The Onsen Monkey ♨️

The Onsen Monkey: a blog about existing.

  • Packing

    I’m almost half-way through my two-day week – the result of a Monday Bank Holiday and me flying to Spain on Thursday for a break in the sun. And despite all the unfinished tasks in my various Things 3 projects, all I can think of is the need to pack my bags tomorrow evening. Although…

  • Frog

    Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen several writers compare the situation on Twitter to a frog sitting in a pan of water. Just like the fictional frog, sitting in the water and not noticing it approaching a lethal boiling point, the remaining users of Twitter are described as sitting in a pan of…

  • Walking

    I’m just back from a lovely, sunny and relaxing walk around London’s Olympic Park. It’s just a give minute walk from my office, so it’s a resource I’m determined to use more in the coming months. Yes, there’s a ton of construction work going on, with new offices for the V&A, UAL and the BBC…

  • Moving, in Japan

    I flew back from Tokyo on Tuesday and I’m only now adjusting to the time difference. Jet lag hit me super-hard this time round, but I’m finally over it. I think. As predicted, I walked a lot. I actually think that’s an understatement. While in Japan, we visited Osaka, Kyoto, Miyajima, Hiroshima and Tokyo and…

  • Awake

    I’ve been awake since 3am this morning and I’m not that bothered. For starters, I’ve no idea what woke me up. The apartment was silent. I was just awake. No illness, no stress, just awake. After tossing and turning for about thirty minutes, I gave up and started to read. After an agonising ninety minutes,…

  • Moving, Tokyo-style

    I fly to Japan tomorrow (via Helsinki and Seoul, but that’s another story) and I’m readying myself for some serious movement. On average, I end up walking about 25,000 steps a day on my visits to Japan. Sometimes, it’s significantly more. There’s so much to see and do, so many beautiful sights and neighbourhoods to…

  • Spring

    Spring has, allegedly, sprung. Meanwhile in London, it’s dark, windy and very wet. I’ve been up since 5am, so I can catch an early train down to Brighton. I’m working down there today – the first of three client visits this quarter. And I ever so slightly regret agreeing to a 9am start time. Anyway,…

  • Repeat offenders

    So… the upstairs neighbours were at it again last night. Or should I say, this morning. They came home some time around 3:30am and by 3:50am, their music and singing woke me right up. A quick trip down to the concierge later, and she had a word with them. But it took them a full…

  • Email

    After six hours of very interrupted sleep, starting this morning wasn’t the easiest. But I had a big event to run as soon as I got into the office, so that was all the motivation I needed to get out of bed and get the day started. Unfortunately, I arrived to an in-box of absolute…

  • Next

    For no one reason in particular, today has been a bit of a pain in the arse. I got out of bed, as they say, on the wrong side. Since waking, I’ve been dealing with a plethora of small annoyances, and it’s really soured my day. I left the apartment, to find one of our…