Nathan "The Train" J.'s Profile

this place was way cooler when i was in high school. it's kinda like a gamestop on steroids, but they only sell playstation games. they have game stations throughout the store where you can try the titles before you buy, but you can kinda do that online now without leaving the comforts of your own home.

if you looking for something specific to playstation that's hard to find, they probably have it, but you can also probably find it online somewhere too and have it delivered to your house. next day delivery if needed.

i know this makes me sound like a slob of a fatass, and usually, i encourage people to get off their butts and do something, but i wouldn't go out of my way to come here to try a couple of games that i can easily do from my house. that's all. no hard feelings playstation store.

walked in here randomly on my way to watching The Dark Knight on IMAX with my friend, Nancy W. we had bought our tickets and had about 3 hours to kill, when she noticed an action figure toy store. "sweet!" i exclaimed in my head as we walked in.

the place is kinda small, but it is literally wall-to-wall full of action figures; most of what didn't really interest me, except Nancy had found the holy grail of all toys that i love and hold dear to my heart. it was a SUPER RARE BLACK AND WHITE NECA TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE ACTION FIGURES SET for like $60!!! so i bought two of them. :)

i was, as they say, "as giddy as a schoolboy!"
so unless you're a star wars or LOTR action figure collector, i'm not sure what you would really find, but definitely worth checking out at least.

came here for the first time today with a few friends. this place is owned by the same people who run the original thai cuisine. hence, thai cuisine 2. this place looks a little more upscale. food is practically the same thing, just closer to my house! which is definitely more convenient. the service is friendly. we never had an empty glass of water!

one of the most decent places to eat around here.

came here for family night one time with the kids. we were doing face painting and all of these other kids came over cause they wanted their faces painted as well. so i ask them, "did you ask your parents if it is okay?" and so one kid goes up to his mom and she says, "what's wrong with you? you don't know those homies!"

i love the veggie gourmet here.

moral of the story: you don't know what a brotha, such as myself, is going to paint on your child's faces, so don't come here for family night. just get the pizza and go.

copy center is owned by jack jacobson jr. and his wife, debbie. two of the friendliest people i have ever met in the printing/copying service industry.

i randomly stopped by here at the recommendation of my friend, Josh E. because i needed to fax out some papers to go to Wondercon this year. (yes, i know... nerd.)

side note: the cost for a fax is $1.08 for the first page and i usually only need to fax a page, but i always forget to carry $0.08 on me. to which jack replies, "aah, forget about it."

think of like kinko's, but a mom and pop version. best customer service.

another time, i just needed to drop off another fax then head to staples for some envelops so that i could go to the post office after and get some things mailed out. hahahaha. guess what? copy center does all of that too!

cut my errand time in half. :)
how can you not give them 5 stars?

forget faxing/printing/copying at staples, they charge waaaay more.

wow. i ordered the braised beef and tortelloni. good eats. good times.

this place reminds me of something that use to be great in the 80's, perhaps. i'm sure as a kid, i would've loved this place, pending, i was big enough to rock climb, mini golf, go kart, laser tag, and go to the batting cages.

they had an all you can play arcade card that costs about $12, but the thing is that the games are pretty out of date and the shooting games are not calibrated. other video games don't even have sound which takes away from the experience of playing those cool games when we were growing up.

they had a rock climbing wall with a few different paths. that was actually pretty fun. it's outdoors, so make sure you dress appropriately. the coolest thing about this is that the belaying system is that it's hydraulic. when you reach the top, you can just jump off and repel like SWAT. that was pretty cool.

the go karts were fun, as well. except that i got the lame kart. low top speed. slow acceleration.

the "cafeteria" type section they have that sells junk food is what you would expect when you see it. they don't give refills. well... i take that back. they do, but you gotta pay $2.46 for it. all the prices for food there are redonkulous. $8 (rounded up) for a chicken fingers meal? $6 for a personal pizza? eat beforehand, or tough it out and go to the olive garden afterwards or something.

didn't get a chance to hit the batting cages, play laser tag or the mini golf... maybe next time. that seems more worthwhile than spending all of your time in the relatively small arcade and cafeteria.

if you have kids, it's a good place to have a birthday party. i just find it kind of funny because when you look at the employees, none of them look like they want to be there.

but this place did give me a new addiction... the flamin finger. i'm beginning to have a love/hate relationship with that game. not sure what it is? click this link: http://youtube.com/wat...

now i was a nintendo DS!

this target is duuurrrrrty; with like 5 R's. the only thing really cool about this one is that it's close to my house. i get what i need and get out. if i wanted to browse a target, i'll go to the SUPER target in atwater. you need to check that place out! it's legit.

i come here when i have a hankering for wings. it's not the best wings i've ever had, but when you're out here in merced for an extended period of time, you come to appreciate the things here that remind you of home.

before moving here, i lived in the south bay. my buddy norm and i would hang out and jam on our guitars then go to the wingstop down the street from his place and then come back and play video games til our eyes fell out. we would always order the family pack for the two of us.

now i'm here in merced, and my buddy norm is still in san jose. we can't grab wingstop together anymore, but at least this place will remind me of all the great times we've had.

anyways, the service here is eh, but i can't complain because this place is right down the street from my house.

it's a barnes and nobles.

even in merced, the sections are still confusing, but the employees are very good at helping you find what you are looking for.

i usually stop by here when i can if i'm at jamba juice or round table pizza. i usually go to read the graphic novels, but their selections are very limited.

not a fan of their book club. one, i can't justify paying lots of money to join it, and two, borders' book club is FREE. it's just kinda lame that there isn't any around here.

so barnes and noble, here i come.