After my trip to Norway and Finland, saunaing and trying a Viking bath* in the Baltic Sea, I am feeling inspired and motivated to lean in to some elements of a wellness journey.
*I’m choosing to interpret a Viking bath as a cold water plunge done after a session of heating your body up, typically in a sauna, but it could be from a hot tub, hot springs, or steam room. I’m not sure how accurate that is, as there didn’t seem to be a lot of sources describing it. Per the link above, I did not do a full Nordic cycle, though I considered dipping a second time but the sun had set and it felt much colder.
(This is not to be confused with a Nordic bath, which seems to be quite the opposite, and more of a hot tub in nature, powered by just a crackling fire. That sounds pretty awesome and something I’d be interested in trying another time.)
I lasted about 6 seconds and the water and air temps were around 7-9°C at Löyly Helsinki in early Nov. It hurt going in because our feet were already freezing from walking outside (should have worn flip flops), but it felt quite good coming out, just a little tingly and warm. I didn’t rush to a heat source like I thought I would and standing in the open air was actually comfortable for a few minutes!
In contrast to this, one of the most relaxing things I tried many years ago as part of an MBA class was float therapy (how cool is that! it was an actual assignment for a course I took). Funny enough, while floating isn’t anything like the sauna + plunge that a Viking bath entails, it was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about something rejuvenating. Plus, many locations also have infrared saunas, cold plunges, and other trendy things like cryotherapy and hyperbaric chambers. Alternating hot to cold is known as contrast therapy and I can still do that if I wish, but my primary goal here is self-care that feels healing, which floating gives me too.
Sadly, one I had tried and was planning on visiting again, Newport Float Therapy, looks like it actually just went out of business last month. I liked them because they had actual rooms, like the first one I went to (below, and unfortunately also closed now), and not just pods like most seem to have. And so the search was on, for the next one I can try, which led me on quite the comparison journey. Ultimately I found one that I really like and ironically, it looks like it just opened last month. Such timing! See below for my comparison and how I landed on this one.
infrared sauna, massage with add-ons, craniosacral therapy (CST), facial cupping
I liked Awaken for the float rooms, but it’s the furthest and it only has floating. Culture OC felt a bit hardcore for me, plus they’re not open Sundays, which would be a common time I’d want to go. Float Therapy doesn’t have cold plunge for when I do want to mix it up.
Thus I was left with Pause Studio and Newport Body Works — aaaaand thank goodness I did this grid, because I somehow overlooked that NBW has everything I’d want yet is cheaper than Pause. Originally I was thinking Pause was the one, and this location is brand new as I referenced above. But now I see that NBW should meet my needs for less! They are just a stone’s throw from each other, so it’s easy enough to try them both to compare how I feel with their offerings. It’ll likely come down to the comfort of their facilities and how customer-service oriented they are.
P.S. – All this reminds me of this cool 7-step “ritual” that I read about at Sky Lagoon in Iceland. I didn’t get a chance to try them out yet and went for Blue Lagoon when I was there, so the next time I go visit Reykjavik, I’ll be sure to put it on the itinerary.
Well shoot, I’d prepared this post a year and a half ago and never published it! So here you go, for the record:
To welcome in 2023, some friends and I decided to go to Austin to visit our friend who moved there recently. It was my first time out there and it felt strangely like I was in a foreign land at times. Austin feels like a gangly teenager to me, in its awkward growth phase where some things are matured and some things are underdeveloped. I also found it to be a great place for shopping inspiration, lol — I ended up noting a bunch of things to look for deals to buy, ranging from jewelry and accessories to shoes and maybe even an instrument.
I’m so sad I napped through the baby American kestrel that visited the balcony!! <3Christmas day, almost everything was cancelled, including my flight. (Remember that travel debacle?)After rebooking on another airline, I left 2 days later.A giant amethyst geode made into a seat! My mom would love this.These sunglasses blended in perfectly.I enjoyed rocking around on this guy. Now that’s some camping fun.How interesting that they display the food embedded in crushed ice.A whole section of butcherless plant-based meat!A gorgeous birthday sunrise.For New Year’s Eve, fireworks were abound.Some people set fireworks out of their balconies and others set them right at this hotel!!New Year’s morning was supposed to be sunny and bright, but we got this for the first few hours until the smoke cleared.Kayaking on Lady Bird Lake/Colorado River was super fun.A beautiful left-handed guitar!If a guitar and a harp had a baby…Now what is this mysterious thing?Went to a barber for a shave.My new spider undercut shave design!This was absolutely bonkers. There were fireworks on every block for MILES. And this went on for a good 30 mins non-stop.
It was a grand time, trying all sorts of vegan places, playing a ton of pickleball, experiencing a very Texas New Year’s Eve (the only time I felt like I was in Texas), kayaking and chasing birds and turtles, checking out some cool instruments, learning a bit of banjo (I learned Auld Lang Syne, of course), and then working the rest of the time before going home to a very rainy SoCal.
It’s been a hectic year, so completely different from 2023 where I traveled and got to experience so much. This time around, I’ve been mostly stuck in SoCal, not letting the gas off the pedal at work to drive a huge launch that was planned for January 01, then got pushed twice until July 01 and finally started happening a few weeks ago. After launch and during the initial phases, I made sure to stick around to guide it, then we started recruiting for a Senior Director of IT so I can hand off these types of duties to someone to focus on it. As soon as we made a decision last week, I took this week off for my first true break this year.
It was just in time, as I’ve been so exhausted non-stop for over 7 months that I could barely hang on anymore. My main goal has been to decompress and try to unwind, though I think it would take weeks to truly achieve that. Nonetheless, I focused on not feeling like I have to do any particular thing, and just allowing myself to do whatever felt like the right thing in the moment. I had a few ideas of things I could try to do, like build various furniture pieces I bought (4 out of 5 completed!), go to read at the beach (just did that today), hang out at a park (maybe another time?), join a whale watching tour (TBD, could still happen), or plan some future trips (expecting to do that tomorrow).
With this peaceful time to myself, what I realized is that I haven’t had a chance to enjoy my local surroundings in the way that we used to back in school, with summer breaks. I’m suddenly noticing and experiencing all sorts of little things about the rhythm of my community that I could only catch during a normal workday when I’m not working too. For example, all the construction that my neighborhood has going on! Not only did I have no clue that my neighbor at the end of the street was completely re-paving their courtyard, I also saw quite a few other projects ongoing, which is surprising given our community only has something like 168 homes. I also saw activity at a van that is always parked in the same spot and I had wondered if it was possibly abandoned.
Similarly, I was admiring a gorgeous magnolia tree in another neighborhood and found out that home does have residents — I’d wondered about it before, since its flora often attracts cool creatures when I pass by on walks. As with most homes in the area, I wasn’t sure if it had full-time residents, since I hardly ever see activity from any homes. Everyone pretty much stays put (a lot of retirees), it seems, especially in the recent heat.
I’ll have to set aside more time like this periodically, so I can experience my own area as a vacation, instead of always running off to jetset somewhere else. It’s been really cool, like discovering a secret world that opens up only when we are all at work. I’m super grateful that I stumbled upon this unintentionally, just because I needed time off and was too drained to go anywhere for a vacation. Instead, I’ve been able to do a ton of chores, start organizing things I’ve put off for ages, and gain an appreciation for my own town. I hope that you choose to try out a staycation like this for yourself sometime, and find similar gains as well!
When I was researching leap years for my last post about the fascinating year that 2024 is, I happened to learn for the first time (that I recall) that leap years are skipped onceevery one to two hundred years! Coincidentally, most of us living now will not experience a year during our lifetimes in which we don’t have a leap year every 4 years.
The last time a leap year was skipped over was 1900 and the next time is 2100. Some of you who are young enough now will certainly make it to the next one, in which Feb 28, 2100 will be the last day of the month and there will not be a 29th added. Some of my peers might make it then if they are particularly long-lived, or living to 115+ becomes more regular.
I don’t know why it didn’t stick with me the first time I read that article, but is it coincidence that the leap year cycle also matches up to US has presidential election years and the summer Olympics? It certainly makes all of them easier to remember, whether intentional or not.
Also, I had never considered how confusing the term “leap year” could be — you could easily think that a leap year would be the opposite of what it is, and we “leap” over a day. But the framing is completely different and I encourage you to read the article to see how the Smithsonian explains it.
Happy Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival! Today marks the beginning of a wood dragon year, and is jia chen dragon year in Chinese. This is all based on a calendaring system influenced by celestial and mythical beliefs, with 60 year cycles = 12 “earthly branches” corresponding to zodiac animals X 5 pairs of “heavenly stems” corresponeding to the elements.
Rather than this mythological stuff, I find this year — if you broadly consider 2024 — to be the year of the natural phenomena convergence! Take a look at some of what’s going on:
towards the end of the year – possible solar maximum, causing lots of Northern Light shows
all year, but especially prevalant in winter months – Northern Lights! (I plan on going to Norway around October-December to try to catch some beauty out there)
In February 2022, I started to watch the show Fighter of the Destiny, which had been on my radar for some time. I recalled seeing Lu Han’s profile on MDL in early Feb and not thinking much of it other than reading his profile and wondering why he seemed pretty popular. As I got further into the show, the character he played was intelligent and level-headed in a way that piqued my curiosity.
After finishing the show in early March, I eventually circled back a few days later to look him up and I basically started to stumble across his songs on YouTube. I was curious to hear him sing since his feminine face and reserved, almost timid, demeanor was intriguing. Well, I certainly got to see a different version of him in his music videos! Suddenly I found myself looking at a kid with a little bit of swag and some good dance moves. He still had the baby face and sweet voice, but also some confidence and allure.
There were some pretty funny video clips from a TV show he was on for awhile, Running Man. In one he was paired up with Dilraba and lost a heart rate contest pretty badly haha. In another, he made eating noodles in the wind look about as good as you can.
Eventually, I came across his live concerts and was fascinated by his way too pretty eyes and fun, colorful hair. Out of all the stars who act, sing, and dance, he’s one of the only ones I think is actually really good. There others who are just good, but they don’t hit me the right way and impress me. I don’t particularly like Lu Han’s songs, but I can tell he is actually a really good singer.
The songs that I did end up liking are 勋章 (Medals), which he sang as the theme song for a movie he was in, The Witness, and 我们的明天/Our Tomorrow. There’s one line in 敢 (Roleplay) that I really like — “你瘋了 boy” aka “you’re crazy, boy.” Lol, it’s the fun pacing and blend of languages that makes me appreciate it.
This concert is where he set the world record for “largest gathering of people wearing antlers” lol
At some point, I read that he was sort of like a Chinese version of Bieber, so I took to referring to him as baby Bieber even though he’s actually older haha. But look at him! He looks SO young. He apparently is so popular that he even did a song for Stars Wars, has the most comments on a social media post, and plenty of other accolades.
I find it unique too that he has tattoos, which I don’t generally seem to see Chinese stars having (or maybe they hide it really well). I think tattoos are still pretty taboo in East Asian cultures.
If you’re up for watching a full concert, here’s the one I prefer. I like the way he yells “hey” sometimes haha.
Before I learned more about him and I saw he was engaged to Guan Xiao Tong (Gabrielle), I thought he was pretty lucky. But then after I got to see everything he’s done, I feel like she’s the lucky one now! Other than the show they met on (Sweet Combat), I haven’t really seen them together. He started a vlogging series called “One Day” recently, so I wonder if she’ll make it on there eventually…
So what do you think? Is this kid worth the hype? Do you like his music and/or acting? I’m not a crazy fangirl, but I do appreciate and admire his work and talent.
I wanted to see more of Zhang Bin Bin (after noticing him in Eternal Love) and this pairing with Dilraba seemed interesting. I felt the two of them could be a compelling couple.
Total episodes: 48, about 40 min each (watched it on Viki)
Listen to the OST on Spotify (the songs aren’t available in the US, so try YouTube music; however, that one has more of the instrumentals, so I made my own playlist) — my fav song is Qing Wei Yang 情未央=”Love Hasn’t Ended“
Title in Chinese is Qin Shi Li Ren Ming Yue Xin 秦时丽人明月心: Qin is the name of the dynasty (and my surname!), Shi is time, Li is beautiful, Ren is person, Ming is bright or understand, Yue is moon, Xin is heart. So, beautiful person of the Qin era understands the moon’s heart? Or has a clear moon heart? In this case, the beautiful refers to the FL Gongsun Li as that is her given name.
It was well done with great costumes, but what a painful storyline.
Ying Zheng is a real historical figure and the man who established the Qin dynasty. This is a fictional story revolving around true historical events and a lot of actual people and events are woven in. Our female lead Gongsun Li is made up though, and no historical records show Ying Zheng had a relationship with a woman like her. This is an interesting show to contrast with Legend of Haolan, which I watched much later and focuses on the life of Ying Zheng’s mother. The shows definitely portrayed her very differently while still keeping to certain historical facts.
jealous female love rival who thinks she deserves the male lead
male love rival who fights to win the female lead
main lead’s mother who is of low status and gets bullied
side character who also falls in love with main lead, but can never be with them and ends up accepting it
main lead who needs to do something completely against their character to accomplish a larger goal; in the mean time they alienate their loved ones and have a falling out
main lead who sacrifices him/herself to save the other
arranged marriage where they are resistant at first, then fall in love
arranged marriage that turns out to be with the person they fell in love with in a different context
main lead is key to the destruction of the world (or preventing it)
someone decides the only way to protect themselves and their loved ones is by gaining power (usually a throne)
childhood connection between the main leads
someone schemes to catch main lead in compromising situation
quirky old man
Show Summary:
This was back before I started jotting notes while watching shows, so the summary will be quite patchy. I also didn’t pay much attention to a lot of the political happenings and cared more about the relationships.
Ep1 Ying Zheng is a powerful man and leader, king of Qin (which is currently a kingdom and not yet an empire). He has a very tenuous relationship with his mother, who seeks pleasure in a man called Lao Ai. Man, I totally forgot we were introduced to her so early on and thought it was towards the end of the show. Gongsun Yu is a prominent man of another state and he has 3 disciples: his granddaughter Gongsun Li, younger guy Jing Ke, and older guy Han Shen. It’s a turbulent time and grandpa gets killed. Not sure when we get introduced to Han Shen, but right now it’s just Li and Jing Ke. Ying Zheng is getting coronated and recalls being saved by a boy and a girl in his childhood. He grew up in a really dangerous situation and really distrusts people, but he yearns for that girl who saved him. She turns out to be Gongsun Li, but of course he doesn’t know that yet.
Ep2 We learn about Ying Zheng’s childhood, where he grew up as a hostage prince in another kingdom. He was bullied and nearly killed. He managed to return and took the throne at 13, but his mom and the chancellor Lu Buwei (who seems to have a thing for his mom) were in control. Now he has gained control bit by bit and overthrown those in power to truly reign. Ying Zheng goes out posing as a merchant and happens to run into Li and Jing Ke. Jing Ke gets drunk and clings to Li, the first inkling of feelings. Drunk Ying Zheng ends up in Li’s bed haha and almost slips that he’s a king. He thinks she’s a man — really? Later she ends up helping him fight some attackers and gets injured. In getting her aid, he learns she’s a woman haha. Come on it’s not believable at all, she’s clearly a woman. But anyways. Meanwhile, Jing Ke had gotten chased and saved by Lu Goujian, a swords master that the disciples and grandpa had tried to learn from earlier.
Ep3 Ying Zheng sees Li’s necklace and realizes she’s the girl he’s been trying to find. She ends up leaving in a whole situation that is a test for Ying Zheng or something. There’s a bunch of political stuff happening and power vying that I mostly don’t care to summarize, but one big thing is that Ying Zheng’s brother Cheng Jiao learns some details about his mother’s death that lead him to rebel against Ying Zheng.
Ep4 The brothers are estranged now and Ying Zheng is upset. He goes to talk to his confidante Yan Dan, the crown prince of another state who is a hostage there. The inverse of Ying Zheng. Jing Ke and Li encounter Ge Lan, another swordsman’s daughter and Jing Ke begs to learn from him. Ying Zheng has 2 concubines, Chu and Min Dai. Chu vies for attention while Min Dai is reserved. Jing Ke and Li stay with Ge Lan and dad Ge Nie and the girls become sworn sisters. I’m confused by the name because they prounounce it Ge, but when I see translations, it says Gai. I went with Ge since that’s how they say it in the show.
Ep5 Ying Zheng wants to find Gongsun Li and puts wanted posters all around the kingdom. Jing Ke gets badly injured as they get chased. Li drags him to try to get help and runs into Tian Guang, who Goujian had told them could be trusted. Li is relieved and they take him off to treat him but find he is badly poisoned.
Ep6 Gongsun Li rushes to the palace to find the king and get the antidote. She finds out he’s the merchant she met before. He wants her and she decides it’s the only way to save Jing Ke. She agrees to return in 3 months and not tell anyone about the agreement. She stays with her love Jing Ke as he gets better and then he has an opportunity to meet someone important but she finds an excuse not to go.
Ep7 The duo gets a chance to practice swords together and have some romantic moments. They go hide in a cave when it starts to rain and Li knows her time is running out, so she hugs him and asks him if he likes her. He expresses his devotion and they end up sleeping together. He leaves not knowing it’s the last time they’ll be together. Li goes to turn herself in to be taken to the palace as promised. She then learns she is pregnant. Ying Zheng is angry and almost tries to terminate the pregnancy, but Li threatens herself and he decides to take the child as his own and Jing Ke will never know. He likes her resistance and sassiness. A bit of a masochist? Jing Ke returns and learns what Li did to save him. He rushes off to find her.
Ep8 Li threatens her life to keep Ying Zheng from terminating her pregnancy, so he decides to keep it and nobody will ever know it wasn’t his child. He makes her swear she will never leave the palace so her child can live. Li has a duel with a general, Meng Wu, and beats him. Jing Ke tries to sneak into the palace and is caught and tortured.
Ep9 Chu has been plotting for power and grand queen dowager (Ying Zheng’s grandma) wants to make her queen. Ying Zheng refuses, saying it’s not time. Li gets poisoned by medicine that could cause a miscarriage. Of course Chu was behind it, making a minor consort do it for her. Li learns from Min Dai, who grew up with Ying Zheng, that she is just there for her country. Big disciple brother Han Shen is also in love with Li and wants to rescue her from the palace. He becomes a guard and has to find a way to the harem where the women are kept.
Ep10 Ying Zheng’s mom has gone crazy after getting locked up and having her young sons killed. She ends up sneaking into Li’s room and attacking her, causing a ruckus. Jing Ke is now part of a labor camp and is saved by Tian Guang. Ying Zheng is relieved that mom and fetus are ok and tries to get her to eat but she refuses, so he feeds her with his mouth to get her to eat. Jing Ke is completely falling apart as he misses Li and just drinks all day. He is targeted and saved by Ge Lan and Ge Nie.
Ep11 Li goes into labor and has a son. She names him Tianming and Ying Zheng won’t allow her to see him. He’s always going to use the kid as leverage huh? Han Shen sneaks in to Li’s room and scares her before she knows it’s him. He finds out who the real father is and doesn’t try to harm the baby. Another king, Zhao Dan, comes to visit. Grand queen dowager gives Li a task that’s really a punishment. Ying Zheng rushes over when he finds out and whisks her away.
Ep12 Ying Zheng is sad about Li’s injury. He’s very protective of her and promotes her. Chu is furious. Li and Jing Ke both separately practice the double swordsmanship that they had done together, which is sort of like a couple’s dance. Ying Zheng gets jealous but says he won’t touch her until she’s willing. He’s convinced she will. Yan Dan gets word from Zhao Gao of that kingdom that they are planning on attacking his home country of Yan. Plans backfire and Zhao Dan ends up dying. Han Shen tries to assassinate Ying Zheng but he’s prepared and Han Shen gets stabbed instead. Tianming goes missing.
Ep13 Chu was behind this plot against the baby. Han Shen was almost caught as the assassin. He goes to see Li again after he learns about the missing child. Chu is given the eldest son Fusu to raise and Li explains to her how she can’t have her own child, or she might get killed in the power struggle. Han Shen overhears some weird stuff happening in a cold palace and reports it to Ying Zheng since Tianming might be there. They find the kid with crazy queen dowager, who didn’t know who the kid was.
Ep14 Han Shen is almost exposed but Li helps get him out of trouble. People want Lu Buwei to become chancellor but he keeps turning them down. He instead meets with Ying Zheng and claims he isn’t trying to take over or become an official in Chu state. But then news comes he got a post in Chu and Ying Zheng is furious. Li plots with Han Shen to make an escape and dresses as a soldier.
Ep15 Li disappears and Chu is pleased. Ge Lan has been looking for Jing Ke and finally finds him to tell him Han Shen is bringing Li. She doesn’t want Jing Ke to know about his child. They meet and they’re both very emotional. Han Shen and Ge Lan are both happy and sad since they each love one of the couple and don’t get to be with them but they’re glad the couple gets to be happy together again. Ying Zheng goes searching for Li and hears that Buwei killed himself. Li is having a great time with her friends.
Ep16 Li’s maid Qing’er has been tortured by Zhao Gao and Min Dai comes to save her. Li knows she has to return to the palace and plans on getting Ge Lan be with Jing Ke. She is starting to feel compassion for Ying Zheng and doesn’t think he’s completely a tyrant anymore. She tells Jing Ke about her son but claims he’s Ying Zheng’s. Jing Ke is livid. Li returns to the palace alone and tells Han Shen not to go back.
Ep17 The disciple brothers fight because Han Shen defends Li. Ge Lan is really sad about this break in relations. When Li gets back, Ying Zheng locks her up and Li sees how badly her maid was beaten. The crooked eunuch Zhao Gao wanted to torture Li but Ying Zheng showed up in time to stop him and later, some servants sent by grand queen dowager.
Ep18 Li got let out and then snuck back to check on Han Shen. They are caught by Ying Zheng and Li confesses that he is her disciple brother. They set up a fight between them and Meng Wu. When Li joins to fight with Han Shen, it becomes clear they know how to fight together in a coordinated effort. Ying Zheng sets up a deal with Han Shen to stay and protect Li. Jing Ke has been drinking himself into a stupor again and Ge Nie gives him a wakeup call to pull himself together. He finally starts to think about what he’s going to do with his life.
Ep19 Jing Ke decides to go advance his swordsmanship and Ge Lan tags along. Ying Zheng wants to sleep with Li and he forcefully kisses her only to get bitten. He says he’ll come every day until she’s willing. He uses the baby Tianming as leverage to keep Li from doing anything crazy like hurting herself. Grand queen dowager sets up a trap at her birthday banquet and has Li perform a sword dance but plants assassins. It looks like she is about to attack Ying Zheng but she ends up saving him from a sneak attack and then gets stabbed.
Ep20 There’s a lot of political stirrings with Chu nation, which grand queen dowager and Chu consort are from. I wasn’t that interested in these developments so I didn’t pay much attention. Meanwhile, Jing Ke and Ge Lan came across Gao Jianli, who Jing Ke had competed with before.
Ep21 Ying Zheng decides to go to battle and brings Li with him. Jing Ke and Ge Lan get attacked by some people who want swords secrets and they end up falling into a secret chamber underground. Ying Zheng convinces Li to stay in his tent, but she refuses to share the bed.
Ep22 Li starts to see more of Ying Zheng’s caring side and she might be opening up to him. Jing Ke finds out he needs to master a secret sword technique to get them out of that cave. Ying Zheng wants a scholar Han Fei to defect to his country. The guy stutters but is very well-educated. Li and Ying Zheng get flirtatious as he chases her around. He decides to sleep right on the steps in her room.
Ep23 The ministers argue over how to handle the war situation. Jing Ke finally masters the sword technique to get them out. Ge Lan is basically starving to death. Ying Zheng sneaks in on Li complaining about him haha. He likes it and hugs her, then kisses her again. She resists, but calms down pretty quickly and seems to like it for the first time. He carries her off to bed and they wake up snuggling. He can be gentle. Jing Ke got them out of the cave and then has to fight those people again. Li gets a chance to know Yan Dan, who talks about the pains of being a hostage prince.
Ep24 Yan Dan and Ying Zheng’s relationship is strained. Ying Zheng has some nice time with Li and kisses her after saying he wants to know everything about her. Ying Zheng tries to set up Han Shen with Li’s maid Qing’er but they aren’t interested. Poor Han Fei gets framed by Chu people. Li decides she needs to help him because she believes he isn’t sinister like that. Li gets kidnapped.
Ep25 Ge Lan’s injury needed help so Jing Ke finds Tian Guang. Han Shen also ends up there looking for help to find Li. The brothers argue again and Han Shen can’t tell Jing Ke the truth about the child, or else he’d do something stupid to risk his life. They end up working together to fight some bad guys and try to find Li. Jing Ke has some sick moves now. He finds Li and saves her. They end up in a cave again and their relationship will never be the same. Sad.
Ep26 Han Fei is convinced to take poison, thinking he has no way out. Ying Zheng finds Li and they rush back but it’s too late to save him. I feel so bad for this guy, who was so good and nice and got used. Ying Zheng and Li set up a trial to expose Chu consort and corrupt official Li Si, who had gotten Han Fei to kill himself.
Ep27 Li suspects there’s someone else behind the plot. Turns out Min Dai was the true culprit, but why? Turns out Buwei didn’t kill himself and it was staged. He’s secretly planning for power.
Ep28 Tian Guang turns out to be Yan Dan’s advisor. He asks Jing Ke to help him rescue Yan Dan. Li has been helping out Yan Dan too. They make it look like assassins came and sneak Yan Dan out. Then they use a funeral procession to try to sneak out of the country.
Ep29 Jing Ke ends up making some fancy moves to fight the guards and get them to let the people out. Han Shen secretly helps too. Ying Zheng brings Tianming back to the palace and he’s already a few years old. Chu consort finds out that a woman gifted to Han Fei is pregnant and wants to get rid of the child. She then makes a physician claim she is pregnant.
Ep30 Li went to visit queen dowager and happened to learn about Min Dai’s past, which made her suspect Min Dai might be behind the plot. Chu was going to pretend the baby was hers but then the woman dies.
Ep31 Chu pretends to have a miscarriage. Li is starting to see some humanity in Ying Zheng despite his ruthlessness. After all, he’s in a tough position and had a very challenging childhood and life. He talks about his regrets with his brother Chengjiao. Li sends Han Shen off on a secret mission. He goes to find Jing Ke and Yan Dan.
Ep32 Li confronts Min Dai about the plot but then Min Dai makes it look like Li attacked her. Li exposes all of Min Dai’s crimes but then they turn it on her and make Ying Zheng jealous of the time that Li was kidnapped and alone with Jing Ke. He finds out Li helped Yan Dan escape and he thinks she did it for Jing Ke. He lets her get beaten in prison.
Ep33 Yan Dan gets kidnapped and Han Shen helps a bunch of his followers to try to recover him. Ying Zheng misses Li but doesn’t know what to do because he’s still upset. Jing Ke ends up saving Yan Dan.
Ep34 Ah, Han Shen is looking for Chengjiao to see if he wants to return home. Li remembers that night as a child when they met Ying Zheng. I think she still doesn’t know who he is. But Ying Zheng overhears and now he’s all emotional and confused. Jing Ke gets drunk after hearing about how carefully Li planned things for Ying Zheng to possibly reunite with his brother. Ge Lan helps him out, he cries in her arms, and they wake up together. Han Shen finds Chengjiao with a wife and child.
Ep35 Han Shen returns to find Li beaten in prison and goes to save her. He stands up to Ying Zheng to get her out of there. He explains he went to find Chengjiao and brings out the child. Chengjiao had decided he was too ashamed to return, but he sends his son. Ying Zheng is really emotional about it all. Li ends up passing out and Han Shen carries her off, telling Ying Zheng he’s not worthy of her. Yan Dan returns home and his dad is happy but things are akward. Ying Zheng wants to see Li and goes to find her, but Han Shen fights him.
Ep36 Li can’t help but protect Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng agrees not to come anymore and to bring Tianming the next day. He feels guilty and maybe a bit defeated. Yan Dan gifts Jing Ke a nice home. Omg I don’t think I’ve seen him smile so genuinely before. Li finds out Ying Zheng went missing and goes to help.
Ep37 Li finds Ying Zheng in the woods and saves him. They go to hide in a cave overnight and he’s so relieved to see her. They then pose as a normal couple as they wait for the backup to get them. A nice lady takes them in and then Ying Zheng learns that Li is pregnant. She is learning to love him. The lady tells the story of how her whole family was killed by Ying Zheng’s troops. The next day, the troops attack the city and poor lady is stunned to find the man is the king she hated so much. She yells at him and goes to attack, but Meng Wu kills her. Ying Zheng gets angry at him for killing her. Auntie tells Li she shouldn’t stay with a tyrant like Ying Zheng.
Ep38 Ying Zheng sets up a tomb for Han Fei in his home country. Li returns to the palace. Her getup reminds me of Japanese wear. Han Shen decides to leave. Jing Ke gets recruited in an assassination plot. Min Dai finds out about Li’s pregnancy and sneaks her medicine to cause a miscarriage. Li confronts her and Min Dai finally loses her cool and reveals her true colors.
Ep39 Min Dai causes a rift between Li and Ying Zheng by making him jealous of Jing Ke again. Li goes to visit queen dowager, who is ill and wants to go home to her state of Zhao. Li convinces Ying Zheng to let her take mom home. Buwei gets a letter to queen dowager and the woman insists on seeing him.
Ep40 Li helps queen dowager meet Buwei. Ying Zheng is his son! He kidnaps her. Zhao king is forced to surrender. Ying Zheng confronts Buwei. When did he learn that Buwei is his dad? Ying Zheng doesn’t trust Buwei and ends up killing him. Min Dai is angry at the Zhao king after everything she did for him and her country. She kills herself after losing it. Ying Zheng kills a bunch of people after he recalls his childhood there being bullied. He then disappears again.
Ep41 Li finds Ying Zheng and finds out he was the kid she saved. Ying Zheng gets back in time before his mom dies. Jing Ke goes to get a special sword made for his plan. Ge Lan finds out and she’s devastated. Li goes to lead troops to protect Ying Zheng and he refuses to leave.
Ep42 The assassination needs a sacrifice and the general agrees to die so his head can be presented to Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng will not budge until Li returns and when she finally does, he runs to her. Han Shen tries to convince Jing Ke not to go through with it and finally tells him that Tianming is his child. But it’s too late, the general is already dead and Jing Ke is going to present his head.
Ep43 Ying Zheng wants to make Tianming the crown prince. Tian Guang decides that he needs to die as part of the plot. Chu got her position restored but then gets in trouble for helping with passing a message.
Ep44 Chu gets in trouble for the plot and kills herself. Ying Zheng knows that it wasn’t hurt fault but he knows someone needs to take the blame. Yan Dan sends off Jing Ke on the mission.
Ep45 Han Shen secretly meets with Li and tells her about the assassination plan. He wants to get them out of the palace. Li finds out Ying Zheng still can’t fully accept Tianming as his child. He believes he needs to get rid of Jing Ke. Li takes Tianming out of the palace to meet with Han Shen. When soldiers come to capture them, Li tells her son who his real father is. She sends him off with Han Shen as she distracts the troops.
Ep46 Dang, Li has been in the palace for 10 years now. She admits to Ying Zheng exactly what she did to protect her son. Jing Ke and co arrive in the city and get ready. Jing Ke and Li arrange to meet privately. He hugs her after years apart.
Ep47 Li tries one last time to convince Jing Ke to back down, but he’s too far in. Han Shen has Tianming hide and he fights to the death. Ge Nie and Ge Lan come to help. It’s too late for Han Shen but they save Tianming. Aw man, Han Shen was my fav! Ying Zheng knows about the plot and wants to face Jing Ke head on. Li wants Jing Ke to miss the event and has her maid give a sedative to him.
Ep48 Jing Ke arrives as the envoy. Li was being held under house arrest and fights her way past dozens of guards. Turns out she got a sedative. Jing Ke confronts Ying Zheng to make him jealous. Jing Ke’s powers are limited because he got poisoned. The two duel it out and Jing Ke is badly injured but makes a comeback. Ying Zheng’s guard Li Zhong protects him and then Ying Zheng uses him as a shield, then straight up tosses him aside! Ouch. He then kills Jing Ke this time. Jing Ke’s last sight is a blurry view of Li rushing in. They carry his body out and he dies in front of her. She then confronts Ying Zheng and finds out he never trusted her, but he says he loves her. She says she’ll finish the job Jing Ke couldn’t and now they run at each other with swords. Just as she’s getting close, she turns her sword around so just the scabbard touches him. His shock as he watches it happen but his momentum stabs her… and he realizes she never meant to hurt him. He asks why and she says she wanted him to feel what it’s like to lose your most loved. This way he could empathize with his people. She wants him to be a good ruler. Well, now he managed to kill both the buddies who saved him. Was it worth it?
The first half of 2021 was full of rebrands for companies that I use/buy from. I found this interesting, so here’s a look back at the changes that had occurred, as it seemed like suddenly all the companies I was aware of decided to refresh their look and missions:
The entire color scheme changed with this rebrand and everything felt a little retro. The pixelated logo is reminiscent of 8-bit graphics and the colors are a throwback to the 70’s, especially if you go to their website. They also changed the styling of their name from Quick Base to quickbase or Quickbase. My favorite color is purple, so I was sad to see the change, but it did mean a pretty cool new cream hoodie, camper mug, and white water bottle that were available at the 2021 Empower Conference.
This was a pretty major overhaul, with a completely different name in addition to a new font and color scheme. The choices here also remind me of Quickbase’s, with pastel colors and a move away from all caps. I like the color scheme here, which is softer and includes my favorite with shades of purple. The products they provide are as great as ever and I’m a happy subscriber who often wishes this was bimonthly instead of quarterly, because I’d love to get them more often!
I like the new boldness of GlobeIn’s change. They sort of did the opposite of the prior companies (particuarly Quickbase) and went from a softer palette to a bright, vibrant one. Their logo is spunky and does remind me of the products that you get from their boxes. I like that it’s also a reminder of the people behind the products, which is a big part of their marketplace.
Some versions of the old logo have even more stuff on it, so it’s nice that they chose to simplify. Now it’s very bold and geometric. The connected m’s make it a unique look. They also went for a flatter, bold look like GlobeIn. And they seem to be dropping the “the” from their name and refer to themselves as just Grommet now.
All in all, I like the rebrands, though I’ve always been a person who enjoys change and something different. It’s interesting to see two of the brands choose to go pastel with cute serif fonts while the other two went bold with stronger, cleaner lines. What do you think of each of their choices?
Man, when I realized that I had basically forgotten it was my zodiac year this year, I was pretty disappointed, but my dad made a good point that I still have a month yet, since Chinese New Year isn’t until Feb! So I’ll be sure to make the most of this final month in the Ox year, wearing some extra red, finding some of the various oxen items I have, and generally just remembering that it is my year.
It’s been insanely rainy here the past two weeks, so I’ve been holed up at home staying dry and spending time with the cats. I’m catsitting Zephyr again and she and Smokey have both learned which side of the house is for them, so they don’t even go looking for each other. I try to make sure both of them get a fair share of attention, so there’s some switching back and forth between the sides.
Today I got a chance to get in a nap with Smokey, which was nice, since she was in an unusually happy mood that made her snuggly. By mid-afternoon, I cooked some food but before I could eat it, I had to get ready to head to my parents. They got tickets to see Shen Yun and we were going to eat dinner together first. The food was really tasty and I enjoyed all the dishes, feeling very satisfied and full. We got to the event with plenty of time and got a chance to wander around before settling in. I’ll review the show another time, but overall impression is that it was a quality performance that gives a good glimpse into Chinese performances. If you can’t make it to China to find something like this, it’s a good intro.
And just like that, I’ve returned home to hungry cats (and now, self). It was a nice relaxing day for me, just the way I like and I really enjoyed not thinking about work. That’s one of my favorite things about my birthday, I never work and refuse to. It’s my one sacred day.
My philosophy is simple: things change. Therefore, we are all on a lifelong journey of discovery. We should be flexible, questioning, learning, adapting, and growing. Always.
little fat notebook pays homage to Mead's "fat lil' notebooks" that I use to write down any thoughts that strike me throughout the day. I keep one by my side at all times. After all, inspiration waits for no one.
