Editor’s Note

You may notice future days are more annotated lists rather than the written prose that has graced your presence till now. Partly, the days are just variably quite full, and I have only a little down time during travels. When I fall behind on the written blog, it can be killer to catch up.

Additionally, I’ve set an intention toward using my spare time to start practicing some of the things I want to continue once I get back in normal society (in order of priority):

  • Intention

    The supposedly most simple one but the one I have the most trouble with. Merely waking up each day with an intention of any sort. I feel like my default state is to “float”, so anything here is a plus.

  • Meditate

    Just 5 minutes every day is my target. Hoping I can make this instinctual, since the evidence supports this as one of the best ways to manage emotion.

  • learning more (language wise)

    At least 10 minutes a day ideally, this will consist of Kanji flashcards, DuoLingo, translating mangas, etc.

  • stretching

    This will become especially important once I’m working again, I want to avoid feeling stiff and bad, especially to help make climbing easier and more fun.

  • Sketch

    Having bought some juicy pens and notebooks in Japan, actually using them to get back in touch with any artistic side I may have would be great. Just looking for something quick here, and could also help catalog my days as well.

  • Floss

    Enough said.

  • Finger Rehab

    Hoping to keep my fingers flexible and hale, similar to the stretching goal.

All that being said, less detail, more cataloging

A Rustic Italian Morning (Saizeriya)

  • Amazingly cheap and quality
  • Drink bar
  • Very charming

A Train Station Stopover

  • Tullys and the soy latte mishap
  • Some good shopping that Lu missed out on
  • A sushi bento

Osaka, The Unexpected

  • Surprisingly dirty and poor (for a Japanese city)
  • Seemingly lots more diversity
  • Climbing gym showed some gentrification possibility
  • Very hard, but more very style specific!
  • Delicious Tonkotsu, post climbing food is phenomenal here