Today’s plan:
A ton of life admin and Christmas planning. We need to visit a furniture store to pick out a new armchair for the apartment, agree our Christmas dinner menu, sort out Christmas cards and. place some online grocery orders.
Today’s plan:
A ton of life admin and Christmas planning. We need to visit a furniture store to pick out a new armchair for the apartment, agree our Christmas dinner menu, sort out Christmas cards and. place some online grocery orders.
This made me smile this morning:
Plato, pilates and pubs: has an Irish town found the secret to the good life?
The Christmas tree is up!
This year’s is small, yet perfectly formed. I just hope it survives next weekend’s party!
I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I feel even worse this morning than I did yesterday.
I have some non-negotiable deadlines this week, so I’m working from bed this morning to avoid a car crash later in the week. Light admin for now.
Today will be brought to you by caffeine and Sudafed tablets.
Awake with a coffee after a pretty rough night.
Lots of coughing and sneezing. My heat feels like it’s throbbing and twice its usual size. And yet… I still feel much better than the last (and first) time I had Covid. So I’m grateful for that.
Obviously, I’m going to stay indoors again today and rest. No need to leave the apartment tomorrow either - though I wish I could go to my Japanese class. More importantly, I need to be able to fly to Dublin on Wednesday night for work, so my main focus is on getting better by then.
In more positive news, my partner returned from dinner at a friend’s last night with a care package for me. Tupperware full of turkey, mashed potato and other treats. And as Covid hasn’t put a dent in my appetite this time, I’ll be tucking into that later today.
Taking a break from my sick bed to make a cup of tea and take in London’s gorgeous blue skies. I’d give anything to be walking by the Thames this morning!
So I’ve had an annoying head cold since I arrived back from Tokyo on Monday.
Despite my best efforts, symptoms were getting worse. So this morning, having had a rough night of coughing, my other half suggested I take a Covid test.
You can tell what happened next.
So now I’m in bed, with a positive test result, coughing and sneezing and cursing my bad luck. I actually had my Covid booster a couple of weeks back, so this is particularly galling.
I’ve had to cancel a GP appointment for this morning (irony alert!), a dinner with friends tonight, and I’ll also miss my Japanese class on Monday evening. I’m supposed to be flying to Dublin for work on Wednesday evening, and I’m just hoping I’m better and testing negative by then.
Running my own business means I can’t easily drop out of work commitments without consequences.
Is it all bad news?
On the upside, I’m hoping my Covid booster might take the sting out of the severity of this dose. I’ve only had Covid once before and it floored me for nine days. An absolute bastard of an experience.
Another positive is that my partner is still testing negative. Long may it last, as he has quite awful asthma. We have the space in our apartment that he can sleep in the study on a spare bed, which will probably be the best for both of us.
And I have a stack of stuff I can read/watch/listen to from bed, to keep me entertained. It could definitely be worse.
But it made me think: how many people are wandering round London right now, with Covid, having not tested? How many of us think we just have a seasonal cold? It’s turned into Schroedinger’s virus.
Feet up, watching Netflix, and sipping some delicious prosecco. 🥂
Here comes the weekend. And I am so ready for it.
Loving the sunset views this evening.
Squinting and pretending I’m still in Shinjuku!
I wrote about ‘dark side’ of holidays - dropping all my healthy habits!
https://richardmackinnon.blog/2023/11/23/the-dark-side-of-holidays
One of the things that made this month’s trip to Japan even more enjoyable was the weak Yen.
Everything was significantly cheaper than on our last visit, back in March. It made food and drink laughably cheap and meant I could pick up a few gifts for family, as well as some clothes, without any guilt.
And even though I wasn’t planning on it at all (honest), I also ended up upgrading my laptop while I was in Tokyo. The combination of tax-free shopping plus the favourable exchange rate meant I saved £400 on a new Macbook Air.
Though I didn’t get it from the Apple Store.
They’ve stopped offering tax-free shopping to visitors, so I ended up going to the much less chic, but much cheaper Yodabashi Camera in Shinjuku. Where the Apple Store is sleek, minimalist and calm, Yodobashi Camera is an overwhelming tsunami of noise and signage that can be quite the assault on the senses.
There, an extremely helpful sales assistant helped me find the right model (with a US keyboard, no UK keyboards were on sale) and I also picked up an iPad Mini for my other half. Combined, they were still cheaper than a single Macbook Air in the UK.
I didn’t even unbox my laptop until the day before flying home, as I was too busy going out and having fun (!!!) but with a couple of days use under my belt, I really like it.
Gone is the annoying touchbar at the top of the keyboard, replaced with real live function keys! The screen is bigger and it’s much, much lighter. And with an M2 chip, it feels quite a lot faster than my MacBook Pro - which has been reset and is now on eBay, waiting to go to a new home.
Good morning from Canary Wharf.
Enjoying the beautiful skies over London as I have my morning coffee. Then, off to run a workshop and battle the remainder of my jet lag.
Hope to make it an early finish this afternoon.
Back in the saddle!
While it took an age to get home from Heathrow last night, we were super productive once we got to the apartment. All bags unpacked and laundry started with the hour, a delicious Thai meal ordered and all the post (mostly junk) dealt with.
Once I sat down to eat, the fatigue caught up with me. I didn’t sleep much at all on the 15hr flight back from Tokyo - due to a combination of being woken up by the cabin crew as they spoke to people around me, plus the incredibly uncomfortable seat. I won’t be dashing back to fly with British Airways when it comes to Japan any time soon.
On the plus side, I had a shower and slipped into bed just before 9pm. I could barely keep my eyes open and was asleep within minutes. And I didn’t wake up until my alarm at 6am this morning. Feeling great!
I had - for once - planned ahead and avoided over-committing myself on the work front today. I actually have a medical appointment this morning (wish me luck!) and a few things to do in the office this afternoon. No clients to speak to, to coaching sessions or webinars.
Looking forward to getting back into my routine today and catching up with what I’ve missed. A cursory glance at my email shows there were no emergencies, so it’s mostly just project updates and business opportunities.
While I felt the usual twinge of sadness leaving Tokyo yesterday, I’m now feeling overwhelming gratitude that I could go there once again and for the fun time I had while I was in Japan. Such lovely memories (and photos) to reflect on.
And only 90 days until I go back and do it all over again!
This was how tired I looked before take-off.
Just five hours sleep will do that.
We had to be up so early to get to Haneda Airport. And having been up until 3am and 4am most evenings/mornings, it was a struggle to get to sleep until after midnight.
I definitely won’t be sharing a post-landing pic!! The focus will be on navigating Heathrow and then making it home. For a shower and an early night.
Good morning from Tokyo
It’s a little before 6am and while we get dressed and ready for our flight home, I thought I’d share this view from our hotel room for the last time. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a sunrise!
Saying goodbye to Tokyo
We’ve had the most amazing few days here after our visit to Okinawa. Catching up with friends, going back to favourite places and trying new things. Now we’re packed for our return flight and have a couple of hours left to enjoy what this city has to offer.
So it’s time to head to Shinjuku Ni-Chome and grab a couple of beers in our favourite bar. But as we have to get up in time for an 0945 flight out of Haneda tomorrow morning, it definitely won’t be a late one tonight.
I’ve slipped into a terrible habit of staying out partying until 3am and 4am this week, so it’s going to be a shock to the system when I have to return to work mode and start behaving like a grown-up again.
A beautiful autumn afternoon here in Tokyo.
Just arrived after a few lovely days in Okinawa. Back in our favourite hotel, in our favourite room, and I couldn’t be happier.
Apologies in advance for the inevitabley gushing posts about everything Tokyo has to offer…
A last look at this view before leaving for Heathrow Airport. Then: ten days in Japan! ✈️
Productivity time!
I just have a handful of important tasks to complete this morning, after which I can start packing for Japan. I’m always amazed at what I can achieve just before I head off on a trip. The deadline-induced focus is a powerful drug!
Then a dinner of “it needs to be eaten” from the fridge and an early night.
In excellent news, my cough has evaporated overnight. I feel so much better. It’s only taken a week to return to normal… So I won’t be that guy who coughs for the entire flight, worrying everyone around him.
In stark contrast to August’s trip to Singapore, when we flew via Sofia, Qatar and Phuket, tomorrow’s flight to Tokyo is direct from London Heathrow. A lot less hassle. We then have a couple of hours in Haneda Airport to eat and shower in the JAL lounge before our flight down to Okinawa.
But before all of that, coffee! ☕️
It’s the very definition of a ‘First World Problem’, but the main thing I’m wrestling with now is managing to pack a suitcase with clothes for both tropical Okinawa and much cooler Tokyo.
Like, I’ll definitely survive. But I don’t think I’ve ever had to do this before…
Tearing through Season 5 of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ and my face hurts from laughing.
Not a fabulous start to my week, as it seems the hot water has once again broken down in our apartment building. The third time in as many days. Our management company is less than useless.
On a more positive note, I have just three working days left until I hop on a plan to Japan.
I recorded another time lapse of the river with my DJI Pocket 3 this afternoon. It compresses 30mins of footage into just 2mins of video. You can check it out on YouTube:
I’m already planning the similar videos I’m going to take once I get to Tokyo!
Like thousands of others, my plans were obliterated this week by Storm Ciarán. For my part, I got stuck down in Exeter, where all trains northwards were cancelled due to flooding.
I had to spend another night there, in another hotel, all the while feeling like death warmed up. A cough that was giving me the mother of all headaches and sore ribs, combined with aching limbs. All I wanted was to be in my own bed.
Before going to my ‘emergency’ accommodation, I swung by Boots (a pharmacy) and stocked up on flu meds. Nothing seemed to put a dent in the cough though, so I spent most of last night sitting up in bed, trying to stifle the cough.
Being away from home when ill is a special kind of awful, isn’t it?
Getting on board a train back to London this morning - albeit a delayed and overcrowded train - was a huge relief. Once I eventually got home, I showered and fell into bed. What followed wasn’t exactly sleep, but I got to rest.
I’m feeling 10% better now, but al the same I’ve cancelled all my plans for the weekend. I fly to Japan next Thursday morning for a trip to Okinawa and Tokyo, and the last thing I want is to still have this virus.
So it’s fluid and bedrest for the next 48hrs. Onwards and upwards!
I made it to Exeter, after nearly coughing up a lung on the train here.
Given all the weather warnings and the predicted travel disruptions, I swapped to a train leaving London two hours earlier. I’m glad I did!
Now that I’m here, I have been given what must be the smallest hotel room in Western Europe, but just don’t care. It has a bed and that’s all that matters. With my bed so close to the door, I’m glad I packed ear plugs.
I want a shower, a meal and 12 hours of sleep. I’m hoping to feel better tomorrow, so I can run the workshop without coughing all over my delegates.
