Hi 👋 - bringing you this slightly delayed newsletter from LAX. Almost home :).
I’m feeling both exhausted from the long travel day and energized to get back to work. Both work in the traditional sense (@ Thumbtack), work on myself and work on some side projects.
First, let’s talk Japan. There’s so much I could say about this trip. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do trips like this to incredible places with great people. This is a trip I will remember forever.
This pic was taken in a Tokyo train station around ~5:30 am. If we look tired - that’s because we are. Trains stop running at midnight and restart at 5 am… it’s become commonplace to stay out all night until trains start running the next morning.
why i’m leaving san francisco (meta study)
This is both hilarious and pretty interesting. A few notes:
- Surprising number of people seem to be leaving for Portland, Oregon. This is interesting because Portland has minimal appeal for me and because I haven’t heard many friends express interest in moving to Portland
- Why people say they are leaving is often different then why they actually leave
- It’s hard for me to imagine leaving San Francisco right now (I truly love this place!) yet at the same time, it’s hard to imagine living here being sustainable in the long-term.
Ideas
I hope to use this newsletter as more of a sounding board and forcing function for playing with random ideas I have in the coming months. Don’t judge too harshly 😊
In the spirit of stealing ideas from travel - I can’t figure out why these lemon sours (found in multiple flavors in every 7/11 in Japan) are not more popular in the U.S. They are delicious and cheap. Seems like canned cocktails are gaining popularity as well so I wouldn’t be shocked if something like this blows up in the next few months.
Another idea I’ve been thinking about is extra-curricular activities for adults. ZogSports has seen a ton of success doing this for intramural sports and I can’t help but wonder if it could work for other categories as well.
A take in this space I’m really loving right now is not boring (currently NYC only). Without interesting activities like this outside of work, I find life becomes mundane and passes us by all too quickly.
I am looking forward to getting in a routine and not traveling in the next few months - I hope to remain not boring.
Japanese Cooking.
We took a cooking class with Taro in Kyoto. I HIGHLY recommend to anyone.
A few fun facts:
- Dashi (a broth made with fish flakes and seafood) is the basis for traditional Japanese cooking. It’s the base of miso soup, they add it in Japanese omelets, and add it to udon broth, and a wide array of other soups and sauces.
- Kobe beef is a trademarked term. For a cow to be officially classified as Kobe beef, it must be raised in Hyōgo prefecture by a certified farmer, and slaughtered by a certified butcher. Only about 3,000-4,000 kobe beef cows are put on the market each year. 99% of kobe beef sold around the world is fake. If you’ve ever had even semi reasonably priced “kobe” beef - it was almost certainly fake. In short, kobe beef is a brand. The brand guarentees that kobe beef will always taste amazing, but you pay a premium for that assurance.
- “Wagyu” means Japanese beef
- Japanese food is meant to be light in flavor. Foreigners often add too much soy sauce sushi. Sushi is meant to be dipped in soy sauce fish side down (rather than rice side down).
More to check out
Quote of the week
“Your body is not a temple. It’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride” - Anthony Bourdain 🐐
- Taylor