3 Jan 2026

I have had an unproductive and happy holiday

“Unproductive” in this context refers to my many creative projects I wanted to tackle over the holidays. Instead of working on them, I spent a lot of time hanging out with people. As someone who is unpleasantly introverted, I usually do not like hanging out with people that often. I would rather be at home! But it was good, and I was happy, and there is time in January to do what I wanted to do.

  • I went to a very fancy and expensive dinner with my partner, which was delicious, and then afterward I was like okay I need to stop eating out now, that was exorbitant. One of my goals for 2026 is to eat out less and to cook more at home.
  • I watched Tokyo Godfathers in theatres with friends, which is a perfect Christmas movie.
  • I painted my nails a pale, slightly shimmery pink. I always want to do my nails but rarely have the willpower for it. But having painted nails makes me feel unironically very beautiful and happy. I like fashion far more than I care for beauty (hair and makeup, two skills I do not have), but nails are an exception (in how much I care, not in my skill at nail art, which I also lack); I should really take the time to do them more often because it makes me happy.
  • There was a day when I went to three grocery stores (exciting!) and then tried a new recipe (miso ramen, which unfortunately turned out mid).
  • I run in the late afternoon before/as the sun goes down, which often gives me spectacular views of the sunset. I can’t post pictures without doxxing myself, but imagine: pink and purple skies; sometimes clouds reflecting the light; people all around stopping on their walks to also take pictures.
  • I watched Marty Supreme, which was good, and I’m still listening to the score now.
  • I visited a local garden—the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden—which I had never gone to before. It was really pretty!
  • I ate a whole lot of skewers and dessert with friends.
  • I played two new tabletop games: Skyjo, a luck-based card game (I was very lucky), and Wavelength, a party game in the same vein as Codenames.
    • On a scale of Unsexy Emoji (0) to Sexy Emoji (100), where would you put the luggage emoji? My answer: 40.
  • I had a very chill New Year’s Eve.
  • I’ve been writing a lot in and enjoying my Hobonichi Weeks planner. I’m really trying to be more organized and focused this year! I’ve got cute stickers, washi tape, and colourful pens, which means I’m all set to be so smart and organized and on top of things.
  • I started a physical commonplace book. So far, I’m using it to take movie and book notes.

I’m thinking maybe I should lower/shift my ambitions for my planned blog posts. At some point it becomes more of a hindrance, expecting myself to do something high-effort in a certain way while I can feel my interests shifting. There are many paths to creative fulfillment!

Anyway, I return to work in a couple of days, which is dreadful, but that’s how it goes. I hope I can finish up my blog post drafts this month :-)