Lisbon, Portugal — A Most Fortuitous Diversion
Above Europe, clouds retreat, rivers shrink, and the sky burns white as the continent braces beneath an impossible heat. Mother Nature whispers, “Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one”—and unleashes Vollzanbel once more upon the continent.
Our original destination was Vienna—home of majestic baroque architecture, bustling traditional coffee houses, and a vibrant art scene. The one and only City of Music. But nature commanded otherwise, sealing the city beneath a hundred-degree veil of heat. For what reason, for what punishment, none of us could say. Alas, when we arrived in Zürich from Chicago on LX7, we turned tail to Lisbon whose city had escaped, miraculously, the initial onslaught. So, onwards we went, embarking on LX2086 and allowing Baltic Air to generously ferry us to the few remaining safe havens of Europe for the week.
What met us there was what we needed. For one of our party members, the bard Ming, had endured a year of torturous indoctrination at N.W. Feinberg, where he mastered legendary techniques of stretching and massage and learned the arcane tongue: “Tell me if this hurts.” At last, he had earned a week’s reprieve for a brief yet desperately needed retreat—one which I, in an act of unparalleled mercy and charity, graciously organized. The other was our resident healer, Lady N—not to be mistaken for Lady M, the legendary New England producer of baked wares—who spent her days treating the realm’s smallest patients, armed only with a stethoscope and immunity to screaming. She had likewise earned temporary release from her post. Together, our weary fellowship descended upon Lisbon in search of rest, wine, and deliverance.
And so, from our lodgings near Martim Moniz, our fellowship spent the days that followed wandering Lisbon in search of fine provisions, worthy drink, and whatever mercy its hills might grant us. Of the many establishments encountered along the way, these were deemed most worthy of entry into the chronicle:
- Kossie’s Café — Our favored neighborhood refuge, where strong coffee and bowls of açaí restored the weary each morning.
- Seagull Method Café — Purveyor of the finest morning feast of the journey.
- Lisbon Shop — A crowded trove of tourist wares, within which a discerning traveler might still uncover worthy treasures; there, I found watercolor prints of the city.
- By the Wine — A respectable feast elevated by exceptional wine and a most gracious steward, who guided our party through the vineyards of Portugal.
- Zé dos Cornos — A humble tavern hidden within the city’s narrow passages, serving magnificent octopus and pork ribs at prices so fair they bordered upon charity.
- Lupita Pizzaria — A house of fire and dough responsible for some of the finest pizza our fellowship had encountered in all its travels.
- Sanctuary of Christ the King — A pilgrimage across the Tagus, rewarded with sweeping views of Lisbon and the lands beyond.
- Loja de Burel — A house of garments fashioned from burel, the dense and weatherproof woolen cloth long worn by shepherds of Serra da Estrela, home to the highest mountains in Portugal. There, Lady N claimed a cloak of her own and emerged properly equipped for future quests.
- Mercado de Santa Clara — A bustling market of relics and curious wares, where we acquired several pins and a painted map of Lisbon, its streets traced in intricate grids as though laying bare the grandeur of the realm itself
Thus concluded our brief adventure in Lisbon. We had crossed the continent not by design, but by decree of the heavens, driven westward by heat and delivered instead into a city of steep hills, tiled façades, generous wine, and meals worthy of remembrance. What began as a retreat from nature’s wrath became something better: a few precious days in which the bard rested, the healer laid down her instruments, and our weary fellowship ate, drank, wandered, and—for a little while—was restored.
At last, we departed aboard TAP243, where, by fortune or divine favor, our party was granted passage in the cabin of the privileged few. Reclining upon cushioned thrones above the clouds, we returned home bearing painted relics, a shepherd’s cloak, several pins, and the solemn conviction that no hill in Lisbon had ever been designed with mercy in mind.
p.s. i was listening to a Frieren-inspired playlist which may have influenced my writing a wee bit
more photos here:
azulejos — lisbon, portugal
views of tagus — lisbon, portugal
https://redditrecs.com/
ooooo another cool website popping out: https://redditrecs.com/ it scraps reddit threads, cleans them, and summarizes product recommendations; honestly, a really good usecase, and it’s currently free! monetization is through affiliate marketing—makes sense!
diving into the world of IEMs
gotten obsessed with a new “hobby” recently: IEMs!
i was gifted a pair half a year ago from gabi, a really pretty set called TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero:BLUE2, but i lost in a month ago!!! the reason why i had even initially gotten into this “hobby” is because i wanted a good set of wired headphones for when i fly! those airplane earbuds are always awful, and i no longer have the capacity to bring my bulky sony xm5s despite having paid good money for them.
anyways, that set worked so well for what i wanted it to do! just sucks that i used it so often at work and elsewhere that it disappeared. i suspect i did not lose it but rather had it taken from my unmanned desk one fateful night. to think my workplace would be safe. since then, i have dug into the rabbit hole much more to replace them—ending up with 5 new IEMs (best in their budget class of $10, $15, $20, $30, and $50 for research purpose) alongside 3 sets of eartips (bc that’s just how the “hobby” goes).
i “”ed hobby because it’s just me spending money on things. i guess that’s a hobby still, just like how shopping and travel can be considered hobbies, albeit arguably generic, possibly boring responses. may post again once the rest of my haul comes—this little haul with a cheap IEM is just to get me by for now haha
korean ground beef rice bowl
source/inspo: The Recipe Critic
yap i’ve made this since my college days, and it’s a very solid meal prep / quick yums meal. takes less than half an hour to prepare!
ingredients (4 servings)
- 1 pound lean ground beef 90% lean
- 3 garlic cloves minced (i use like 8 cloves on average bc i like garlic, you can never have too much)
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (or regular soy sauce works, but reduce/dilute a bit to ensure it’s not overly salty)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (not necessary, but always nice to have all the seasoning, most of the times i don’t have ginger on hand and when i do, it’s always minced fresh or frozen ginger and i use that)
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (add more for more kick if you want)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups hot cooked white or brown rice
- sliced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish
steps
- in a skillet, heat up the minced garlic until fragrant (30s or so, dont let them burn!!) then add your ground beef and break it all up into bits over medium heat until no longer pink.
- while you’re waiting for it to cook, make the sauce/glaze. in a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and pepper. set aside.
- when the beef is no longer pink, drain the grease and pour the sauce/glaze over the ground beef and let it simmer for another min or two.
- serve over hot rice + garnish with green onions and sesame seeds
tips
- can use ground chicken as well! same steps
- fresh ginger seems better than the ground ginger from reviews (i’ve never used ground ginger before so idk)
- someone recommended honey over brown sugar
- definitely add some veggies for a healthier balance!! cook them up beforehand everything and just mix in.
Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
Earl Nightingale, shared by Olivia
pc방s are fire
thank goodness i don’t live in korea
i’d be an alcoholic gamer
to potential employers: i’m half 100% kidding, pls hire me
anyways, i saved watching the first T1 game of the 2026 LCK Spring season for this T1 Basecamp PC방 just for them to be 0-2 by KT. if this keeps up though, T1 might actually make it to Worlds again haha
신구멍가게24 — seoul, south korea
i have quite the number of ramen reviews to catch up on, i think 3?! i really need to work on them… can’t just keep them in my head and scattering of notes, else i’ll forget them all.
anyways, i somehow found myself on a quick solo-trip to seoul this past week. i was pretty hesitant about it, especially as my outflow last month exceeded my net cash inflow by a bit over 100%. quite horrendous. but, it was forecasted to rain in chicago this past week + i wanted to see w/ my friend sooyeon + i haven’t been excited about or interested in solo-trips in a worrying while. needed to see for myself why that was the case. so, i pushed myself to go, even though that desire to stay home was bordering victory up until i received a seat on my korean air flight to incheon. it was only then that i actually committed mentally to go.
that’s the context behind why i was, and still am, in seoul. my dear friend sooyeon, when i asked her what ramen spot i should check out while i was here, directed me to convenience store ramen. truthfully, i also did not see any ramen places during my 4 days of city exploration thus far either. regardless, instant ramen seems to be such an integral part of the ramen culture in south korea, and it only made sense to experience it firsthand.
i went to this 24/7 unmanned instant ramen spot near sogang university. there were plentiful amounts of snacks, drinks, and other goodies all around the whole store; every purchase was reliant on trust, although i’m sure shoplifting has more serious enforcement and consequences in south korea. in the corner was the ramen booth—its walls infilled with columns and columns of different instant ramen brands and flavors. for my first ramen, i chose a pretty safe bet: 농심 사리곰탕면 (Nongshim Sarigomtangmyun). based on gomtang, a traditional korean beef bone soup, it tasted pretty decent. not as rich and flavorful as the real thing, but it was nice, clean, and soothing with notes of garlic, green onion, and pepper. definitely not a go-to option for visitors as it wasn’t even part of the instant ramen leaderboard (last photo) sighs. for my second ramen, i opted for a popular one on the board: 오뚜기 진라면 순한맛 (Ottogi Jin Ramen Mild). honestly, i could’ve and should’ve gone for the spicy version. the mild was quite mild, although packed much more flavor and richness. there was a little bzzbzz on the lips, but very mild spiciness overall, esp. for koreans i bet. noodles seem thicker, which i do like quite a bit!
overall, what a cool experience! it is still instant ramen though guys…
- noodle: 4
- broth: 4
- toppings: 2
- balance: 5
- satisfaction: 5
- overall: 4.0
refer: ramen review sheet
found these in hongdae’s KT&G 상상마당!
amabro’s colorful glassware are so pretty. they add such a splash of color to our drinkware repertoire while being great drinking vessels too. form AND function. picked up an espresso cup to gift to José, our wonderful upstairs neighbor who not only checks in on our cats when we’re gone, but also treated gabi and i to dinner and drinks to celebrate gabi’s birthday. such a kind-hearted, sweet person
hm, there’s a pants-less passed out korean guy in front of my favorite basketball arcade game. it’s a full-color screen running the whole length of the backwall rather than the generic analog number display + has four levels of challenges, two of which i’ve beaten in prior nights. what to do… sooyeon is in disbelief and is traumatized (understandably so) although i would’ve imagined this to be a common occurrence in sinchon near midnight. i, however, just wanted to shoot my mini-hoops and beat the hard difficulty this time around.
update: someone brought in authorities to help the man up and retrieve his pants. sooyeon was not a baller, and it seemed nor was i as victory slyly eluded my grasp once again.
heytea has a seoul-exclusive drink, at least when i was there in hongdae
it’s a hand-peeled jeju tangerine drink: tangerine pulp sits at the base, topped with a slush of 100% tangerine juice and fragrance-free jasmine green tea, and naturally tinted with beetroot juice.
overall, was pretty good. more of a slushie than the typical heytea drink.
sooyeon had the classic mango pomelo sago, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. was her first time in heytea, and she could not stop admiring how good it was and how appreciatively unsweetened the drink was. i did ask her if she liked it enough to come back again, and she said maybe next year given that the walk was a bit far for her… ps: the walk is only 30 min from campus
monster ramen — chicago, illinois
anna had suggested we try this all together next, so here we are! the wait was zilch because anna had walked in ahead of time to grab us a spot (thank you anna)
this spot is pretty well-known in chicago. it’s a small, but cozy venue. they specialize in beef-based broth, which is a switch-up from the typical tonkotsu broth. gabi had the shio house which is gyukotsu, beef jam (seemingly ground beef), shio tare, yuzu, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. anna and i had the shio tokusei, which consisted of the same, but with beef chashu, red onions, menma (which i donated to gabi), and ajitama (also donated to gabi, sorry im a picky guy).
i honestly quite enjoyed it. the broth is quite good and complex with a good balance of oil. the yuzu helps add some acidity and slight citrussy, while the sharpness and slight sweetness of the red onions did a banger job imo. i do wish i wrote this earlier, as i do forget that was the enjoyable part for sure. the noodles were not bad. they were hakata-style, which i enjoyed, but was a bit bland. the weakness here was the beef chashu… it was quite dry, and the beef jam did a much better job at adding umami, although it did essentially still taste like marinated ground beef haha. the aftertaste of the meal was a slight saltiness, nothing some water and drinks wouldn’t fix.
perhaps the beef chashu was a one-time issue, but will not know until i try it again. however, i would likely come back again for the uniqueness of the broth itself (unless future spots deem it unnecessary). the other ramens in their menu seem to have their own charm as well, but the gyukotsu broth itself already breaks the occasional monotony of ramen broth i’ve had thus far.
- noodle: 7
- broth: 7.5
- toppings: 4.5
- balance: 6.5
- satisfaction: 7
- overall: 6.5
refer: ramen review sheet
ichiran fukuoka hq — fukuoka, japan
i love ichiran. it’s consistent and balanced. it’s nothing special, but that’s also what i enjoy about it LOL
i do wish they had an option to serve pork chashu, not just pork shoulder/butt, but i get why. it’s easier + helps balance the overall ramen from being too fatty. i thoroughly enjoy the hakata-style noodles, which are long and thin. additionally, for those who haven’t tried, ichiran has a order form that you can customize the one ramen bowl they serve. i usually get the noodle medium or firm, the broth medium to rich, dashi medium, full clove of garlic, green onion, and mild spicy (although higher is nice too).
a lot of ramen enthusiasts think ichiran is overrated, and it honestly can be. but, it’s the one that is often open 24/7 and gets me a tasty bowl of ramen i KNOW i’ll enjoy. i don’t need to evaluate the menu, don’t need to talk to anyone, and don’t need to think about anything. would i wait an hour in line for it? no. would i pay more than $15 for a bowl? no. but, typically, i don’t need to! the bowl is like less than $10. the wait is little-to-none when i go, otherwise i wouldn’t go. and, i also always get a bowl of rice to add into the broth at the end to finish it off. it’s so delish, and i’m salivating thinking about it rn (i’m starving at the time of writing this)
esp. since i can customize many aspects to my liking, the rating may be higher than average.
- noodle: 8
- broth: 7
- toppings: 4
- balance: 7
- satisfaction: 7.5
- overall: 6.7
refer: ramen review sheet
The Summer House by Masashi Matsuie (Translated by Margaret Mitsutani) [2025]
i thought it was a beautiful read
it was a slow book, a slice of life novel
young love and all its dramatized secrecy, emotions, honesty, confusion, purity, and fallouts
older mature relationships and all its endearment, complexities, and realities
an incredibly warm portrayal of community and companionship
the soft envelopment of dedicated, enriching work (wish this was me lol)
the unbridled joy of creation
the eerily silent yet quick passage of time where days and arcs seem long yet years and decades fly
and scattered throughout, a humble view into the world of architecture
higuma — paris, france
after helping gabi shop for gloves, i saw that Higuma was nearby and wanted to try it out for the sake of it. it was heavily-reviewed and sat at a comfortable 4.2 stars. more importantly, the ramen was around 10 euros or so.
we waited about 3 minutes, but when we left, the queue was around the block. the shop, though, was a canteen-style ramen shop, so it was not only big, but also seemed to churn food and people quickly. so, that queue around the block probably would’ve taken 20 minutes to clear. the ramen was alright. i ordered the butter corn ramen, which was a pork-based shio broth. the noodle was a typical thin noodle that i liked, but nothing special and gabi thought it had a store-bought taste to it, which i can’t tell. i felt the broth to be quite light and shallow honestly, which i was expecting due to the heavy shio ramen criticism in the reviews. shio, unlike other types of seasoning, can’t elevate/hide mediocre broth as much. it wasn’t hearty. the toppings were okay, kinda just tossed in without much regard for balance as you’d expect honestly from this canteen-styled restaurant format. the pork chashu was very tender, but gabi wished it was more flavorful and marinated. i thought it was decent by itself. the corn was just corn, nothing inspirational like good sweet corn. however, the amount of butter seemed a bit much? after the midpoint of the meal, the broth just became much too fatty without much richness or depth in flavor. overall, was an average ramen in a pinch. which it scores under an average score of 6, that’s not considering the cost. at 11 euros for my bowl, or 10 euros for a regular shoyu/shio/miso ramen, it hits an average value. the post-meal aftertaste was gray. instead of a cozy, comforting fullness, i felt a bit lethargic and very so slightly nauseous. it’s the butter i swear.
- noodle: 6
- broth: 5
- toppings: 5.5
- balance: 5
- satisfaction: 4.5
- overall: 5.2
refer: ramen review sheet
takesan donabe ramen — paris, france
since committing my mind to this ramen blog series, i’ve been waiting for my next ramen plunge excitedly. somehow, that ended up to be in paris. a bit far, but home of a rich culinary culture and history.
there were a few spots on my list:
- Kodawari Ramen (Tsukiji)
- Kodawari Ramen (Yokocho)
- Hakata Choten
- Menkicchi Ramen
- Higuma
however, the queue for Kodawari Ramen (both locations) was very long. good thing is that we could just queue online and walk around the area; however, the queue timing was pretty inaccurate, often for the better. it’d say 3 hours wait, but have a seat for you in half of that. but that would mean we weren’t in the area yet… next time for those two! they’ve been mentioned as a contender for the best ramen in europe, sooooo i’ll definitely try them in the near future.
back to Takesan Donabe Ramen. it was pretty solid. the wait was minimal, and the ambience was good. they specialized in miso ramen, but i wanted something light and opted for the tonkotsu shoyu ramen, aka iekei ramen. the noodles were quite thick, like chinese noodles. i didn’t mind them, and they had a nice bite! i just prefer thinner noodles for my ramen, but nothing wrong with these. for toppings, i had bamboo shoots, roasted seaweed, and spinach. no bamboo shoots for me this time again (maybe in future i’ll grow into them bc seems important LOL), but seaweed and spinach was yummy. i love spinach, and it paired nicely. the chashu was sliced thinly and leaned on the fatter profile, but was tender and good. the broth was nice and light, although didn’t have enough depth imo. refreshingly light still. overall, ate it all up and had me wanting more.
- noodle: 7
- broth: 5.5
- toppings: 7
- balance: 7
- satisfaction: 7
- overall: 6.7
refer: ramen review sheet
finally, some thrifting wins!!!!
gabi was calling me in the afternoons through my meetings to ask me to go thrifting with her after work. while i did have something at 7pm, that did still mean i had two hours to go with her (which was on a blue line stop thank goodness 🧎🏻♂️). usually i don’t care for thrift stores myself, but it’s always fun to hunt for things for or with gabi. today, as with many of our other thrift trips this past month, was a hunt for a nice fur or wool coat. AND WE FINALLY FOUND BOTH!! (at a very good price hehe)
the first item was a De Novo Crossbar Raglan Coat in gray! it’s a small batch coat retailing over $800 from this one-woman boutique in memphis?? so very dope and in such great quality. fits gabi so well too. 9.5/10
second item was this rabbit fur coat from Elan Furs, a notable furrier from the 1980s Midwest that still operates today. it’s got a bit of cleaning to be done, but quite small jobs. overall, 7.7/10. cool little find! although decently commonplace in the midwest haha
akahoshi ramen — chicago, illinois
this shop is widely known as one of the top, if not the top, ramen spots in chicago. did not realize that, tbh, until gabi and i went on a saturday afternoon. they open 5-9 everyday, and we were there by 5:15. by then, despite over half of the tables typically reserved for walk-ins, there was a large queue which took us 2 hours to overcome. i was starving, but i honestly wanted to get ramen and we were already there.
but, soon enough, we were sitting down in a long bench and quickly got our food. i ordered the standard Akahoshi Miso ramen. to be honest, im no ramen connoisseur by any means. i just really like ramen without much understanding about its complexities. i don’t know exactly what kinds of ramen i like and what kinds i don’t, but this new #category is what im here to discover for myself.
so, back to the miso ramen. honestly, it was the best ramen i’ve had in months. the noodles were bouncy and had a good, squiggly texture. the chashu was absolutely amazing: tender, balanced, charred, wonderful. definitely one of my most memorable chashu place along with Ramenwell in SF I had years ago. the other toppings were great: bean sprouts kept a nice crunch and the green onion provided the needed freshness and balance. the broth, though, was a bit light—surprising for this mixed miso broth as i thought it’d be more heavy, fermented, strong. other than that, great!
overall, would definitely revisit and try a different tare ramen. i don’t think im a huge miso ramen guy but they did it well enough that i enjoyed it without any issue. the owner/chef seems like a great, helpful, and warm part of the ramen community (esp. on reddit as u/Ramen_Lord) and knows his craft well + has a soothing humbleness from what i can read.
- noodle: 8
- broth: 6
- toppings: 9
- balance: 7
- satisfaction: 7.5
- overall: 7.5
here’s my newly-started ramen review sheet
today, gabi and i cut each other’s hair in the bathroom w/ our new hair shears (went decent? i was traumatized cutting hair with no background and having never seen how cosmetologists cut long hair) + took skiffy bby to the vet to get his annual checkup and his blood drawn for a baseline! he was the bestest baby and all the vet staff super loved him :D
decided to grab a seat and a bite at Al’s Beef to watch the NFL game, thinking I could maybe catch Chamine’s cheerleading performance at halftime. but little did this oblivious football viewer know was that there are more than one bird mascot in the NFL and that he was watching the Eagles not the Seahawks 😭 the logos are KINDA close no? i think it’s a one-time, honest mistake, even for someone that had a chance to go into the Seahawks’ training facilities 🙃
I only realized this AFTER asking Chamine if she was dancing today bc i decided i should check if it’s actually a live game… to top it off, halftime was just old men yapping too 🤧
the food was good though, was starving.
