This year, we decided to order Osechi ryori from a restaurant we frequent. Unlike traditional Japanese Osechi, this one had a more Western twist, which makes sense since the restaurant usually serves French or Italian cuisine. We made the reservation for the Osechi box back in October and picked it up from the restaurant yesterday,…
When a Simple Walk Leads to a Week Stuck at Home: My Tendon Tear Story
These past couple of weeks have been a little tough fitness-wise. I developed a tendon tear, which essentially prevented me from leaving home for a week, even making it difficult for me to move around our place because of the stairs. How it started My tendon tear came out of nowhere. I just did my…
Life with minimal social media
These past few months, I’ve been exploring life with minimal social media. I realized I was spending too much time on social media, and I wanted to fix that. One by one, I started limiting my access to these apps and then eventually deleting them altogether from my devices. LinkedIn was the easy first target….
The Day It All Came Together: My Best Tennis Match Ever
This is the story of how I lost the first set, but came back to eventually win the singles match I played yesterday night, in what I consider to be the best match I have ever played. I was playing more confidently, and I wasn’t bothered by injuries that have plagued me these past few…
Discovering a Great Tempura Spot in Musashi-Koyama
The other day, I visited Musashi Koyama shopping street, in Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo. This is a long covered shopping street with many restaurants, shops, and cafes, and is maybe one of my favorite shopping streets in Tokyo. It kind of reminds me of the big shopping streets of Osaka, but at least for this…
A New Landmark in Nihonbashi
The Nihonbashi area redevelopment is progressing well. The plan is to eventually redevelop the area around Japan’s famed bridge, even moving the much-despised overhead highway underground to bring back the bridge to its former glory. The riverside will become a more pleasant and more sunny place, surrounded by office buildings, shopping centers, cafes, and restaurants….
Exploring Togoshi: Tokyo’s hidden gem of parks, temples, and cozy shopping
Today, we explored Togoshi, a neighborhood that Tokyoites from nearby areas love for its cozy homes and charming shopping street. Surprisingly, even though it’s popular, many long-time Tokyo residents from other parts of the city don’t know about it. We started our small Togoshi adventure at Togoshi Park and then wandered into the nearby Bunko-no-Mori…
Will Apple Intelligence replace ChatGPT as my proofreader?
I’ve been a regular user of ChatGPT ever since I discovered its capabilities. I use it to proofread my writing in both English and Japanese. It helps me refine my grammar and even adjust the tone of my text. I employ it for various purposes, including creating blogs, crafting social media posts, and even engaging…
Coping with Illness When COVID Still Lingers
I took a couple of days off because I was sick. I woke up with a sore throat, runny nose, and cough. This was a continuation of feeling weak and tired over the previous days. I started taking over-the-counter cough medicine, but I still decided to visit a nearby clinic to have it checked and…
Rediscovering Kameido: Tennis, Curry, and Change
Had a tennis event today at Kameido Central Park. I had played here before, but it might have been the first time in a few years. I used to frequent this neighborhood because I was enrolled in a tennis school near Kameido Station called Top Indoor Tennis School Kameido. Much to my surprise, the area…
Upgrading Our Workspace: From Budget Lighting to a Multi-Functional Ceiling Fan
When we moved here in 2021, we realized we didn’t have ceiling lights, so we went to Yamada Denki and bought some inexpensive ¥2,000 lights from Iris Ohyama, just to get by for a few days. Since then, we’ve gradually replaced most of them with higher-quality, more expensive lights, except in one room—our workspace. That…
How I Used My Apple Watch to Monitor a Tennis Session
Just realized I can use my Apple Watch to monitor my tennis workouts. On Friday, I decided to give it a try. Unlike running and cycling, the option to track tennis is hidden deep in the list of supported workouts—almost as if Apple didn’t want us to find it. Still, I play tennis regularly, and…
