Mid year update
22 Aug, 2025
"You think you want to take action or own a thing."
"But what you really want is the emotion you think it’ll bring."
"Skip the actions.Go straight for the emotion."
I originally planned to write this mid-year review on July 20, but now it’s August 22, and I’m writing it on a flight back to Taiwan. Well, better late than never. At least I’m moving forward.
# Highlights
I hit two big milestones this year, and I’m really proud of them. The first was finishing the Tokyo Marathon, and the second was moving to a new home.
I finished my first marathon!
# Marathon
I developed ITBS during training, which made the race extremely tough. I thought I could enjoy running through the city I’ve lived in for two years. But in reality, the pain was so overwhelming. After 25km, all I could do was focus on each painful step.
But I learned a lot through this journey: • Don’t set goals way beyond your capacity—it just leads to injuries. • No one forced me to run a marathon. Don’t push yourself too hard. Don’t compare with others. Finishing is already something to be proud of.
Marathons are a mix of emotions—pain, doubt, and joy. I’m happy I made it. But recovery was tough. For almost three months I could barely run—sometimes just 2km triggered the ITBS pain. I even thought maybe I’d never run again.
Running gears for my first marathon.
But in July I started over, super slow. Now I can run 10km again. It feels amazing to be back, and I’m really grateful for it.
# Moving
In May, I finally moved. I’d been thinking about it since last December, but didn’t decide until March when my lease renewal came up. It felt a little rushed, but everything worked out, really appreciate to the agent who really helped a lot.
Two small trucks came to help the moving stuff.
It wasn’t an easy decision. Rent is higher, but I realized quality of life matters to me. I’m over 30 now, and I don’t think “saving money above everything” should be my main mindset anymore. I work hard—I deserve a better place to live.
The first night at my new place.
# Work
Speaking of quality of life—my rent now is actually double what it used to be. Honestly, that still makes me a bit anxious sometimes.
Earlier this year, I almost switched jobs because of another opportunity. But in the end, it didn’t work out (they stopped replying). Looking back, I’m glad. It reminded me how risky cross-time-zone remote jobs can be.
For now, I’m happy staying put. Just working hard, step by step. I’ve also been thinking about side projects. Looked into building plugins for Shopify/Shopline, but it wasn’t doable at the time. At least I did some research.
Lately I’m more focused on building passive income, and I’ve already taken some small steps, like earning USD interest. Feels like a good direction.
# Family
Once again, arguments with my parents. I’m really upset about it. Haven’t spoken to them in two months. Honestly, I don’t know what to do. It’s one of the hardest things in my life, and I hate it—but I don’t have an answer yet.
I live independently and handle almost everything on my own. That’s good, but sometimes I really wish I could lean on someone else. It’s tough, but I guess this is just something I need to work through.
🔋 Don’t Forget the Happiness
Of course, there are still plenty of good things.
- I started dating my girlfriend in March. She feels genuine and caring, and that’s the most important thing to me. We’ve made great memories—café hopping in Tainan, a trip to Sun Moon Lake, she visited me twice in Tokyo, and we also traveled to Sendai together.
- I’ve been practicing latte art. It feels awesome to finally pour some patterns that don’t look too bad.
- Running along the Sumida River always reminds me how lucky I am to be able to live and train in such a big city.
This is my mid-year check-in. A mix of pain, lessons, and happiness, but overall, I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.
Had a trip in 仙台，牛舌 was really amazing.
Back to Taiwan at the end of August, riding the road bike is such a romantic thing.
← Back home