Strike it Rich

Yeah- Melissa, Grant and I tried our hand at pachinko, Japan's favorite "legal" gambling game. Men often vie for the best machines in a pachinko place so they show up at 10 in the morning and go until late at night. We, however, decided to play only 1,000 yen, about 10 bucks. And sad to say, but we lost it all. In about 3 minutes.... maybe less. The game starts by of course, inserting your money into one of the themed pachinko machines (ours was Indiana Jones). Then you push start and little bb sized metal balls come streaming from the top of the machine, the object of the game being to get the balls into a small hole in the center. For all you "The Price is Right" fans, it's just like Plinko, but with teeny lil balls. Anyway, needless to say, we did not strike it rich, but it was a cultural experience nonetheless. I think I still prefer Vegas. At least you get free alcohol while you blow your cash!