iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 6h

I’m not having good luck with Asian airlines and checking in online: - Trinity airways: no - Nepal Airlines: no - Thai Airways: it seems like there is online check-in, get to the part to scan my passport, website totally broken, so no 0/3 success rate

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 8h

Kids play the same everywhere - this is a small street in a small village in Namobuddha, Nepal. Kids running around, with sticks (universal play toy) and barking dogs 🐕

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 8h

This dog was totally chill, completely unbothered as people walk clockwise around the stupa

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 8h

Here’s the stupa in Namobuddha that we hiked down the hill from the monastery to see

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 8h

Hiking down a hill towards another stupa, the view was very nice. Lots of stairs 😅😅

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 9h

Stopped by Thrangu Cafe, just outside of the Thrangu Monastery, for a lhassi. It had a cute mural and great views

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 9h

All around Namobuddha, Nepal there is plenty of opportunity to light butter lamps and give as offerings , turn prayer wheels, pray for good health and good fortune for everyone

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 9h

From the hilltop in Namobuddha, many prayer flags could be seen

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 9h

On a hilltop in Namobuddha I ran into this little love bug. While a lot of the dogs you see are being fed by someone here, they are also many times at least semi feral. Not this guy is my guess, I don’t think he could survive five seconds in the wild. He has to be someone nearby’s pet 🐕

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 10h

From a nearby hilltop, here’s a view of Thrangu Monastery and other landscaping in the distance (Namobuddha, Nepal)

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 10h

The most famous story about Namobuddha is it’s the place where the Buddha in a previous life sacrificed his life to feed a starving tigress and her cubs (Google Prince Mahasattva for more details). There is some disagreement about which cave this happened - we visited three possible caves this trip.

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 11h

We were walking to a peak near Thrangu Monastery and there were so many prayer flags along the path

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 11h

Seeing monks going about their business at Thrangu Monastery in Namobuddha

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 12h

Some dogs we encountered while walking around the Namobuddha area in Nepal 🐕 🐕 🐕 🐕

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15h

This is the guest house we stayed at at Thrangu Monastery at Namobuddha . It was quite nice , comfortable and clean, with a great view

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 16h

Fast forward, now we are in Nepal and I’m at Thrangu Monastery in Namobuddha. We stayed in the guest house there for two nights. After waking up, it was time to walk to the dining hall for breakfast. Ran into a dog doing his morning email

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

With a final farewell to the dogs sniffing for sausages in our baggage 🐕 🌭 , it was time to leave Japan… next stop Nepal (I have already been in Nepal for almost a week, it’s just hard to post all these pictures . I have a backlog hahah. Stay tuned for Nepal pictures )

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

My train to the airport was equipped with “plasmacluster tech”. While it sounds like some sort of weapon from Star Wars, apparently it’s some sort of air purification system

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

The very definition of a slow news day, can a third rescue dog fit into the family? (My very loose translation of what is in the top left hand of the screen) They’re cute dogs though of course 🐕

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

On the train many times there’s little videos, including some recipes. This one looks super tasty so after seeing it 5 or 6 times I took a video so I can try it back in Canada 秋鮭とかぶの甘みそホイル焼き Autumn Salmon and Turnip Foil-Baked with Sweet Miso

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I know Akihabara is one of the neighborhoods for this but still I’m always a little bit surprised how many different themes there can be for what is ultimately “beer and some girls maybe”

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I just realized after 10+ trips to Japan, I had never been to a Japanese Burger King before (my friend’s taste is too good to eat garbage food so it never came up). I got things not in Canada, Quattro Cheese Whopper, chilli fries and cheese nuggets . Honestly not bad 🤔

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Sworn enemies , Burger King and McDonald’s. The King Vs The Clown 👑 x 🤡 Within 100 meters of each other. Same city block. Who will survive this conflict

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Sworn enemies , Burger King and McDonald’s. The King Vs The Clown 👑 x 🤡 Within 100 meters of each other. Same city block. Who will survive this conflict

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Random stickers I saw walking around Akihabara

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

After all these years, the oil princess billboard is still hanging in Akiba

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

My main purpose for going back to Akiba on my last evening was to go to Taito HEY one last time. Played Darius II on the huge multi screen cabinet, some old capcom beat em ups and tons of other random old games. Bliss ✨😸

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I always find it interesting that in many places in Japan , there will be little shops and restaurants right under the train tracks . These pictures are tracks going into Akihabara Station

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The new Japanese yen notes were introduced July 3, 2024, so of course you have machines that STILL don’t take the notes. It’s been over two years and you basically only get the new notes now.. (Same with the new 500 yen coins)

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Yanagimori Shrine had a shrine kitty. He was of course very cute and I respected him from afar. The person responsible for closing the shrine was sitting with the kitty while I was looking around, so my guess is the kitty is the manager

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

On my last evening in Japan, I decided I wanted to go play more retro games at Taito HEY. But first I had to solve my bag of 1 and 5 yen coins issue. I found Yanagimori Shrine near Akiba station. It was cute & small and had lots of statues of tanooki. Was fun to see & they got a donation of my coins

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Kind of neat, some shop near Ueno that buys coins and things explicitly has listed that they buy the maple leaf gold coins sold by the Royal Canadian Mint. I keep forgetting that they are pretty popular to buy for investments outside of Canada

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Some very cool views of Tokyo Skytree can be seen from nearby Sensoji Temple

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Some pictures from inside the Senso-ji grounds

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The approach to Senso-ji was very busy (no big surprises there)

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Found a ramen shop in Ueno and got the standard tonkotsu ramen order. I love their system for Kaedama (替え玉), which is getting extra noodles. You can do twice included in your meal, just call out 替え玉をおねがいします and put the sign with the hardness of noodle you want. I got “kata” or hard

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I’m not super tall (~176cm, about 5 ft 8) and… even for me, gotta watch my head… this was Ueno Station

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Saw a dalek murder bot in Ikebukuro station

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

One of my tasks was to get an urn for Huai Huai. The temple in Nepal we are placing his ashes has strict size requirements. I Had some difficulty but finally googled for“Buddhism funeral”&there was a store in Tobu at Ikebukuro Station. Talked for 2 min, they immediately had one in the size I needed

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I took Motoko to one of my fav places in Japan, Two Fingers in Ikebukuro. I always stop by when I’m visiting Japan. It’s got such an amazing intimidate atmosphere, the beer selection is amazing and great owners. Definitely check it out if you’re in town

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I love love love the logo for this Japanese soup company. Raccoons with their little hands 🦝 🙌

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Seen in Ikebukuro… bars with maids or bunny girls? Boring, last century… tired. Bee girls? Phewwwwwww let’s go 🔥 (I can’t promise the girls dress as bees 🐝)

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Cori’s Coffee - The World’s Number 3 Coffee Brand Saw this and first I thought what an odd thing to brag about… but then again there’s so many coffee brands/shops, that being number 3 is still quite good 🤔

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Wendy’s has a “New York Style Tsukimi Mocchi” . I’m going to be the first one to say that I don’t think anyone in New York is selling a tsukimi burger… I am very curious to see what makes it New York style though

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Motoko and I lined up at Mutekiya in Ikebukuro (Ramen restaurant). I got the Kanimiso-men ramen this time (miso soup with crab miso and shrimp oil). Delicious as always

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Sometimes a random bit of graffiti catches my eye. Here’s a cute dog 🐶 わん (wan, bark in Japanese)

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

It’s a train station like any other in Tokyo but I still love the vibe of it. The bustle and shops around the station. Watching the trains pull in and out of the station above me, and the view from the platform of life below. 🚊

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I know if you lived in Europe or travel there often , this probably doesn’t seem noteworthy or surprising, but for me , I love the concept of underground bicycle parking. Saw this near a train station in Tokyo

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Walking to the station from Vertere we ran across a newly updated taco place called Death Tacos. Metal music inside and great tacos - nice late night snack after some beers 🌮 🍺

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James Hatheway @james-hatheway.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Motoko and I stopped in at Vertere in Daikanyama. It’s one of her favourite breweries so I wanted to give it a try. Great beer, highly recommended. Cool vibe too Also my head hit the vegetation, where I got to get in contact with nature

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