Recently in April '25

April was a fantastic month. Spring is now on full swing, the trees and flowers are in full blossom, and the weather is warming up - perhaps a bit too much. It was also a month of travel, my second intercontinental trip ever. Let’s take a look!

🍄 Life

Perhaps the biggest update: the trip to Japan 🇯🇵. Chris and I went to Japan for two weeks. We took a direct flight with KLM from Amsterdam to Osaka, where we spent the first few days. There, we not only explored the city, but we also went to the Universal Studios and the opening day of the World Expo. Osaka was a city where we found the best food in Japan, and the city that gave us the best first impressions. Everything was so clean, so organized, so clear.

After a few days, we went to Kyoto 🏯. In Kyoto, we explored many - many, many, many, many - temples, went to Uji, bought some matcha powder, ate way too many matcha-flavored things, and did a day trip to Nara. I also had dipping noodles 🍜 in Kyoto for the first time. Maybe some of the best noodles I’ve ever had.

Then, we took the shinkansen 🚄 to Tokyo, where we spent the last days. There, we did a day trip to Fujikawaguchiko, where we managed to see Mt. Fuji 🗻 from slightly closer. We stayed the longest in Tokyo, in two different areas, Shibuya and Asakusa. Personally, I preferred Asakusa. It was a bit less busy. I think I never realized how big Tokyo was. Apparently, it’s just the largest metropolitan area of the world, with around 40 million inhabitants. That’s crazy big.

Going to Japan was an unforgettable experience. The culture is so different, things work in such similar, yet different ways, it’s the subtleties. Food is amazing, nature is amazing, public transport is amazing. I’d like to come back one day, and explore other areas of Japan, perhaps in less touristy cities, and more of the nature and even the other islands.

Then, we flew back from Tokyo to Amsterdam, also in a direct flight from KLM. The shortest route is, of course, through Russia, but that’s not allowed at the moment. On the way to Osaka, we flew through the Middle East. On the way back though, we went through the North Pole, Greenland, etc, totaling a 13 hour 47 minute flight. It was… so long, but worth it 🌸!

💪 Health

My wrist ✍️ is fortunately improving. I think the rest from the vacation helped quite a lot. Weirdly enough, I noticed most improvement right after I came back, and not during vacation itself. I also started massaging the muscles in my hand and arm quite aggressively. Maybe that helped create a bit more blood flow to the area, and in turn helping recovery.

When it comes to sport, I haven’t run much since the last time. The knee is much better, but I managed to hit it against the bed a few days ago. It felt like the funny bone on the elbow but worse. I don’t recommend it. I want to try running again, eventually, maybe next week, depending on how I’m feeling.

🍿 Entertainment

Closer to the beginning of the month, we finished Survival of the Thickest, which mostly a comedy show. It was fine, not specifically something I would recommend. Later in the month, we also finished the new season of White Lotus 🪷. I know a lot of people on the Internet were not happy about this season, but I felt like it gave a good enough continuity to the story.

We also finished watching the second season of Surface . I consider it to be quite good. The plot development since the first season has been through many turns, that I wouldn’t have expected when watching season 1. I’m now very curious to see what’s going to happen on the next season.

Enjoy the weather and until next time!