I kicked off work on Tuesday, starting with a nice team lunch and commuting to the office every day. It’s a run of what my life may have looked like if I hadn’t moved away, which I always find to be a marvelous, confusing mix of bittersweetness, nostalgia and gratitude.

Fun things that happened:

• went to the largest zine shop in Tokyo and then a zine festival the next day — lots of wonderful finds!
• lunch with peers and friends visiting from Singapore
• coffee with a fellow UXR who is great about making sure we meet :)
• meals at three restaurants that manage to evade or repel tourists
• two conveyor belt sushi dinners who do not
• Friday izakaya drinking party with childhood friends
• got a tattoo! I have a few weeks left in my milestone birthday year to do it and pretty happy with the result
• last round of shopping (clothes, food, cosmetics) before flying back to Tokyo
• a last hang with baby niece, even babysitting solo for a while and successfully putting her down for a nap