Weekly thing is my series of quick reflections and plans. It goes out, as expected, at the end of every week. The aim is to use this consistent writing to give myself more grace and more inspiration when progress (in other things) is sluggish.
Hi friends,
First update: I'm still in Tokyo. After my back gave up last week, I panadol-ed and heat-packed it until it's generally healed. I have rashes now from all the heat packs, but that's a small price for less back pain.
Something I Did:
I had my first1 Omakase experience, and it was excellent!
Knowing my partner and my appetites, we were really worried that we wouldn't be full, but it was something that I really wanted to try, so we shelled out (reasonably) for it.
Honestly, it was incredible! I found the place off a guidebook, so it was filled with tourists like us, but in the end, it was something like 20 courses? Small plates and portions, but everything was so good that I left feeling like I was floating.
Some of the highlights, including a lot of raw fish and salmon roe (because me), and the best single grape I've ever had2 as a dessert.
Recently read: Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz. I just started reading my library copy, and it’s already brought up all these funny/beautiful/ridiculous memories of being on the internet! She covers in layman’s terms what has happened through the lens of online creators, so I've already read about YouTube creators, Tumblr blogs, how Twitter and Facebook got so big, within the first half!
Something I'm Doing:
You know how I said my legs seem to be fine? Yeah, my calves are now aching a lot. Considering I went from an average of 2,000 steps a week back home3 to now 13,000 steps? I’m not surprised that's happening. Tokyo has a shit ton of stairs everywhere!
It does mean that I'm having to put all those years of random fitness and self-care knowledge into play; I'm relying on strong massages around the area, stretching often, and taking breaks as much as I can.
Something I'm Thinking About:
It's weird that we’ll be going back in 3 days. It feels ungrateful to say this, but I miss so much: my bed, my house, not having to wear makeup everyday, the ability to just lie down on my sofa, my dining table4, the ability to go out in shorts and slippers5.
Of course, it's not actually ungrateful; I'm just missing my usual life. That's good, too, because it means I do like what I've created at home if I want to go back!
But I don't want this to overshadow the last few days here. I'm trying really hard to stay grateful and in the moment for being able to do this trip at this pace. I'm grateful for so much, including my partner, all the great food I've eaten, the kindness of all the locals, the ability of my body to handle the walking, my love for random kitchen goods and prepackaged food, etc. It's been such a gift, and totally worth waiting the 4 years for this honeymoon.
See you soon,
Charing
Technically I had one for my birthday in Singapore last year, but it was more a predetermined set that we got on discount 😂
For the first time, I understood why grape drinks taste so sweet: it's because this grape is so sweet it tastes exactly like that!!
That 10,000 steps nonsense was debunked years ago, so I'm not under the illusion that more steps equals good (I do 10times more housework+cooking at home but that doesn't register in step count!), but this is a fast way to see where the strain is coming from
This room is so small that the only table is where I do my makeup/all our junk and chargers live.
I don't wanna wear socks no more.