Reader, this was a momentous week, because it marks the first time ever that I asked a teacher for more homework. If only I were as studious as a youngster, eh?
On Monday JLPT exam applications opened, and after much rigmarole I am now signed up. Positively bricking it!
Last week’s festival food did not sit right with me, and long story short, an unsettled stomach led me to an useful discovery: Calorie Mate. It’s, uh, surprisingly good? And because each piece is exactly 100 calories it is a very easy way of nudging out of a calorie deficit. I will be having this stuff again.
Thursday is a farewell-for-now party for a friend under similar circumstances to my move to Bulgaria: I’m delighted but it’s still bittersweet. The restaurant has amazing chicken, and I regret not asking for more. I pass on karaoke this time.
I do some big self-care things and home improvements over the week, including putting together a new shelf which now houses Memo and Denshiba. I think I have a regular barber now? And I’m now booked every other Thursday afternoon.
There is a cicada living in my building’s elevator. It has been several days now. It is surreal.
On a limb, we go to Tokyo’s oldest Jazz club to catch at least one gig before they close. Our table is directly at the front, we could not be closer to the action. What’s most striking to me is each band member’s unique expressiveness: Some are stoic and shy until their moment, whereas others are lost in the sauce and baring their souls throughout. But it comes together to transport us into a sonic landscape, and I walk away a newfound fan of jazz.
Don’t be tricked into signing up for a 6PM blood test BTW.
I’m building an app. It’s a timer! Actually I’ve been working on it for a while now, but this week I began field-testing it and making small improvements, and I am chuffed at how useful it is proving.
