05.07.26

I ended up having to get a new watch. The man at the shop said a new band would be 30,000 and a new face would be 15,000 so it wasn’t worth it. I think I’d had the old one for about 15 years so I guess I can’t complain but I’d become attached. I like my new one, it’s pretty much the same as my old one but can do a few different things. The explanation was too long though and I zoned out. The strap is lightweight and it feels comfortable to wear. I’m going to have to ...

日本語 notes・7月2日

Recently in Japanese I have been sending my teacher a couple of paragraphs about whatever I have wanted to write about and we have been going through them together. The key phrase is always, 「これのほうが自然な言い方かな?でも、意味がわかりますよ。」 When you’re learning a foreign language, all pride kind of goes out of the window. Then we move on to an article from a magazine or newspaper and just go through any bits I struggled with etc.

I find it quite hard to think of topics to write about, so this week I sent this to read – 空洞. To me, this style of ...

日本語 notes・6月25日

  • アーモンドプードル – アーモンドの粉末。アーモンド パウダー。
  • 卵白・らんぱく vs 卵黄・らんおう
  • 泡立て器・a whisk
  • ゴムヘラ・a spatula (rubber)
  • Dry (for cakes)
    • ドライな
    • ぱさぱさしている・水分や脂けの少ないさま。「―したご飯」
    • ボソボソしている –  水気がなくてひからびているさま。ぱさぱさ。「―(と)したパン」
      • ひからびる – dry up/shrivel up
  • 生焼けっぽい – underdone/half-baked
  • 少なくとも vs せめて
    • 少なくとも - 最小の程度や最低の段階に言及するさま。中立
    • せめて – それで満足というわけではないが,最小限これだけでもという話し手の気持ちを表す

Theme: Me moaning about Italian cakes and biscuits being too dry and not liking them.

...

Stages of Grief

Rightly or wrongly, I can’t stop thinking about that show the other night. I was outraged at first but now I just feel a profound sadness about it which I know seems extreme but that’s how it is.

  • I feel really let down by the judgement behind the decision.
  • More than anything, I feel as though the time, money and experience of the fans got treated as secondary.
    • People will have taken time off work to attend.
    • People will have travelled.
    • People will have saved up to buy tickets.
    • People will have received tickets as presents.
    • People will have paid
...

Beijing 2026

Day seventeen

Just travel today. Before we left the hotel, C asked me how much 15kg was in stone and I answered immediately with 9 stone to which C replied, It’s not 9 stone, Emily. I’ve not been walking around with a person on my back. I was laughing so much I couldn’t stand up. For those interested, it’s more like 2 stone and a bit.

We got to the train station and it was similar to airport security. It took ages and my passport never works so it’s always a right pain. We’d planned to go to Starbucks but ...