Rupa Jogani

I went from never hearing of Chappell Roan up until a week ago, to now seeing her everywhere???

Even though I'm not ready to come home I actually DO need to since one of my close family friends is extremely sick with cancer. I want to be sure I can see him at least one last time, and that outweighs my desire to stay here.

I can always come back 🖤

I'm in significantly less pain despite walking more than I have in the last couple years combined.

My stress is virtually non-existent even though it hasn't been a stress-free trip.

I met incredible people, had a wonderful re-connection, and excellent conversation with new and old friends alike.

It's my last day in Japan which means I feel like I'm gonna cry at any given moment 😭

I truly have outgrown Chicago. This isn't a "post-vacation" sadness, but something much deeper.

Not my playlist transitioning from. "Breathe" to "Tom's Diner" 😭

I've had a very wild 48 hours of emotions, news received from friends and family, conversations with friends, and meeting new people

I filled my sister in just now and she was like, "WOW RUPA"

I am feeling the "you leave in two days" depression very hard right now. Jeez, I don't want to go home, probably because I don't see Chicago as home anymore. Just a place for me to tread water.

Extremely on the nose that my building is shutting off water the day I get home. Truly a very specific "fuck you, Rupa for coming back to Chicago" if I've ever seen one.

The pastry chef is chatting with me a lot, lol.

Also, when I walked in with my mask and didn't take it off, the entire staff put theirs on 🥹

"Why are you there?"

The pastry chef follows me

I'm having a nice french course lunch with myself today, and there's literally no one else here except me and the like, six staff members, it's deeply funny

This is why we are friends, lol

This is one of those topics that makes me real heated lmao

The sunlight in my Airbnb blasts directly into my eyes starting at 5AM and quite frankly, that's a hate crime to us vampires fr

I'm sad to leave Japan on Thursday but I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed, laying on my couch, and eating a metric fuck ton of spicy food

This is breaks my brain whenever people do this. Like, you haven't experienced all of the seasons together? You haven't gone through multiple holidays with the families?

In what UNIVERSE are people living in to think this is a good idea

They can't call anything a normal name I stg

I would be perfectly content to never be in Shibuya at any time of day ever again lmaoooo

Idk how city planners made Shibuya even more confusing than before to navigate but they sure fucking did it

It's very cute! I like the jellyfish

I might be a Leo Rising but this is too much

I'm constantly stared at, like, nonstop gawking, a solid amount of glaring, occasionally friendlier faces but generally? Just. It's a lot, so I can't ever fully relax to simply go out and *do things*

There's a part of me that still wants to live in Japan, but man, the xenophobia and racism is exhausting in a different way than what I experience in America

I can't believe almost an entire month has gone by since I left Chicago? It sincerely doesn't feel like I've been gone at ALL

I know I should be out doing things since it's my last week, but I just wanna have a lazy day instead 🤷🏽

No wonder I'm in as much pain and distress as I am living in American cities. This shit is extremely disruptive and harms quality of life.

Like, Japan isn't even my Fully Ideal Place to move to, but you can bet your ass that I've been researching visas to move here anyway

Shit like this is happening in Chicago. It's gotten so bad that it's fueling my active desire to move out of the city and out of the country.

It's been so quiet where I am in Tokyo since they enforce sound ordinances out of the city center.

No revving cars. No loud sounds. No firework. It's bliss

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social

1. This is sociopathic behavior.
2. This country really needs to do a better job at regulating vehicle noise.
3. Noteworthy that NIMBYs will use bad faith arguments about noise impacts to block multifamily housing but we're doing so little to regulate noise itself.
www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/u...

Sleepless in Seattle as a Hellcat Roars Through the Streets

The modified Dodge Charger roaming Seattle’s downtown by night has infuriated residents. But it seems no one can stop it.

www.nytimes.com

6 days ago

Shit like this is happening in Chicago. It's gotten so bad that it's fueling my active desire to move out of the city and out of the country.

It's been so quiet where I am in Tokyo since they enforce sound ordinances out of the city center.

No revving cars. No fireworks. No gunshots. It's bliss

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social

1. This is sociopathic behavior.
2. This country really needs to do a better job at regulating vehicle noise.
3. Noteworthy that NIMBYs will use bad faith arguments about noise impacts to block multifamily housing but we're doing so little to regulate noise itself.
www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/u...

Sleepless in Seattle as a Hellcat Roars Through the Streets

The modified Dodge Charger roaming Seattle’s downtown by night has infuriated residents. But it seems no one can stop it.

www.nytimes.com

6 days ago

I told myself not to buy books and then I bought three so 🤷🏽

There was a rare copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's I wanted to get but the price was INSANE so I could not lol

Gonna head out to Jimbocho to go to a rare/used bookstore, yeah, I like BOOKS

Good thing I double checked if the bakery I wanna visit is open because it's NOT and I would've spent four hours roundtrip on trains trying to get out there lmao

😂 100%

Majima is definitely not straight. I also read the same for Kiryu and Nishiki

Brian and Dom are absolutely not straight and in real love with each other

I braved hell today

(I did train transfers at Shinjuku)

The over tourism in Japan is making me so grouchy. Like, I know I'm a tourist here too, but man, there really are so many on pretty bad behavior that it sucks trying to go places.

Also the crowds are INSANE, even the locals/friends I've talked to are like, yeaaah we don't go places anymore 😬

Lol nearly fainted earlier on the train platform from heat exhaustion🫠

Wonder if I'll make it the rest of this trip without going back to get a pair of Pai Audio IEMs 😬

I did get a new pair of IEMs though because my Moondrop Katos went BUST due to well known quality control issues that somehow haven't been fixed???

Glad I went to e-earphone today to audition IEMs and DACs because wow, Pixel users were NOT kidding when they said most high end DACs don't work on models of Pixel 6 or later 🙃

I opened a door so hard into my boob yesterday that it's STILL sore today

😭😭😭 same bud! And not being in similar time zones sucks when I miss the group chat going off

I miss my apartment and all my shit though 😭

A few friends keep asking when I'll be home ... Does this mean people actually noticed that I've been gone for awhile? 🥹

I definitely miss my chosen family. It's weird not seeing my people at least once a week, but beyond that, wow, I really don't want to be in Chicago anymore lol

I have to cover my eyes during any of the fight scenes because I can't deal with that level of gore/brutality anymore, but aside from those moments, it's a great time

I started watching PEAKY BLINDERS yesterday and am halfway through season 1. Really enjoying it, though I find myself distracted by Cillian Murphy's beautiful eyelashes (can you blame me?)

Ooooo! I went to Iceland for NYE back in 2019 and loved the gloomy winter vibes

I love how each time I've gone abroad in the last year, there's been fantastic news days.

First was Kissinger dying and now the Trump convictions.

Definitely a sign I need to resume my "goes abroad multiple times a year" life fr