My October started on a cruise ship.
I flew to the UK with L and my parents in late September, and we spent a few days in London before taking a shuttle to a nearby port where the ship was waiting for us and thousands of other passengers.
The ship brought us to several cities along and near the coasts of Spain and France. We saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. We marveled at the installations inside the Guggenheim Museum. We had lunch in a boat that glided along La Seine.
In London, we rode double decker buses and zigzagged our way through the dense subway crowd. Every local we spoke to – the shuttle driver, the hotel receptionists, even the subway announcements – warned us about pickpockets. We were extra careful.
We lived and moved like tourists for about two weeks, our hands constantly gripping our bags whenever we’re out in the streets. The hypervigilance paid off, and we kept our luggage and our wallets and our kidneys intact – phew!
The trip was the highlight of my month. I’m not sure there’s anything much to add to that but, for the sake of this log, I’ll give it a shot.
Money
| Tier | Target (% of salary) | Invested (% of salary) |
| Tier A | 30 | – |
| Tier B | 20 | – |
| Tier C | 10 | 5.5 |
My investment targets were rendered moot as soon as I decided to bring my parents to Europe. It wasn’t cheap, y’all. But for my aging parents, I’d say it was worth it.
Fitness
| Exercise Days | 24 |
| Walk | 14 |
| Lift | 3 |
| Run | 3 |
| Boxing | 2 |
| Swim | 2 |
I was hitting a minimum of 15,000 steps a day overseas, and I tried to continue the streak even after we got back home. Also, my physiotherapist prescribed more exercises. Apparently my left groin needs some serious strength training. Welp.
Social
My friends and I celebrated Friendsgiving shortly after the cruise. We went to a Friends-themed locked room as planned, and we successfully escaped, albeit with a little help from the crew (hints please!). Afterwards we dined at a popular Korean spot and ended the night at a karaoke bar. Fun!
I also had lunch with former coworkers and dinner with university friends, one of whom had just moved to Calgary. And then there was one night when L’s friend joined us for boxing and malatang.
Ooo, and we also hosted a Sunday lunch with L’s family. It was a simple make-your-own-spring-roll gathering, and all I needed to do was pre-chop the ingredients because L’s dad took care of the noodles.
Considering I was gone for half the month, October was oddly social, wasn’t it?
Hobbies
I brought my Kindle to the cruise but I didn’t finish reading a book. I played a lot of Mario Kart with L though.
When we got home, I continued playing more Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Overcooked. There was also one Friday night when I got our friends to play Phasmophobia with us (remotely, of course, like “real” gamers lol).
My obsession with video games was short-lived. As soon as I started sleeping past my regular bedtime trying to beat a level, I decided I needed to chill the eff down. Bye for now, Switch!
Looking Ahead
Daylight Savings Time is no longer a thing around here, so I’m looking forward to coming home from work while the sun is still up.
Speaking of work, I was also looking forward to booking off all remaining Fridays of 2026 and most of December. I still have weeks and weeks of vacation days left, so I might as well use them, right? But alas, work had other plans for me.
So many things came up yesterday, and now it’s looking like I need to hustle to meet year-end deadlines. I high-key like the projects that came up though, so at least there’s that.
And that is all I got, my friends. Thanks for popping by, and I hope you have a great November. Ciao for now!
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