I'm traveling this month. With limited time to write, I wanted to try out a new format: the r.e.p.o.r.t (Reading, Eating, Playing, Obsessed with, Recommended Treat), courtesy of my gen z friends who keep me up-to-date with all the latest trends (like the r.e.p.o.r.t)

Reading

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy — read recently, an eye-opening exploration of our attachment to ordinary things and why. Pretty thought-provoking.
Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art — by Robert J. Lang, been slowly making my way through this hefty classic
Tressie McMillan Cottom — for strikingly original and even humorous thoughts on today's most complex social problems. Particularly enjoyed reading Thick: And Other Essays
Kengo Kuma — recently cracked open anti-object and haven't been the same since
The High Stakes of Low Quality (NYT) — intriguing op-ed on sustainable consumption in a fast-fashion-addicted society
Designed to Last newsletter — oh sorry I didn't mean to drool

Eating

Uwajimaya — been stopping by here a little too much recently, still waiting to run into Seattle food legend J. Kenji Lopez-Alt since he evidently shows up everytime i'm not there
Tomato soup... actually all soup — did someone say good soup? several fall stews have been on my regular cooking rotation as the weather's gotten colder, including Mille-Feuille Nabe ミルフィーユ鍋, a japanese winter stew
Maneki — maneki black cod miso is love, maneki black cod miso is life
Mango sticky rice — recently started making this at home myself... don't know how I ever got by without doing so before
MOTO pizza — Blotto always be my favourite Seattle pizza spot, but recently been loving MOTO and their Detroit-style pizzas

Playing

Glass Animals — in light of catching them live at The Gorge soon (aka quite possibly the most scenic concert venue ever, move over Red Rocks sorry)... so naturally I've been pregaming with the setlist
Minari — recently rewatched this for the 3rd time. and yes, tears were still shed
DRAMA — been a fan of this chicago-based neo-electronic-r&b (what a combo, i know) duo since they first formed in my university days. saw them live in downtown seattle earlier this summer - was such a delight to catch a piece of what was home at one point in what's now my home. got some vinyl signed. felt nostalgic.
Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors — for years now, every so often i'll stumble across this incredible video installation piece. each time, i'm again transported to a place i forgot existed. was pretty bummed i didn't have time to catch it in-person during my last trip to SF while it's still at the SFMOMA, but i'm hopeful to catch it when I'm back again next month before the exhibition ends
Two Door Cinema Club — seeing them live in just a few weeks. 2dcc + vampire weekend + cigarettes after sex + glass animals in one summer?? my 2014 tumblr self is thriving

Obsessed with

Jeremy, our new Tillamook cheese friend — a cute vestige of a recent trip to the oregon coast that my friends & I jointly named.
@Qagggy — on safer, more walkable and more sustainable cities
The Marias's Submarine — saw them live in denver last night...a dream
Min Hyun Woo's photography — his work is beautfiul, reminiscent of the gently summers I'd spend with my grandparents as a child
unconventional travel methods — given that i'm an og NUMTOT, this bullet point should come as no surprise. zoomed around San Juan on a scoot coupe recently. was it the fastest method of transpo? no. was it the safest? def not. but was it insanely fun? yes.
lichen nyc — incredible curation and craftsmanship
Castle in the Sky Robot origami piece — a nostalgic friend from one of my, if not my favorite Studio Ghibli movies. masterfully designed by @ch_junhyuk

Recommended treat

ube malasada from Fuji Bakery — tried this recently and have craved it every day since
logging non-runs on strava — they say swimmers hate running, and runners hate swimming. they tell the truth. why log just runs when you can log lap swims, yoga sessions, hikes... even little self-care walks?
homemade matcha drinks — a friend hosted a tea night recently after bringing some matcha back from Japan + another friend hosted a matcha pop-up where I enjoyed the most lovely strawberry matcha
and wander — treating myself with something timeless to be rained upon
this protein cookie pop-up — friends brought these bites to yoga recently... i'm not exaggerating when i say this was one of the best cookies i've had. better than regular cookies. i'm not even a gym bro / usually hate protein-anything, but this was delightful