As part of our trip, we have been tasked with hatching “Dots” (small creatures from Niantic’s new app Peridot) and letting them travel with us while we are in Japan. We were supposed to hatch our first Dots today, BUT I may have cheated and spawned mine early. So I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce the two Dots that I already have since they’ll be traveling with me for this leg of the trip.

My first Dot was named North, a spacey little guy whose personality went from a total teenage rebel to a court jester (fitting, given his horns). He’s also wearing a party hat because it was given out by the app for free for new users (which is also part of the reason I got the app early, as I was worried the promotion would end before we got to hatch our first Dot by the school’s schedule. He will always hold a sentimental place in my heart, and I’m really happy that I was able to hatch him right when I got to Tokyo and let him grow up beside me as I learned more about the new culture I found myself in.

My second Dot, creatively named North Jr., was the first offspring of North and my personal favorite of the two (shhhh, our little secret). I’m a sucker for black and blue combos, and I’m really happy that he kept the jester horns although his personality is that he’s a crooner. I didn’t know what that was until two minutes ago, but it seems like he’s a sentimental little fella who likes to sing.

I may shell out $3 so that I can hatch a new Dot tomorrow to continue to care for, but I am so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open and I don’t think tomorrow will be much better. While it was against the wishes of our professors, I am happy that I was able to start early and get a feel for the game before being thrown into the deep end. I think the concept is really cute and it has a lot of potential.