july recap + august planning
the countdown to adulthood begins!
I took a month long break to recharge and kind of take a look at what’s been going on in my life and oh boy real life is coming at me fast.
But first, some updates!
what i’ve been up to
movies (like always)
I’ve been going to a LOT of movies. Keep up with me on Letterboxd. Loved Barbie & Oppenheimer (I have a lot of thoughts). Bit the bullet and bought an Alamo Drafthouse seasonal pass and I’ve been loving it. Maybe it’s not worth it to some people, but I love being able to recline in their seats, eat some tasty food, and watch a movie. It’s also nice because it’s a way to get out of the house without spending that much money and also being in air conditioning.
traveling-Tokyo
So the real reason I haven’t been posting much is because I wanted my vacation to actually be a vacation. In July, I visited family in Hawai’i and then went to Tokyo for a bit! It was my first time in Japan and I loved it a lot, although it definitely was overwhelming and kind of hard to adjust to. My repeated mantra to myself then became “too slutty for Japan, not slutty enough for New York” because the amount of looks I got for exposed shoulders or midriffs was quite high and although I’m sure there was no malice intended, I did feel a little bit self conscious.
The food, though, delicious.
Tsujihan Zeitaku Don
This place was all over my TikTok and I knew I had to go. This is a seafood rice bowl place in Tokyo
It comes with this huge pile of seafood sashimi on top of well seasoned rice. Once you finish about halfway through the bowl, you can ask the chefs to pour some seabream soup which, in my opinion, completely transforms the dish. I absolutely gobbled this UP, I ate this SO fast, it was so delicious.
There is a bit of a wait for this place so it’s important to plan early! It opens at 11 so we arrived at around 10:20ish and got in around 11:10ish, which wasn’t too bad at all. Totally worth the wait.
Tokyo Abura Soba
On our second to last day in Ginza, my mom and I were wandering around trying to find somewhere to eat when we saw people lining up for a restaurant. My mom and I, being the chismosas that we are, decided to line up, too, without knowing what we were lining up for.
Turns out, we lined up for an Abura soba place! We waited in line for about 40 minutes and it’s a relatively efficient system. They call you up and you input your order on a screen and then after about 5-10 minutes you can take a sit at their bar-style seating and immediately start eating your food. So the line goes pretty quickly!
And it is SO delicious. It’s soba noodles with a lot of different toppings (egg yolk, green onion, seasame seed, etc.) and they also recommend that you add a splash of vinegar and chili oil to really make the flavors pop.
I honestly wish I ordered a bigger portion; we held off on ordering a big one just because we didn’t really know what to expect, but we immediately regretted our small portions once we had a bite of it.
Nakamura Tokichi Honten (中村藤吉)
This place came as a recommendation from my friend Marina but oh WOW. We waited about? 20 minutes for this place, there are seats outside and it’s in a mall so it really isn’t bad at all. And we ordered this…I don’t even know what it’s called. Matcha parfait? But oh WOW. This is essentially is like halo-halo (the Filipino dessert) but instead of a focus on ube, it’s all MATCHA—Matcha chiffon cake, Matcha ice cream, Matcha bean paste, Matcha namacha jelly….oh it was SO good.
I also ate just a lot of other things, but I think I’ll save that for a video since it’s easier to probably verbally explain rather than type out.
traveling-Boston
I also visited Boston to see some friends, which was lovely and honestly much needed. Sometimes NYC can feel a little suffocating and so going to a place I’m familiar with and can walk around confidently can feel really good. I explored a lot of Boston I also just never got around to, like Beacon Hill and I sat in a café and crocheted all day.
It was also just really nice to see my friends again. I missed them so, so much and it was nice to just sit and chill with them.
reading
I’ve been reading a lot again! You can follow along with what I’m reading on my Goodreads. I’m mainly reading romance books because I think it’s silly and fun :)
organizing my life!
Notion and Google Spreadsheets and Reddit have been my best friend. Basically, living in New York unemployed for the past three months made me realize that dear God I don’t understand how money works. So I’ve been trying to get my shit together.
I used this template as the foundation for my budgeting and I’ve really enjoyed it. I also have been pulling in my info from Mint (just by exporting the csv and then doing some Google Sheets magic so that the expenses automatically are counted/put into the right categories). I also redid my yearly/quarterly/monthly/weekly Notoin planner and you can find the template for that here. I can do a post on how I use this later! But it’s been super helpful for me.
I’m really looking forward to getting a source of income and I’m actually excited for my postgrad adult lifestyle. Apartment hunting has definitely been top of mind for me, as well as just looking into different gyms and furniture and all of that. So. There’s a lot going on for me.
Overall, things are good. Life is moving fast. I’m excited!!!!