Over the course of this week I made a few small break-throughs culminating in the realisation that: If after one week I suspected that cleaning, sorting and separating garbage was about to become a big part of my life - Now after three I know the remainder will become all about points.

This week in data:

• 🤑 PayPay points earned: 1215pts
• 🍋 Vitamin C consumed: 3690mg
• 🏬 Second-hand stores searched: 7

Before I left I asked around a bit, “If I’m bringing a souvenir/gift from our culture what should it be?” The answers were many, but a consensus formed split somewhere between M&S Shortbread (you know, the blue tin? yes that blue tin. You know.) and tea. Shortbread seemed more practical. Anyway I brought it in this week and it went down a treat.

Finally booked into some language lessons, starting in January... I'm excited!

One big change this week is that after a lot (and I mean a lot) of wrangling, my Apple account is now a Japanese one. Meaning that at the cost of losing access to a few apps, I now have access to some incredibly useful ones: Such as PayPay.

PayPay is the premier QR payments app. You can transfer money to people. You can pay for things in stores - in several ways. It issues points and "scratch-cards" after payments. It sings "PayPay" after every transaction completes. Tokyo's local government is also currently running a promotion meaning extra cash-back for using it. OMG it is game-changing. The app is so fast to use (like, contactless payments feel slow compared to IC payments, and this is another level quicker!?)

Oh yeah. I did my first prod deploy at new job - and it went well, so that’s exciting.

Had fancy yakiniku dinner with CL, HY & SI. So fancy that the restaurant didn’t believe I was in the right place when I showed up wearing a jumper. We ate some of the most gorgeous cuts of meat I’ve ever seen, and the restaurant gave us a framed photo of ourselves as a gift. Followed by after-drinks in a seedy bar and a mission to procure some stomach medicine. Walked all the way home and got in just before the crack of midnight: Score.

It isn’t obvious because it’s fixed, but this blog was hit by yet another snafu with Gatsby builds over the week. I have talked about moving away before - more than once - but this was the last straw. Any suggestions for blogging or SSG platforms a little simpler - please shout.

Received and subsequently completed + submitted the paperwork to apply for my government photo ID. This is a big deal, because as well as theoretically acting as a driving license and making the healthcare system easier to use, it also unlocks a bunch more things I can do with money and payments.

Feeling slightly under the weather I didn’t do much at the weekend other than actually locate (and test) cleaning supplies - which is a very big win in my book.

Bluesky reached the milestone of 25M users. At some point along the way it reached the point where community and empathy aren’t safe assumptions to make anymore. I’m keen to see where it ends up.

The FT’s Christmas parties - both of them - were this week and after seeing some pics I’m definitely feeling some FOMO. 🥲

No new film ratings, I’ve been watching Community to wind down. It’s still one of the funniest shows of all time - I don’t care what anyone says.

Next up on the docket is finding a real estate agent...

P.S. guess what those fish are!