Profile avatar
grumpywombat.bsky.social
Like a wombat, but grumpy. Dog dad, traveller, home cook, dopey oaf. Aggressively blocking porn bots and blank profilers since 2023.
111 posts 214 followers 230 following
Prolific Poster

As much as I want to be productive this sleeping dog nestled between my legs has trapped me in bed.

My biological parents ended up building a Bear, but that’s beside the point. 😉 Happy Pride!

It really is this simple. #TransRightsAreHumanRights

From 6 years ago. Came up as 5 years ago but we all know I was shaving my beard off and not leaving the house in May of 2020.

In my losing battle with jet lag, I’ve been binging movies. I loved “My Summer with Carmen”, not just the eye candy but the indie spirit and cute story.

Settling in for my flight back to the US in my Japan Airlines issued travel cardigan and slippers (not shown).

Osaka Day 2: Hozenji Yokocho, and an after dinner walk through tourist ground zero. Home tomorrow.

Osaka Day 2: Gay Bar Karaoke - if you are in Osaka go to Deer, the owner Tetsuya works to make his 16 seat bar welcoming and fun for everyone. The K-pop karaoke was a blast and everyone there couldn’t have made it more fun.

Osaka Day 2: Expo 2025 - Every single person working the Expo was welcoming and efficient, the scale of the Expo is incredible. 2/2

Osaka Day 2: Expo 2025 - the pavilion registration is the most frustrating use of technology I’ve used in a long time and ruined the experience. 1/2

Osaka Day 1: International snacks are the best snacks. Maybe it’s about expectations, maybe it’s about being on vacation, regardless it’s a treat.

Osaka Day 1: Maybe it’s because I am developmentally 5, but I am fascinated by plastic replicas of food. This was a giant wall of plastic food on Hankyu Higashi-Dori Shopping Street. Think Vegas, Fremont street without the buskers.

Osaka Day 1: I don’t know if cab drivers pimp their ride with seat covers or if they come from the factory that way. I’ve never ridden on some much doily before. I imagine this is what my grandmothers cab would look like if she were a Japanese cab driver.

Kyoto Day 4: L’Escamoteur steampunk magician bar. Because that’s what you get in Kyoto.

Kyoto Day 4:Arashiyama or as my western brain has been processing it Arashimaya. You guessed it, the bamboo forest on a rainy morning.

Kyoto Day 4: Started with pancakes, took me days to figure this logo is for a delivery service, riding the bus, meeting the slot & pachinko queen of Asia.

Kyoto Day 3: Not only does Toto make elegant washlets, this public restroom sink. The upper left nozzle shoots a spray of soap foam on your hands, the upper right nozzle is the perfect flow of water to wash them clean and the gray semi circle on the bottom is an air blade for drying.

Kyoto Day 3: Nara Deer Park. Run far and fast when the animal uprising happens, these adorable bowing deer won’t be so courteous then.

Kyoto Day 3: Who goes to Kyoto and doesn’t post pictures of Fushimi Inari? Pro-tip: take the 5:30am train, by 7:30am crowds get frustrating. I get it, you want to be the only person in the shot, or need to set up you tripod, timer, then run into the shot while 70 people are waiting. Ugh! Tourists!

Kyoto Day 2: Subway exit escalator, reflective mirror mounted with sign urging riders to check behind you for ninjas. Possibly purse snatchers but probably ninjas.

Kyoto Day 2: Kyoto National Museum was a bust since I didn’t check the website to read only the garden was open today, on the rainiest day yet. Hit the Museum of Craft & Design, Kyocera Museum & POJ, almost enrolled in a kintsugi class there, wanted to buy everything. pojstudio.com

Kyoto Day 2: Bakery table placeholder and low ceilings, cats aren’t the only act in town, you can go to the Shiba Inu dog cafe. They almost got my money.

Kyoto Day 1: Picachu has a sick whip.

Kyoto Day 2: The hotel provides each occupant a croissant each morning, in a paper and cellophane bag with the room number written on it. I just noticed the helpful note on the tray. Now that I know croissants have hopes and dreams I’m not sure how I feel.

Kyoto Day 1: Random snaps captured traversing across the city. Needless to say I am obsessed with the role animals (real or imagined) play in everyday life here.

Kyoto Day 1: Philospher’s Path to Gingkuku-ji

Kyoto Day .5: I thought this was a typeface description not a store identifier.

Kyoto Day .5: A donabe (土鍋) is a traditional Japanese clay pot used for cooking a variety of warm, comforting dishes. The izakaya, ISO Stand, served rice with snow crab and green leaf stem that translated as chrysanthemum in the donabe. p.s. My chopstick skills still need work.

Tokyo to Kyoto: I pack light and do laundry along the way. The wash and fold near the hotel meticulously folds clothes like I haven’t seen since I was 5. Makes repacking my suitcase a breeze, and I don’t smell offensive on the Shinkansen.

This is how a state does it, with a subtle fuck you to the current administration, as only passive aggressive Minnesotans can.

Tokyo Day 5: Dinner at Kagurazaka Sushi Rin, the best sushi I’ve had in my life, and a fantastic chef who was trying to teach me things despite the language barrier. And an English menu for the sole English speakers in the restaurant.

Tokyo Day 5: A slower pace today, more wandering and exploring, Daikanyama and Kagurazaka. Off to Kyoto tomorrow.

Tokyo Day 4: At the museum of contemporary art, taking in paintings of cranes on silk screens, meticulously constructed kimonos and then this. I didn’t know I needed a goddess riding a dragon until I saw it, it’s gorgeous in person.

Tokyo Day 4: Imperial Palace East Garden

Tokyo Day 3: baby holder when you need to use the bathroom, a delicious IPA, high life cat, interesting brick colorway

Tokyo Day 3: Mori Art Museum - Lu Yang’s DOKU the self, Kate Crawford & Vladan Joler Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500, Dummy Life #45 by Sato Ryotaro

Tokyo Day 2: More fun signage

Tokyo Day 2: Ueno Park lit up cherry blossoms, and street market

Tokyo Day 2: Meiji Shrine (明治神宮)

Tokyo Day 2: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Tokyo Day 1: Architecture

Tokyo Day 1: Some of my favorite things at Noda. Armagnac infused yakitori; Iraka brewery’s Muroka Namagensyu; halfbeak, udo, Karashi vinegar miso with fermented milk, an Okinowan burnt sugar cake (like a donut)