Tadaima

Tadaima

After 18 years, I was finally able to go back to Japan for a family trip. Back in 2006 and 2007, I was sent to Tokyo for a business trip to my company’s headquarters. Japan left a personal impact and since then it became one of my goals to return someday.

My wife, whom I didn’t know at that time, was also sent to Tokyo for a business trip around 2007. And same as me, she also wanted to go back as a tourist in the future. But after that time, life happened, we got married, had a kid, the pandemic came and travel became impossible for 2 years, and so on. I also didn’t want to travel with a small child: not just because it makes travel more challenging, but that I also wanted the child to be old enough to appreciate the new environment. But last year, conditions were just right to finally pull the trigger. Continue Reading

Racing To The End

Racing To The End

We love countdowns. The last seconds of the year are flashed in a big screen on a New Year’s Eve party. Where I live, we get daily reminders on how many days are left before Christmas Day. In the middle of the work week, we anticipate the coming weekend and silently hope that the days go faster.

But there is something that we do not realize. We are not just counting down towards some event, we are actually counting down towards our eventual demise. Continue Reading

Ripe Olive

Ripe Olive

One of the reasons why I like to study Stoicism is that its practitioners come from vastly different backgrounds. Slaves, businessmen, artists, soldiers, and even rulers, like the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. This demonstrates that Stoicism is a practical philosophy, something that can be applied in life regardless of circumstances. This philosophy is not just for pondering ideas, it touches on the common aspects of humanity.

And what could be the greatest common ground for all of us, regardless of wealth, social standing, or fame, other than the reality of death. No one comes out of this earth alive. Death comes to us all; it is unfortunate that we don’t think about it as often as we should have. Continue Reading

Why I Write

Why I Write

Ten years ago, I published my first post in this blog titled Set up your own server. It was related to my work as a software developer. Around that time I also began my journey in self development and personal finance, and started publishing posts as well about those topics. I named my blog Technology and Financial Independence (TechAndFI) as I am working in tech.

Origins

That would have been a good origin story of this blog, but that would not be completely accurate. The main reason why I started writing is because of ads. I was thinking of a way to earn money on the internet, and Google Ads were one of the more popular choices back then. So I bought a domain, set up a simple blog (with a single post), and sent my application to Google. Continue Reading