern facilities and amenities.
The Delhi Mall:
Another notable commercial property in Delhi is The Delhi Mall. It was developed by the Raheja Group, this project is situated in Karol Bagh, a major retail and commercial center. Its Delhi Mall stands out with its modern design and cutting-edge construction. It offers many stores, entertainment areas as well a food court, serving the varied demands of both shoppers and businesses.
Omaxe Karol Bagh:
Omaxe Karol Bagh is a commercial development that offers the ideal location for business in New Delhi. Its concept is focused on providing a contemporary and effective workspace to accommodate commercial enterprises and offices. Omaxe Karol Bagh is well-known for its modern architectural design and original features which makes it a desirable option for people looking to buy commercial space in the bustling city.
Best Field NSP:
Best Field NSP is a commercial building located in Delhi in Delhi. It offers an array of offices and commercial spaces. The design of the project is focused on design and function, allowing firms with the perfect environment to expand and flourish. Best Field NSP is well-connected and conveniently located, which makes it an ideal choice for buyers looking to purchase commercial properties in Delhi.
DLF Prime Towers:
DLF Prime Towers is a commercial property situated in Okhla, South Delhi. The project is awe-inspiring in its sleek style and stunning architectural design. The towers offer large and spacious offices that meet business needs as well as professionals. DLF Prime Towers is one of the famous DLF builders and is known for its dedication to excellence in design and high-end quality.
Conclusion:
Architecture and design have a significant role to play in improving the appeal and value of commercial property in Delhi. The Omaxe Chandni Chowk, The Delhi Mall, Omaxe Karol Bagh, Best Field NSP, and DLF Prime Towers exemplify the city's dedication to creating contemporary well-designed, and practical workplaces. These commercial buildings offer many choices for business owners, which include offices, retail stores as well as food courts. If you are searching for a commercial property in Delhi take into consideration the importance of architectural design and style in the projects you are considering to take a shrewd choice.
For further information about these projects, you can call +91 909009728.