The Ingress Mission Ends at Oshima Sushi Sports Bar

Just as my hand touched the door handle of the Fugu Lounge, Oshima Sushi Sports Bar & Restaurant in downtown Sacramento, my iPhone buzzed, which diverted my attention to my screen: I was instantly awarded another badge of accomplishment in Ingress. Eureka, we had finished our Ingress Mission, the Capture Sacramento Helios, which we started last Sunday and was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours to complete.

My husband and I are two of 19 people in this lovely river city of Sacramento to have completed that mission, and I can see why. Because it takes a lot longer than 3 1/2 hours to do. Granted, we were enticed to stop here and there and blow up a few other portals along the way and, once we captured a portal, we deployed many resonators and mods — plus, we did stop for an excellent lunch at River City Brewing in Downtown Plaza last week — but the entire mission actually took us two Sunday afternoons to complete. I don’t know if most game players don’t possess that kind of focus and drive, yet the game is addictive.

In fact, my brother-in-law had to physically remove the game from his cellphone because it consumed too much of his time. Just warning ya.

At least at this point we were finished with the Ingress Mission and could enjoy lunch. I’d never been to a sushi sports bar before and it began to dawn on me why. It was a weird experience. The bartender / waiter approached to ask what we wanted. No menus in his hand. He pointed us to a wall on the other side of the room where we could leave our seats and walk to in order to peruse the various types of beers on a shelf. No descriptions, just beer. Finally, the bartender brought us a menu.

If you are looking for nigiri sushi, this doesn’t seem to the place to find it. Oh, you’ll find big wads of rice rolled into hard round balls, which appear to have been squeezed between the bartender’s thighs, sporting thin slivers of fish that lack integrity stuck on top. You’ll also find an item called a California Roll, which should have more appropriately been named a Texas Roll because it has a small smattering of fake crab meat rolled up in rice the size of a semi-truck tire, dry and tasteless.

You can double your pleasure by listening to the screams of a couple of football fans glued to one of six television screens. That’s what you get in a sports bar. The place was pretty empty for a Sunday afternoon with several football games happening. But there are other choices in the neighborhood of Mansion Flats.

By the time we returned from our Ingress Mission to our home in Land Park, many of my 24 new portals were in the midst of capture and my husband noted that teenyhedgehog was on the roam. That’s how it goes. I lost my mind control fields, too. And now it’s back to work as a Sacramento REALTOR this week. I checked on the updates for my Sunday open houses. Plus, I have new listings to put on the market. Yes, just before Thanksgiving. I keep working.