I ramble…
I’m sneaking away from work I’m using my 15 minutes tea break at work to quickly bang out this post. The idea has been in my mind for a few days and I would like to catch it before it slips away entirely. Because April is traditionally the season for a new start in Japan… Read More What do we (I?) do now? (A repeat question?)
Warning: as indicated in the title, this post will have MAJOR spoilers for the ending of A Simple Favor (both the book and the movie) and I wouldn’t recommend you read this if you hate spoilers and want to either watch the movie or read the book, or both. Recently, I watched the movie A… Read More Is a Happy Ending more Satisfying? Discussing the Book vs Movie versions of A Simple Favor
Recently, Krysta from Pages Unbound posted about whether it’s worth starting a book blog in 2025 and her points about community and freedom from the algorithm were two that resonated with me. As you know, I’ve been pretty much off social media and blogging, but over the many years I’ve been on the internet, I’ve… Read More Thoughts on Blogging, Instagram, Lemon8, Substack, and all that
I thought it might be interesting to note down something new I did recently. When it comes to book reviews, my way of reviewing has always been pretty standard: read the book → review the book. Sometimes, it’s read the book while taking notes → review the book while taking notes. Regardless, book reviewing has… Read More My exercise in ‘Slow Reviewing’
The first time I can remember watching Spirited Away was way back in the time of portable VCD players. My mum had brought my siblings and I to queue for passports (this was also way back when you had to wait for ages instead of waltzing in on the time you chose online) and the… Read More My History with Ghibli
The first time I tied a memory to a song, I did it by accident. It was my first trip to Japan and my first trip overseas without my family. I was fifteen and it was 2008. In other words, I had just graduated from bringing one of those portable CD players around to bringing… Read More Soundtrack of My Life
Dear Nice, The first time I landed at your airport, I was shocked to find out how hot it was. Last week, when I revisited you after more than a year, I was also shocked to feel the lingering summer heat. But that is where the similarities end. The first time the plane touched down… Read More a nice letter
Do you remember why you started your first blog? For me, my first blog was a Piczo website made with my sister and our neighbour. I remember trawling through Fanfiction.net to create a page with quotes/excerpts from my favourite stories, and of course sharing the site with friends who would type messages in the chat… Read More Some thoughts on the influencer economy
Over time, I’ve built up an eclectic collection of podcasts (okay, not so eclectic, there’s a history & economics focus). But anyway, I was going through my podcast playlist and I started listening to an episode on how to build a welcoming and engaged community and that had me thinking about the topic itself. I’ve… Read More Who Builds a Community & Should We Pay For It?
I’ve been thinking a lot about burning out lately, mostly because I’m going through a stressful period at work and it’s making me conscious about how I’m physically and mentally handling it (answer: not as good as I could). As I’ve gotten busier at work and have had less time and energy outside of work… Read More Let’s talk about burning out and creativity