2020 Gratitude: Survivor: Winners at War

My love of Survivor started back in 2015. I vaguely remember watching the finale of Survivor: Cagayan in college, but I wasn’t really interested because I hadn’t watched the rest of the season. Those same friends asked me to watch Survivor: Cambodia (a.k.a. Second Chances) with them a few years later and, in my post-grad boredom, I decided to join them – and got sucked in!

From that point on, I was obsessed. I found every season on various streaming services, read /r/survivor religiously (mostly to know which seasons were must-watch and which ones I could skip), and soon I had my favorite (and least favorite) seasons and contestants. I like to joke now that I can talk about Survivor the same way that other people can talk about sports!

In that same vein, this year’s (only! unfortunately!) season of Survivor could be considered the Super Bowl of Survivor: a season made up entirely of people who had won their previous seasons. What a treat!

In the interest of not spoiling anything, because everyone I know should watch Survivor, preferably not spoiled, I won’t go too deep into gameplay, moments, or specific players*.

Instead, I will say that having a TV show to tune into every week helped me build a routine and, as I’ve said many times before, having a routine has been the saving grace of my quarantine. Building that routine around one of the most entertaining seasons of my favorite TV show ever, with my favorite cast ever, was the cherry on top!

(* But if you’re interested, like I mentioned before, I can talk about Survivor like it’s a sport! So if you’re as obsessed as I am – let’s talk!)

2020 Gratitude: House Sneakers

*My wide-width babies (image from sportshop.com)*

As an avid runner, I’m acutely aware of every ache and pain in my body, especially in my legs and feet. I’ve struggled with plantar fasciitis, calf pain, hip pain, ball-of-the-foot pain, toes going numb – the whole gamut!

I had read that wearing shoes around the house is helpful for feet that need the support, but had somehow conned myself out of thinking it would help me. A lot of it was cultural – like, can you imagine an Asian person wearing their shoes around the house? Some of it was also laziness, since my feet were in shoes for the majority of the day anyway and I convinced myself that they need to breathe at home! I had never even been a slippers person before this, for the same reason.

However, when quarantine started, I was in the house a lot. And my shoes lost the support they usually had all day. I stopped running outside and, though I was getting my steps in outdoors, my numbers were nowhere near their pre-quarantine amounts. I was honestly just spending less time on my feet than before, and my physical well-being was not happy about it.

Enter: house sneakers.

It’s extremely corny and I never imagined myself saying this ever in my life, but they were the perfect double whammy: I missed shopping and I saw a sale! I had brand new, clean, out-of-the-box shoes that I could safely wear around the house! It was a win-win!

I’m able to comfortably stand in them when cooking, doing dishes, or working at our makeshift standing desk (read: my laptop, stacked on top of some textbooks, on top of a dresser). I’ve even taken to doing at-home workouts, like weight lifting, in them, and have noticed my performance improving while wearing them, since my balance and form are often better with foot support.

To my fellow Asian people (or, truly, anyone else who never thought they would ever wear shoes inside) – try it! Seriously! As long as you’re diligent about keeping them clean and don’t wear them outside (though I did take a few steps out of my apartment before literally yelping and running back in to change my shoes), they’re a great way to treat your body to some much-needed comfort and (literal) support.

2020 Gratitude: Japanese Food

*HELLO KITTY TAIYAKI! FILLED WITH APPLE CREAM! TELL ME WHERE TO GET THIS IN THE STATES! (image from burpple.com)*

There were only three major things on my to-do list before our big Japan trip earlier this year: (1) Tokyo Marathon, (2) Tokyo DisneySea, (3) food. I wasn’t able to do the first two, so I took every possible opportunity to indulge in the third!

*I burnt my tongue on fresh takoyaki (image from japan-guide.com)*

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Japanese food in Japan lived up to all of my expectations and wildest dreams! I don’t know if it was just better quality ingredients, better technique, more options, my mind tricking me during a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or all of the above – but almost everything we had was great.

*Even conveyor belt sushi was miles ahead of any sushi that I’ve had back home. (image from japantoday.com)*

I’ve already gone on and on and on about all the food that I took pictures of on my past Japan blog posts. However, the beauty of the country and going on a nice, long trip is that there were many delicious foods that we didn’t get to take pictures of! This is my excuse!

*My go-to breakfast! (image from byfood.com)*

Though my boyfriend and I love Filipino food, we did get homesick and started craving pizza after two weeks on vacation. I was worried about something similar happening in Japan, but alas! Nope! I was still looking forward to my morning canned coffee and onigiri breakfast, even on our last day.

I’m already looking forward to the next time we get to go to Japan – hopefully I can knock (1) Tokyo Marathon and (2) Tokyo DisneySea off my list! (And hey, I’ve heard the food at DisneySea is great too!)