Translated from Simplified Chinese.

So, this blog’s actually been up and running for a while now, but I haven’t posted much here. Seeing all these other bloggers doing their monthly check-ins, I figured maybe that’s a nice way to kick things off for myself.

What’s been going on

• Redeployed the blog: Yep, this blog’s been redeployed. Had a random urge to redo everything back in September (no rhyme or reason, seriously), so I spent a bit of my time after school and gave it a fresh setup. Did much change though? Not really—I switched from GitHub Pages over to Vercel, which honestly… nobody cares about.

• Coffee vibes!
  Okay, so you can consider me someone who totally needs my sleep. Even back in 9th grade when I actually got enough sleep, I was already hooked on caffeine. Now I’m in high school, it’s no different—if anything, I’ve become a bit picky about my coffee (though not much, honestly—I just mean trying different instant brands, freeze-dried brews, coffee concentrates, and at most switching up my shot when I grab a Starbucks). Anyway, the idea of making my own coffee at home suddenly seemed super appealing. And since I’ve been bombarded with coffee content lately on Xiaohongshu, yeah, I got caught up in the hype and decided to start making my own too.

  Obviously, I didn’t go all-out on equipment right away—‘cause I knew if I backed out later, I’d totally get that “mom’s sword of love hitting the wanderer’s back” moment. So, cold brew felt like the right start. Hardly any costs upfront except buying the beans, ‘cause Mom snagged a grinder from her office—nobody used it, she said. As for the final brew—went with a 1:12 coffee-to-water ratio. Mom says it’s too strong, but for me? I can chug half a liter and it still can’t save me from nodding off in chemistry. And I mean ONLY chemistry. So I guess that means the problem isn’t the coffee—it’s the subject.

• The weather…
  Maybe Shanghai secretly relocated near the equator when nobody was looking? Temps lately aren’t dropping—they’ve actually climbed. Even though it’s already October, it’s still hitting over 30℃. My Xiaohongshu feed is full of people complaining about it.

Stuff I’ve Watched/Read

The Pitt

匹兹堡医魂 (匹兹堡医护前线 第一季)

Sep 20, 2025 watched

Gave The Pitt another watch recently—honestly, my absolute favorite U.S. drama so far this year (not that I’ve watched many, TBH). Love the way each episode covers one hour in real-time. Still trying to find a substitute show, but so far… no luck.

tv

The Blue Angels

The Blue Angels

Sep 17, 2025 Currently watch

This is a documentary I saw a while back when I was browsing the IMAX mini-program. I’ve been dying to watch it but couldn’t find Chinese subtitles. This month I just decided to stop looking and started watching it with the English subtitles. I haven’t finished it yet, but I gotta say, the Blue Angels are just incredibly bold. I don’t think you’ll find another team in the world that dares to fly with just an 18-inch vertical separation during their formations.

movie

Kindness Goes Unpunished

Kindness Goes Unpunished

Sep 01, 2025 Currently read

Book 3 in the Walt Longmire series. Got into this ‘cause I’m a huge fan of the actor who plays John Price in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and ended up checking out Longmire (that series he’s in). I’m digging the whole Western vibe in the book. But having so little free time—only like, at best 30 minutes after finishing homework during night self-study—plus the English barrier, has made reading pretty slow. So yeah, one month later I’m only about 35% through it.

book

How to Taste Coffee

如何品尝一杯咖啡

Sep 14, 2025 Currently read

Okay, since I’m getting into making my own coffee, I figured I should actually learn how to taste it for real—you know, get some lingo going. That’s when I saw an ad for this book and immediately grabbed the ebook. But for all the same reasons above, only read about 16% so far.

book