We had an awesome family night at Round One Entertainment Center. Round One is a chain of 108 amusement stores in Japan that was founded here in the Osaka prefecture. They have karaoke, billiards, darts, arcade games, bowling, batting cages, and table tennis. We bought the multi-pass and rolled two games of bowling, an epic table tennis match between Oliver and Owen, and finished off the night with a couple of hours of karaoke. Lots of shared fun with the family, something we haven’t done in a long time.
Table tennis really helped our family get through the COVID-19 lockdowns in the spring of 2020. We played everyday and we all became pretty good at it! We tried a couple of the arcade games, but lost right away. The bowling was fun, I especially liked the front and back cameras that show your form. If people were serious about improving their bowling, this would be a great way to analyze your form. This is a long way from when I started bowling at Pladium Lanes in Iron River, Michigan in the early 1970s. You needed to keep your own score on a bowling score sheet. They had a really beautiful bar and I remember my dad bringing home their greasy hamburgers with pickles from the Saturday Night Mixed Couples League my mom and dad were part of. We had a babysitter and always looked forward to eating them.
The karaoke was awesome. Nadia and Ocean have good voices and Owen, Oliver, and I have a lot of enthusiasm and stage presence. The kids chose a lot of Kanye West songs and Nadia and I chose 80s songs. With the jet lag, we didn’t stop singing until 2:00 AM. The Round One was in downtown Osaka in the East Yodo River section. I am seeking permission from the kids to post some of the karaoke videos.
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