what I did in 2025 #3

my 2025 in music

Like I mentioned

, I create a playlist every year to collect songs that were special to me. These playlists are little time capsules that I can unlatch with special attention in the future and be transported into the past.

my 2025 in books

✅ read – ☑️ read (started in a previous year) – ⭕️ unstarted – ⏳ in progress – 🫸 stopped

Of the books I set out to read at the beginning of the year, in the order I read them:

✅ The Ginger Man
☑️ The Dominant Animal
✅ Pachinko
☑️ Blood Meridian
🫸 Mr. Palomar
✅ Breakfast of Champions
✅ Wise Blood
🫸 All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
✅ Circe
✅ Visit from the Goon Squad
✅ Malone Dies
⭕️ Song of Solomon
⭕️ Moby Dick
⭕️ Go Down Moses

Books I ended up reading along the way:

🫸 Is A River Alive?
✅ Meditations for Mortals
✅ A Man Without A Country
🫸 Walden
✅ How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One
✅ The Medium is the Massage
✅ The Catcher in the Rye
⏳ Tinkers

my 2025 on this site

This year I wrote many more /now updates. Twelve, in fact! Some months I wrote multiple, some I wrote none. I wrote the

last one

on December 22nd. From that one you can click back in time through all my /now updates because this year I implemented a feature that automatically links posts if they are part of a series. A post is part of a series if its title ends with a number, like

what I’m doing now #18

for example.

Specifically about 2025 I wrote a few pieces, and they were all experimental in form. Firstly, I wrote

what I am doing in 2025

, a “live journal” written incrementally throughout the year. I also kept a “

done list

” of things I did in the whole year. Finally, at the end of the year, I wrote

a retrospective

in a new, interactive format I’m calling stacks.

my 2025 in travel

In January, I returned from a
trip to Japan
trip to Japan

December 26 2024 (mod. November 3 2025)
#journal #travel #cities #japan #asia — Mentioned in what I'm doing now #7, how to be still, what I did in 2025, what I did in 2025 #3

For Christmas and New Years, I went to Japan with my wife Z, my mom, my older sister, her boyfriend, and my younger sister.

Daily Log

Saturday 12/21/2024 / Sunday 12/22/2024 – Tokyo, first time at an izakaya

Z & I flew @ 12:45pm directly from Vancouver (YVR) -> Tokyo (NRT)

Z slept while the rest of us ate at a nearby izakaya (drinks, raw tuna, cheese pancakes, potato croquettes, chicken karaage, etc.)

chocolate ice cream bar at 7 Eleven on the way back to the hotel

Z & I flew with Air Canada. We upgraded to Premium Economy to avoid being stuck in a couple of middle seats. It was expensive, but it made our flight much better. I spent the whole flight reading and writing. I read the first 150 pages of Normal People and
wrote about it
, pausing only to eat meals. I couldn’t believe it when it was announced that we were beginning our descent.

Monday 12/23/2024 – Tokyo, a day of shopping

solo coffee nearby while Z & my family ate breakfast at the hotel

together took train to Shibuya City, then ate at a good conveyor belt sushi restaurant

solo flat white @ The Roastery by Nozy Coffee on Cat Street

solo browse MoMA Design Store & other boutiques, bought tea towel from Hay

solo walk thru Shibuya, fatigued from jetlag, got another coffee

solo browsed robe store but did not find what I wanted

with group again, bought hoodie @ Carhartt Work In Progress store

bought shoes and slides @ Hoka store

visit Tadao Ando’s public bathroom in Jingū-dōri Park, which was featured in the movie Perfect Days

Shibuya crossing! then very spicy ramen at a place with weird vibes

I had severe allergies until the early evening. This happens to me whenever I travel somewhere new. In 2017 I went to Europe for the first time and I spent the first full day sneezing and oozing. Same thing this time in Tokyo for the first 24 hours. Reactine didn’t seem to make a difference, just had to wait it out.

Tuesday 12/24/2024 – Tokyo

arrived at Disney Sea @ 12pm

rode on lots of rides, walked a lot, listened to Disney Xmas carollers

subpar pizza & pasta in Little Venice

explored the rest of the park, rode on more rides, fought jetlag

left @ 9pm, closing time

The architecture and spatial planning of the theme park was really impressive. It seemed like every corner we rounded we encountered another stridebreaking view of the park. It reminded me of the architectural tactic of constraining the height and width of hallways to reinforce the impact of emerging into a bigger space. It’s a method that’s been employed by Tadao Ando of Osaka and other famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wednesday 12/25/2024 – Tokyo

solo walk through the Shimbashi area getting a couple of coffees

Z & I explored Ebisu on foot, stopping at a puppy store and a pharmacy

cocktails @ bar EAS MOR, which had great atmosphere

visited mall briefly, then dinner @ Toki Taruza withe everyone

7 Eleven for snacks on the way to the hotel

Thursday 12/26/2024 – Tokyo -> Takayama

get two flat whites from INCredible Coffee

took bullet train @ 1pm to Takayama via Nagoya

dinner at a nice sushi restaurant

fell asleep by 9pm, finally cured my jetlag

Tokyo station was huge and very busy. It felt like being in a beehive. It took me and Z a while to figure out how to pick up our tickets. One machine gave us an error message but then we tried a machine in a different section and it worked. Then we circled through the masses, trying to figure out which screen listed our train’s platform. When we finally found it, we struggled to pass through the gate. Z put in the two tickets as the ticket machine had instructed but that wasn’t enough. We had a confusing interaction with a worker there, who we finally understood was saying to scan our IC card after inserting the tickets. We made it through and with thirty minutes left until departure time, we lined up to buy food and drinks to take onto the train. It’s good we came an hour early.

Friday 12/27/2024 – Takayama

while Z had breakfast at the hotel, I walked into town and had coffee @ Brand New Day and then @ Hids’ Cafe

at Miyagawa Morning Markets we bought a beef bun, a fridge magnet, two pairs of chopsticks, and two ceramic mugs

pop into a cutlery store and then have lunch & coffee @ Ember coffee in beautiful 150+ yearold house

walk up hill to Shoren-ji Temple, enjoying the snowy scenery

back in town, stop at stationery store

I bought a yukata at a kimono store

dinner @ ramen restaurant

incredible cocktails @ Yu

thirty minutes in a private onsen w/ Z at the hotel

This was one of the best days of the trip.

Saturday 12/28/2024 – Takayama -> Shirakawago -> Kanazawa

solo walk over fresh snow into town for coffee @ Falò Coffee Brewers, then got cash from post office ATM, then coffee @ Ember, before returning to hotel

we took the bus to Shirakawago

delicious snacks and drinks from window shop on street

walk through village, across pedestrian bridge over the river, to the museum, and then back

coffees & Baum stick

we took the bus to Kanazawa, then food & drinks @ Pari King nearby

beer & instant ramen in the hotel room

Sunday 12/29/2024 – Kanazawa

Z & I had breakfast & coffee at Isotope Coffee, a beautiful space

solo stroll through town listening to music and taking pictures

drank coffee and wrote about Normal People
at Townsfolk Coffee

Z met me and we walked north through Omigi Market for dinner at a fine dining restaurant called Barrier

we walked through the Higashi Chaya District

Z went to the Kanzawa Forus mall and I sat at a small pub to read Normal People & drink beer

we had cocktails at Furansu Cocktail Bar, which bartender at Yu in Takayama had recommended

bites and drinks at Izakaya Hanagumi

spent the rest of the night at Donuts Music Bar

Monday 12/30/2024 – Kanazawa

breakfast & coffee at Moron Cafe

visit beautiful Samurai house with an exquisite garden and a small gallery of artifacts

coffee @ Townsfolk Coffee, then a brief stop at a combini store

walk through to Oyama Shrine, through gardens, up to Kanazawa Castle ruins, down past Kenroku-en Garden

Z took the bus to the Kanzawa Forus mall and I walked through Shiinoki Green Space back to the hotel

I rested & read Normal People in the room

met Z for dinner nearby, but Love For All’s kitchen was closed so we went to The Cottage

stop at Lawson, then back to hotel

Tuesday 12/31/2024 – Kanazawa -> Tokyo

taxi to station, ate while we waited for our train

arrived in Tokyo, train to Shimbashi, checked back into the hotel

rested a couple hours at the hotel

dinner @ Daigo, a fancy Shojin restaurant

karaoke @ Big Echo

We were en route to Kanazawa Station by taxi when a thunderstorm hit. Lightning flashed outside the windshield so brightly I thought our driver had run a red light and triggered a stoplight camera. Still we asked to get dropped at a coffee shop a block away from the station so I could get a good coffee. But then we found the shop was closed for New Years so we frantically lugged our bags back to the taxi to catch it before it left. The train station was big and busy with travelers. It was basically a mall with a train station. White artificial light and Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift came down from the ceiling everywhere. We settled in a Tully’s Coffee lounge with our bags piled around our ankles. The far wall was decorated with a sappy, nonsensical poem marketing & Tea. We might as well have been in a mall in Jakarta or Mexico City or someplace else. I hate places like these. When you’re there, you don’t feel like you’re anywhere.

Wednesday 01/01/2024 – Tokyo

coffee & breakfast @ Starbucks

visit fancy mall where teamLAB is

watched Gladiator II @ 109 Cinemas

ramen dinner nearby

It was certainly a mistake to visit Japan in the first few days of January. As noted all over the internet, New Years is Japan’s major national holiday and many things close not only on the first but for a week. I’m sure Z would’ve determined this if we had been more involved in planning the trip. Lesson learned, I suppose.

Thursday 01/02/2024 – Tokyo

visit various neighborhoods including Gakugei-daigaku, Naka-meguro, & Ebisu

visited two more Tokyo Toilet locations, designed by Masamichi Katayama & Kashiwa Satō

incredible sushi @ Standing Sushi Nemuro Hanamaru in Ginza

shop @ UNIQLO Flagship store

cocktails @ La France in Ginza

Friday 01/03/2024 – Tokyo

visit Tokyo National Museum

lunch & coffee there

Hello Kitty special exhibition and gift shop

visit Senso-ji temple w/ Z

solo walk in Asakusa area

dinner w/ my friend H @ Monja Shichigosan then drinks at nearby pub

I had
mixed feelings about the museum
. Or, I don’t know, maybe I just needed a meal. Or a better sleep. Or to feel like I chose to go there. Or to have had a period earlier in the day where I’d gotten to direct my attention to things of my choosing. Or a period to produce something, so that I might be in a more
absorptive mood
. That certainly makes me feel better about socializing aimlessly in the evening, when I feel like I’ve done something productive with my day.

Saturday 01/04/2024 – Tokyo

solo coffee & journaling @ City Bakery

teppanyaki dinner w/ my mom on top floor of mall in Ginza

visit the teamLAB Borderless Digital Art Museum

The Digital Art Museum was really cool. It was a dark maze on the bottom floor of a fancy mall where myriad projectors shone moving patterns and images of light on walls, floors, and ceilings. This by itself might’ve been a gimmicky socialmedia tourist trap, but embedded throughout the large labyrinthine gallery were rooms where sculptural elements combined with light, music, and mirrors to create surreal experiences.

Sunday 01/05/2024 – Tokyo -> Vancouver

check out but leave bags at hotel

solo cortado from Brooklyn Roasters in Ginza

solo browse flea market & buy orange tinted glass to use for cappuccinos at home

pick up bags at hotel and take train to Narita

flew directly @ 6pm from Tokyo (NRT) -> Vancouver (YVR)

My intention was to browse Hands and Itoya in Ginza, but I came across the flea market when I stopped for coffee by Ginza station. There were dozens of stalls selling ceramics, porcelain, kimonos, jackets, bluedyed fabrics, and so on. The orange tinted glass I bought was only 400 yen, less than three dollars in USD, and I could see it selling for tens times the amount at trendy stores in the USA and Canada. I’m still sour about going to the East Vancouver “Flea Market” to find they charge an admission fee and sell priced up secondhand and vintagestyled clothing.
I took with my mom, sisters, and our partners.
In May, I went to Tofino with my mom, sisters, and our partners to celebrate my mom’s birthday for a second year in a row.
In July, I went with Z to Gibsons BC to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
In August, I went to
Ireland
trip to Ireland

August 7 2025 (mod. August 23 2025)
#journal #travel — Mentioned in what I am doing in 2025, what I'm doing now #13, trip to England, what I did in 2025 #3

Z and I are vacationing in Ireland for a week from August 8th til the 15th.

Thursday 08/07/2025 – Vancouver, BC

4:30pm flight YVR -> YYC -> DUB

watched two interior design videos

read about Dublin, The Easter Rising, The Troubles

watched Thomas Flight’s 1hr video Why Movies Will Never Feel the Same

read about Marshall McLuhan, the New Criticism, Harold Innis

The late afternoon flight gave me lots of time to get the apartment in order before leaving. I watered my plants and gathered them all into the office for Z’s mom to water while we’re away. Baxter is staying with my mom in Victoria. I expect he’ll bond with her and my younger sister in the three weeks he stays with them as he did with our friends who dogsat him while Z and I were in Indonesia in 2023. In particular he loves our friend A, who playfought with him. He loves to playfight.

Friday 08/08/2025 – Dublin

arrive at Dublin Airport in the morning; take cab to Airbnb, drop off luggage

get coffee @ The Little Cactus; walk through Smithfield, across River Liffey and into Usher’s Quay

eat lunch @ SPACE JARU, then browse @ Marrowbone Books & chat with the worker about authors

continue walk: lounge in St. Patrick’s Park; Grafton St., thronging with tourists; St. Stephen’s Green

coffee @ Coffeeangel on the sidewalk patio

walk into Trinity College: Fellows’ Square, around the pristine College Park cricketground

visit National Gallery of Ireland; dinner @ All Bar Chicken; walk back to Airbnb to shower and unwind

The locals have been very friendly and helpful. The cabbie chatted with us cheerfully. Z anticipates being upstaged in the realm of enthusiastic socializing.

It surprised me how small the city feels. The weather is gray and mild and windy, good for walking outdoors. There is a good deal of car traffic. Many if not most buildings are made of brick and sit at two or three stories.

Saturday 08/09/2025 – Dublin

solo coffee @ The Little Cactus

brunch @ Brother Hubbard; read on our phones about The Easter Rising

visit The Spire and GPO, site of The Rising

coffee @ Copper + Straw

tour @ Kilmainham Gaol Museum (great)

eat dinner @ Gallaghers Boxty House

attend stand up comedy @ In Stitches Comedy

get takeout pizza & fries from Manor Takeaway Foods

I like it here. There is an abundance of pubs, quality coffee shops, public transit, bike lanes, leftists, and young people. Z says it reminds her of Vancouver.

Dublin feels bigger today. It’s the weekend and this afternoon there was a friendly game between Leeds United and AC Milan so the streets are chock full of people, many in yellow and white Leeds jerseys and a few Rossoneri sprinkled about. The city center is swarming with pedestrians, pubs brimming with cheerful drinkers pooling on the sidewalks by the entrance. Out the windows the sound of live music streams laced with singalongers. Cars rumble and buses whine and bike bells chime on the street. Sunshine stretches out on the asphalt and above it lights up the translucent flags that hang angled from building fronts.

Sunday 08/10/2025 – Dublin -> Galway

solo coffee @ Little Cactus; then breakfast & coffee together

tour @ Henrietta House

tour & tasting @ Jameson Distillery

shop for used books in Temple Bar

pick up car rental @ Dublin Airport (faff and a half)

pick up luggage from Airbnb & get quick meal from Manor Takeaway Foods

drive to Galway, settle at B&B, chat with host about what to do tomorrow

At the Jameson Distillery, our host was the most animated one we’ve had in Dublin. He waved his arms wildly and in husky bellows rattled off his lines, punctuating them with dual finger snaps and tossing of the Jameson bottle from one hand to the other, the glass clinking against his hand jewelry. He concluded his opening speech by ramming the bottle down onto a prop book, then as if waking from a trance he commented mildly and mostly to himself that this bottle hadn’t broken. I too was surprised.

Monday 08/11/2025 – Galway

breakfast @ 8am; I had a Full Irish Breakfast & Z had french toast with fruits

drive to Cliffden & around Sky Road on the peninsula (scenic!)

drive to Letterfrack & hike most of Diamond Hill (scenic!)

stop at Kylemore Abbey; lunch @ Connemara Woodfire

drive to Killary Fjord (scenic!); get ice cream @ Hamilton Grocery & enjoy view

spend evening & have dinner in Galway

This was a supremely scenic daytrip. Exactly the kind that makes our car rental worth it.

Tuesday 08/12/2025 – Galway -> Doolin

breakfast @ 9am, we both had french toast with fruits; leave B&B

ice cream @ Linnalla Irish Ice Cream; coffee @ The Oir House

drive up Corkscrew Hill

attend sheepdog demonstration @ Caherconnell Stone Fort

visit Poulnabrone Dolmen, tomb from the Stone Age

dinner @ Vaughan’s Pub in Kilfenora; arrive @ Airbnb in Doolin to rest & do laundry

visit Cliffs of Mohar

struggle to find restaurants serving food after 9:30pm; get takeout pizza from Riverside Bistro

I have an anecdote about my doing laundry at the Airbnb. I’ll write it here later.

Wednesday 08/13/2025 – Doolin, Inis Oirr, & Dingle Peninsula

pack and leave airbnb; get coffee & breakfast @ Rocket House Coffee; ferry to Inis Oirr

rent pedal-assist electric bikes & ride them around the island, visting the sites; lunch @ Flaherty’s Pub

bike some more; ferry back to Doolin

drive south along coast, through Kilkee buzzing with activity

take Killimer Ferry into County Kerry

eat dinner @ Dough Mamma in Listowel; continue drive to Dingle Peninsula

settle in guest house of Tig Bhric & West Kerry Brewery

get a drink at the pub downstairs & listen to the locals sing together in Irish

Thursday 08/14/2025 – Slea Head Drive on Dingle Peninsula, then Knocknagoshel

Part I

get coffee & breakfast in Dingle; set out on Slea Head Drive

visit Ceann Trá Beach, where several locals lounged in the water & two kids lazily hurled a ball between them

visit Lios Stone Circle to see the ringfort & to feed alpacas, sheep, goats, donkeys, and horses

visit Bee Hive Huts, which belonged to pre-Christian Celtic chieftains

stop at Cross at Slea Head; get coffee at a cafe nearby with a spacious patio facing the view

hike up Dunmore Head (one of my highlights of the trip); stop near Dunquin Pier to look down at it

eat lunch on the scenic patio of The Blasket Centre, a small & wonderfuly architected museum

returned to Tig Bhric & West Kerry Brewery to pick up leftbehinds and a bottle of beer for my friends Kieran & C

visit the Gallarus Oratory, a small stone house believed to be over a thousand years old

Part II

drive to Tralee to buy spray paint to cover some scratches on the rental car’s front bottom bumper

meet with my friend Kieran in his village of Knocknagoshel during a scavenger hunt he helped organize for the local kids

chat with Kieran’s girlfriend’s mom about the village, England, immigration, the patriarchy, and more

go to the pub with Kieran & another local B who until recently was working for the UN in Kenya

drank beer & caught up; met several locals including Kieran’s girlfriend Eva & a man named Niall who they dubbed “the village philosopher” and who Z & I thought looked like Joaquin Phoenix

meet my friend Chris, who like Kieran I met and last saw in Berlin in June of 2019 during my post-graduation travels

drink more beer & eat dinner from a nearby takeaway; sit in a small circle chatting

return to Kieran’s cottage, where Eva & Chris live as well; drink tea, eat chocolate, play music, & chat

sleep upstairs in Chris’s attic room while he slept in his camper van outside

Friday 08/15/2025 – Dingle -> Killarney -> Cork -> Bristol

drink coffee & eat toast that Chris made for us; shower, pack, dress, and load car

fix scratches on rental car with Chris & Kieran’s help

hike in Glanageenty Forest Recreation Area with Chris

eat lunch with Chris @ O’Riadas Bar along the N21 between Tralee & Castleisland

drive to Killarney to buy Kerry jersey

drive to Cork Airport & return rental car; drink beer & write this journal while waiting for our delayed flight to England

On our hike through Glanageenty forest we spoke with Chris about various things. At one point we got on the topic of gender and he expressed his resent for the anti-masculinity messaging he received while growing up. Lately he had been collecting opinions from people about what it is that makes a man. A positive definition instead of a negative one. I offered an answer. To be a good man,
you need self-esteem
.
and
England
trip to England

August 7 2025 (mod. August 28 2025)
#journal #travel — Mentioned in what I am doing in 2025, what I'm doing now #13, trip to Ireland, what I did in 2025 #3

Z and I are vacationing in England for ten days from August 15th til the 26th.

Friday 08/15/2025 – Bristol

arrive in Bristol Airport in the evening, take Uber to Airbnb in Montpelier

eat late dinner @ Nadu (really good)

shower and go to bed before midnight

Before we settled on Bristol, Z and I considered visiting Liverpool. When I noticed that Wrexham was nearby, I fancied a day trip down to see them play their first ever(?) Championship match at the Racecourse, or at least to grab a pint at The Turf and meet Wayne, the charming bar owner and Wrexham A.F.C. devotee. I just realized he reminds me of Karl Pilkington. Agh, I’m almost regretting not pursuing this plan. Commute from Bristol to Wrexham would be long and I can’t imagine tickets would be cheap to get, if any were available at all. I suppose it might still be worth it if I can watch the game at The Turf. We’ll see. Z won’t be thrilled with the idea, but the 16th is my birthday and for it she’ll do whatever possible to make me happy. I’m a lucky guy.

Saturday 08/16/2025 (my birthday) – Bristol

solo coffee @ Poquito

breakfast @ The Bristolian

coffee @ Radford Mill Farm Shop

bike to north end of Bishopston on dott ebikes

browse bookstores along Gloucester Road

buy Yuro Press @ Perfecto Coffee Co and chat with barista

get a beer & watch last 20 minutes of Aston Villa vs Newcastle @ Industry Bar & Kitchen

browse more shops along Gloucester Road

walk back to Airbnb and rest

have lunch @ Nadu, then drop off leftovers at Airbnb

scooter to Old Vic for free Sofar Sounds gig

walk through Queen Square, then back to Old Vic for next set of Sofar Sounds gig

attend stand up comedy @ The Gaffe Comedy club

get takeout from KFC and get uber to Airbnb

Our
time in the Irish countryside
was fantastic. There we found the conventional tourist attractions well worth seeing. It is making me reflect on cities and what about them makes them worth visiting. Good food of diverse types. Art shows like galleries, live music, and stand up comedy. Historical landmarks and notable architecture.

A remarkable aspect of a good city is its density. I think I have to shift my mindset. Here it isn’t about covering ground but about drilling down in single spots. Spending hours at a museum. Eating a great dinner in a restaurant mere steps from another where you had breakfast. Even returning to the same restaurant to try different items on the menu. Doing these things feel less like exploring and adventuring.

Sunday 08/17/2025 – Bristol

sleep in; get coffee & pastry from Poquito; shower & dress

scooter to Temple Meads train station and ride fifteen minutes to Bath

eat late lunch @ Comptoir Libanais Bath (really enjoyed it)

buy airpod bud tips from nearby Apple store

walk through city centre, visit The King’s Bath, drink from host spring in The Pump Room

walk Z to Jane Austen Centre then walk alone to Assembly Inn

watch Arsenal vs Man United and chat with fellow Arsenal fans

walk with Z to The Circus then Royal Crescent then Pulteney Bridge

walk to train station, ride to Bristol Temple Meads, scooter back to Montpelier

get takeout from Oowee Diner and eat at Airbnb

I can’t help but chuckle to myself sitting here on my first train trip in England. The platform was occupied with travelers waiting for the train and when it arrived everyone flocked to the carriage entrances. Z and I were confused to see everyone standing so close to the doors before they opened. Wouldn’t there be people on the train already, some of whom would be disembarking here in Bristol? Indeed there were. The doors opened and people started trickling out, many with luggage and one with a stroller and yet the travelers waiting to board barely made way for them. Z and I looked at each other.

Once we got on the train, we waited for people in front of us to stow luggage and find seats. The seats were mostly occupied but we saw a few single open seats remaining so we stepped down the aisle towards them. Nearest us there appeared to be two single seats open at either side of the aisle but when I came to what would be mine I discovered a small dog panting where he lay before a bowl of water. I considered asking for the seat but then there were more open seats down the aisle. Still it felt funny to give deference to a dog. I turned to the other side of the aisle and asked the girl if she’d mind moving her luggage from the seat next to her. To my and Z’s surprise she replied that she did mind, that she had documents in her suitcase. I said Oh, you can’t put it there? pointing overhead. She said No, it doesn’t fit. Two dreadful excuses. Z and I looked at each other again, mutual incredulity growing. No matter, ahead were more open seats.

A woman with a baby strapped to her chest asked me for help putting her stroller in the overhead compartment. I did and as she turned to get in her seat the backpack on her back touched the face of a middleaged man sitting across the aisle and he moaned and clutched his nose as if he’d been struck. The mother turned to him and said I’m so sorry, are you ok? with all the polite concern in her tone of voice but none much on her face. The man didn’t look at her anyway — he was still holding his face — and he waved her away and said Just sit down. The mother exchanged silent looks with us and sat down.

As Z and I lurched down the aisle of the moving train towards the few remaining empty seats, nobody made to remove their bags from their adjacent seat to allow us it. Each of us had to walk up to a passenger, look them in the face, and ask that they make their spare seat available to us. An opportunity to interact more with the locals I suppose.

Monday 08/18/2025 (Z’s birthday) – Bristol

sleep in; get breakfast @ The Crafty Egg

get coffee @ Elemental Collective Grocers

accompany Z to a couple boutiques on Stokes Croft

visit Wake the Tiger

eat dinner @ Poco Tapas Bar (fantastic)

spend evening relaxing at Airbnb

We’ve been getting around on dott scooters. Bristol is not huge. The best ways for us to get around have been walking, biking, and scootering. We haven’t taken the bus yet because it’s rarely a convenient option.

Tuesday 08/19/2025 – Bristol -> London (Upton Park, SoHo)

eat breakfast @ The Bristolian

coffee @ Poquito

bus to Bristol Temple Meads; train to London; take tube to Z’s friend L’s apartment in Upton Park

eat lunch @ Chaiiwala

eat dinner @ Mele e Pere

get ice cream @ Ben & Jerry’s

Wednesday 08/20/2025 – London (Spitalfield, SoHo)

get coffee @ Nagare Coffee

eat lunch @ Bubala w/ my cousin P

get another coffee @ Nagare Coffee

browse shops in Spitalfields and Brick Lane

eat dinner from SushiDog

see Hadestown with Z’s friend A @ Lyric Theatre

Thursday 08/21/2025 – London (Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, King’s Cross, Somers Town)

coffee @ Caravan Coffee Roasters

brunch @ Rosa’s Thai

coffee @ Omotesando Koffee

visit The British Museum

solo walk in Bloomsbury

visit Skoob Books, used book store with ample selection; ride Lime bike to King’s Cross

visit Word on Water book store, then walk around; ride Lime scooter to Somers Town

get takeout from Roti King & eat at Cock Tavern with beer; chat w/ three old men about Eze’s transfer to Arsenal

Friday 08/22/2025 – London (Blackfriars, Bankside, Waterloo, Covent Garden)

help a guy at Upton Park station catch the right train to King’s Cross

solo coffee @ Flow Coffee outside Blackfriars station

walk across Blackfriars Bridge and along south bank of Thames to Tate Modern

spend day alone @ Tate Modern; eat a delicious pork shoulder sandwich & good flat white @ The Corner Tate cafe

ride Lime bike to Waterloo; have a drink w/ Z and A @ Waterloo Taps

ride Lime bike w/ Z to Covent Garden

eat dinner @ Sartori

go to stand up comedy @ The 99 Club

Saturday 08/23/2025 – London

solo coffee & pastry @ Prufrock Cafe (James Hoffman’s)

walk in Farringdon & Holborn; ride Lime bike to Islington

coffee @ Miki’s paradise; walk around

browse The Armory; attend Matchday Stadium Tour

eat lunch @ Xi’an Impression

shop @ The Armory; meet w/ Z and walk around stadium

attend Arsenal vs Leeds @ The Emirates — the first home match of the new English Premier League season & my first ever Arsenal match!

wait in The Armory for over an hour to get name & numbers printed on back of jerseys

eat late dinner @ Nón

Sunday 08/24/2025 – London (Spitalfield, Hackney)

get Z supplies since she is under the weather

solo flat white @ Nagare Coffee; walk around

ride Lime bike to Hackney

get flat whites @ Elsewhere Coffee (good) and Incoming Coffee (great); walk around

visit Tate Modern Museum again

solo meal & drink @ Mercato Metropolitano

Monday 08/25/2025 – London

get flat white @ Origin Coffee at The British Library

eat lunch @ Xi’an Impression London again

get flat white @ Rua Coffee Bar

wait again in The Armory for over an hour to get name & numbers printed on back of my other jerseys

ride Lime bike to Camden Market; hang out there w/ Z and friends

drinks @ London Bridge Rooftop Bar w/ Z, friends, & my friend Anuj

get late dinner @ Silka Borough Market

Tuesday 08/26/2025 – London -> Vancouver

take train to Heathrow & fly back to Vancouver
with Z.
In December, I
traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula
trip to the Yucatan Peninsula

December 16 2025 (mod. December 30 2025)
#journal #travel — Mentioned in what I am doing in 2025, what I did in 2025, what I'm doing now #18, what I did in 2025 #3

With my mom and younger sister I’m visiting the Yucatan Peninsula for the first time. My wife Z is joining us partway through the trip.

Monday 12/15/2025 – Vancouver → Cancun

9:30am flight YVR → CUN

listened to albums in Deepcuts Best of 2025

wrote a bunch for my upcoming 2025 retrospective piece

late dinner w/ maternal family that is from Cancun

Tuesday 12/16/2025 – Cancun → Bacalar

breakfast buffet @ hotel

cab to Tren Maya station, ride train to Bacalar

cab to hotel, Rancho Encantado; check in; eat lunch

take private boat tour of the lagoon, stopping at cenotes & channel to swim

go in hot tub with my mom and drink a beer

rest in room; shower; do digital chores

I’m impressed by the Tren Maya. Not by how well it works but by the mere fact it exists. It’s not the kind of thing I would expect to see in Mexico. Admittedly, it’s no bullet train. From Cancun to Tulum it takes an hour forty, the same travel time by car. And it only runs a few times per day. But it only opened last year and it connects the Mexican southeast. We’ve mentioned it to servers, cab drivers, desk clerks, but no one we’ve spoken to has taken it. On this one today there are a few dozen passengers but what strikes me is the number of workers.

To enter the platform, we show our printed tickets and identification before progressing to automated gates where a lady instructs us to scan our QR code in the typical place at the front of the gate. It beeps and opens to let us through. A step past it on the other side another lady motions us forward toward the metal detector a few feet away and tells us to line up on the right side. Four or five uniformed officers stand at the one metal detector, feeding in bags and baskets into it on the conveyor belt on one side and taking them off on the other side. Once seated on the train a man comes down the aisle asking for tickets but when I mutter I don’t know where I put it he just confirms our destination before continuing down the aisle. At each station we pass uniformed officers of the Guardia Nacional stand and traipse around while several cleaning ladies sweep and mop already tidylooking floors.

Wednesday 12/17/2025 – Bacalar

sleep in; eat a late breakfast; relax in room

lounge in hammock on covered dock looking out on the lagoon

read Tinkers & write criticism of it while my mom & sister went kayaking

drink a beer sitting at water’s edge; solo paddleboard in lagoon along the shore

join my mom & sister on dock to have a drink & take a dip in the lagoon

go to Balacar town center; visit old Spanish fort & read about Bacalar’s colonial history

walk through Zocalo & settle in Chanok for late lunch

cab back to hotel; go in shared hot tub & then our private hot tub with my mom

Thursday 12/18/2025 – Bacalar → Calakmul

wake @ 7am, get ready, pack, eat breakfast, take cab to train station

ride Tren Maya to Calakmul then get picked up by our guide & taken to Hotel Puerta Calakmul to check in & leave bags in room

get driven +60km to Calakmul Archeological site

spot lots of jungle animals along the way including a falcon, two tarantulas, a snake, turkeys(?), & owls(?)

climb four Mayan structures, two of which rose up above the tree canopy line

see lots of spider monkeys, a vulture, & a few howling monkeys

speed out of the Calakmul Archeological site to see 3 million bats exit their cave before returning to hotel

shower & eat supper before going to bed at 8pm

This morning when we came out onto the train platform a worker greeted us and queried about our assigned train car. We told him and he led us to a particular spot on the platform marked with yellow and black tape to which our car would align when the train arrived. Already I thought this was unnecessary information but then to my surprise he explained a few more things. Please stay behind the yellow line, when the train arrives let passengers get off before boarding, and please bear in mind while doing so that there will be a gap between the station and the train, and if you happen to drop a belonging into it do no try to retrieve it – be it a cellphone, a bag, a pair of sunglasses – do no try to retrieve it, that’s what we are here for, we will retrieve it for you.

Friday 12/19/2025 – Calakmul → Bacalar

wake early alone, make coffee, chat with hotel worker, & read Tinkers

eat breakfast in dining room of hotel

get driven to Bacalar

lunch @ hotel restaurant of Rancho Encantado

solo lounge in private hot tub on the deck of our cabin

50min massage

lounge in private hot tub on the deck of our cabin

Saturday 12/20/2025 – Bacalar → Playa del Carmen

late breakfast

enjoy lazy river @ Los Rapidos

lounge in private hot tub on the deck of our cabin

shower, pack while watching Arsenal vs Everton, & check out

eat lunch at hotel restaurant

cab to station & take Tren Maya to Playa del Carmen then cab to Airbnb

walk on 5th Ave to meet Z at bus station

dinner @ Don Mario’s, good pizza & pasta

get ice cream @ Aldo’s on way back to Airbnb

Sunday 12/21/2025 – Playa del Carmen

eat breakfast @ Bistro Playa

walk on Playa Mamitas, which was hot, sunny, & very busy

stop @ tourist activity booth to book activity for Tuesday

solo swim on rooftop pool while Z, my mom, & my sister went shopping

shower & relax @ Airbnb

eat supper @ Los Chachalacos

Monday 12/22/2025 – Playa del Carmen

brunch w/ Z @ Fresco Hábito

get coffee frappés on the walk back to Airbnb

swim & drink in rooftop pool

eat dinner @ Cueva de los Changos

Tuesday 12/23/2025 – Playa del Carmen

wake early & walk to nearby meeting point for daytrip

visit small cenote then a large cenote (Cenote LabnaHa?) & swim far into the cavern

zipline in the jungle

eat lunch & participate in tiny Mayan ceremony

snorkel among giant turtles in Akumal

get driven back to Playa del Carmen; shower, relax, & get dressed

walk to Taqueria El Sabrosito Del Fogón w/ my mom & my sister but there was a long line

eat supper @ Don Sirloin

watch Wake Up Dead Man at the Airbnb all together

Wednesday 12/24/2025 – Playa del Carmen

make coffee & get dressed

solo take cab to minibus station to pick up my bag of clothes I left behind in Bacalar & had sent to Playa del Carmen

eat good brunch @ Chez Céline

solo relax in Airbnb; watch the recording of Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, drink a coffee, hang up laundry

lounge in rooftop pool; swim, read, chat, & work on this site

shower & get dressed

eat dinner @ Caruso Hostaria Pizzeria (very disappointing pizza, we sent it back)

tacos w/ my sister @ Los Chachalacos

watch finale of Pluribus season one all together

Thursday 12/25/2025 – Playa del Carmen

slow morning; drink coffee & write on the balcony

brunch @ Chez Celine

enjoy rooftop pool

dinner @ Romeo’s

Friday 12/26/2025 – Playa del Carmen & Cozumel

wake early & walk to pick up point to take van to ferry

take ferry to Cozumel

snorkel and see lots of fishes

eat small lunch on boat

swim, paddle, & play by boat for a couple hours

enjoy cocktails on boat while we cruised back to shore

walk around Cozumel & peruse shops

take ferry back to Playa del Carmen

eat lunch @ Taquería El Fogón

nap & shower @ Airbnb

eat dinner @ Don Mario

Saturday 12/27/2025 – Playa del Carmen → Merida

pack up & drink coffee

watch Arsenal vs Brighton

eat brunch @ Chez Céline then take cab to bus station

take ADO bus from Playa del Carmen to Merida

take cab to hotel & check in

chat & drink our complimentary beverages in the lobby which we were given because my and Z’s room wasn’t ready

walk south on Paseo Montejo to Calle 47, the “Gastronomic Corridor”

eat dinner @ Catrín then walk back to hotel up Paseo Montejo

Sunday 12/28/2025 – Merida

shower, get dressed, & repack luggage

move to new hotel room with working air conditioning

brunch @ Teya Viva w/ Z

meet my mom and sister back at the hotel to discuss plans

accompany my mom to hotel front desk & then nearby Avis branch to evaluate our options for daytrips for the week

hang out at the hotel pool w/ my mom

relax at the hotel for a few hours

dinner @ ASAI, the japanese restaurant in the hotel

Monday 12/29/2025 – Merida & Celestun

wake @ 7:30am, shower, get ready, eat breakfast

walk to Clandestino Café but they hadn’t opened yet bc of technical difficulties

drive to Celestún

take speedboat tour from Playa Norte: see pelicans, flamingos, and even a crocodile; swim in the Gulf of Mexico

eat lunch @ La Palapa

lounge on the beach then drive back to Merida

shower & rest in hotel

dinner @ María Raíz y Tierra

Tuesday 12/30/2025 – Merida & Uxmal & Mucuyché

wake @ 7:40am, get ready, eat breakfast

visit ancient Mayan city of Uxmal

spend afternoon @ Cenotes Hacienda Mucuyché: eat a quick lunch, take the tour, & swim in cenotes

swim in Cenote Yaal Utzil & leap into it a few times

drive back to Merida

try but fail to get into Museum of Yucateca Gastronomy for dinner

walk thru center of Merida

dinner @ Hacienda Teya

Wednesday 12/31/2025 – Merida

Thursday 01/01/2026 – Merida

Friday 01/02/2026 – Merida

Saturday 01/03/2026 – Merida

Sunday 01/04/2026 – Merida
with Z, my mom, & my younger sister.

my 2025 in movies & TV shows

I watched two movies per month on average. (A friend of mine who just finished studying film at UBC tries to watch films daily.) My favorite five were – in no particular order – The Big Lebowski (1998), Dogtooth (2009), One Battle After Another (2025), Lost Highway (1997), and The Florida Project (2017), which I set as one of my four alltime favorite movies on Letterboxd.

I watch a lot of TV in the evenings. A good deal of it is YouTube content, of which a lot is soccer highlights and commentary about soccer. Shows I loved include The Studio, The White Lotus, The Pitt, Twin Peaks: The Return, Pluribus, and The Sopranos, my alltime favorite. I also watched Severance but

didn’t like it much

my 2025 in music

my 2024 in music

my 2024 in books

my 2024 as journaled on this site

my 2025 in books

Of the books I set out to read at the beginning of the year, in the order I read them:

Books I ended up reading along the way:

my 2025 on this site

vacationing in the Yucatan Peninsula

working on this site

coming up with ideas

vacationing in the Yucatan Peninsula

working on this site

coming up with ideas

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

my 2025 in travel

Daily Log

Saturday 12/21/2024 / Sunday 12/22/2024 – Tokyo, first time at an izakaya

Monday 12/23/2024 – Tokyo, a day of shopping

Tuesday 12/24/2024 – Tokyo

Wednesday 12/25/2024 – Tokyo

Thursday 12/26/2024 – Tokyo -> Takayama

Friday 12/27/2024 – Takayama

Saturday 12/28/2024 – Takayama -> Shirakawago -> Kanazawa

Sunday 12/29/2024 – Kanazawa

Monday 12/30/2024 – Kanazawa

Tuesday 12/31/2024 – Kanazawa -> Tokyo

Wednesday 01/01/2024 – Tokyo

Thursday 01/02/2024 – Tokyo

Friday 01/03/2024 – Tokyo

Saturday 01/04/2024 – Tokyo

Sunday 01/05/2024 – Tokyo -> Vancouver

Thursday 08/07/2025 – Vancouver, BC

Friday 08/08/2025 – Dublin

Saturday 08/09/2025 – Dublin

Sunday 08/10/2025 – Dublin -> Galway

Monday 08/11/2025 – Galway

Tuesday 08/12/2025 – Galway -> Doolin

Wednesday 08/13/2025 – Doolin, Inis Oirr, & Dingle Peninsula

Thursday 08/14/2025 – Slea Head Drive on Dingle Peninsula, then Knocknagoshel

Part I

Part II

Friday 08/15/2025 – Dingle -> Killarney -> Cork -> Bristol

Friday 08/15/2025 – Bristol

Saturday 08/16/2025 (my birthday) – Bristol

Sunday 08/17/2025 – Bristol

Monday 08/18/2025 (Z’s birthday) – Bristol

Tuesday 08/19/2025 – Bristol -> London (Upton Park, SoHo)

Wednesday 08/20/2025 – London (Spitalfield, SoHo)

Thursday 08/21/2025 – London (Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, King’s Cross, Somers Town)

Friday 08/22/2025 – London (Blackfriars, Bankside, Waterloo, Covent Garden)

Saturday 08/23/2025 – London

Sunday 08/24/2025 – London (Spitalfield, Hackney)

Monday 08/25/2025 – London

Tuesday 08/26/2025 – London -> Vancouver

Monday 12/15/2025 – Vancouver → Cancun

Tuesday 12/16/2025 – Cancun → Bacalar

Wednesday 12/17/2025 – Bacalar

Thursday 12/18/2025 – Bacalar → Calakmul

Friday 12/19/2025 – Calakmul → Bacalar

Saturday 12/20/2025 – Bacalar → Playa del Carmen

Sunday 12/21/2025 – Playa del Carmen

Monday 12/22/2025 – Playa del Carmen

Tuesday 12/23/2025 – Playa del Carmen

Wednesday 12/24/2025 – Playa del Carmen

Thursday 12/25/2025 – Playa del Carmen

Friday 12/26/2025 – Playa del Carmen & Cozumel

Saturday 12/27/2025 – Playa del Carmen → Merida

Sunday 12/28/2025 – Merida