My best time of the day — the early morning
I increasingly found early morning is the best time of the day for me. During the summer when the daytime starts much earlier like 4:40 am, I easily wake up...
alvin in the room
Latest posts
On summer and productivity
When talking about productivity, people usually ignore seasons. I can tell you that summer is the time great to be lazy, not keeping being productive. Especially under the heatwave, even...
On solo travel
I realized that I didn’t talk much about travel solely, although I covered details about my recent trips. I have been solo travelling for almost 20 years (since 2008), in...
Trip to Eastbourne with TRAVELER’S notebook
It’s not my first time to Eastbourne: the fourth time following a stopover to Seven Sisters, the two overnight stays in August 2024 and my birthday in winter last year. This...
A year of going all-in bus and tram
Last summer, I started taking bus and tram only in London, and now it’s more than a year. How’s it? I still take the tram and bus except very very rare...
The long-lasting heatwave
I have been in London for almost five years with five summers. The temperature sometimes exceeds 30 degrees and once reaching 40 in 2022. All the previous summers couldn't be...
Tips to stay cool under heatwave aren’t enough.
After arriving in the UK, I met a person who told me winter was not hard, but summer. Coming from a place where the temperature always stays high during the...
Co-hosting Urban Sketchers London sketchwalk at Thames Barrier Park
I have been taking part in most of the events organised by Urban Sketchers London since 2023, and this is my first time leading their event, with one of the...
My app defaults (mid-2026)
Inspired by Robb Knight’s App Defaults post list, I shared my app defaults in September 2025 and January 2026, and would like to update here. What has changedAppsNote-taking• I was once...
Folkestone revisited - Solstice Bars, the Routemaster reimagined
Folkestone is one of my favourite seaside towns in England, and I have been there for several times. This time, I wanted to visit the new bar called Solstice Bars...
Urban Sketchers London - HömeGrown classic car meet
There were 4 Urban Sketchers London events in May this year, including Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice, Morden Hall Park and a summer late in Bazalgette Embankment. At the end of this...
Day trip to Chichester
I stumbled upon Chichester when I took a bus last year from Portsmouth to Bognor Regis interchanging there, where the Market Cross attracted me, and I made it recently for...
Heatwave in London
There has been heatwave in London recently pushing the city’s temperature up to 35c. Most of the days throughout the year, London, and the whole country, is not hot. If...
What is quiet technology?
The technology we are using is not quiet. It’s annoying. It’s addictive. It makes you urge to use every second, pay attention to something you can’t miss. But you will...
My first urban sketching in summer late of 2026 - Greenwich Power Station
If you visit Greenwich Park overlooking the whole view of the city, you may notice skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, traditional Queen's House and Maritime Museum. But do you notice a...
Visiting two V&As in Stratford - V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse
V&A, one of the art museum brands in the UK, has a certain number of galleries not just showcasing artworks, but also promoting creativity in the country. Over the years,...
Urban Sketchers London — Morden Hall Park
Morden Hall Park is a National Trust’s park in south London due to its heritage of historic buildings and watermills. It was also the place chosen for Urban Sketchers London...
My Obsidian configurations, and takeaway points after a period of use
I started using Obsidian at the end of August last year. Although I once thought of going back to Apple Notes which was my daily driver for three years, it didn’t last...
Goodbye, RSS readers!
More than a month ago, I tried to subscribe Reeder, one of the RSS readers which is also able to include YouTube and podcasts updates to see if it was...
My latest app settings and digital rules
After reading a book called Rewire, I realized my brain has been wired for instant gratifications especially social media which can make me more addicted to and less happier. On...
Looking at my 10-year-old iPhone SE again
Yesterday I updated one of my previous iPhones, the first generation of iPhone SE released and bought in 2016 which has only 4-inch screen, as Apple rolled out security update...
Whitgift Centre
Urban sketching in Whitgift Centre, one of the shopping centres in Croydon. Opening between 1968 and 1970, it was once the largest shopping mall in Greater London, and the record...
My recent updates
I know I haven’t updated my blog for almost two months. Here are some of my updates. Over the two months (March and April), I was preparing for the two...
AI and productivity trap
I read Cal Newport's latest article about AI (Why Hasn’t AI Made Work Easier? - Cal Newport), which made me think of productivity trap happened for a decade when note...
Why we should be optimistic even though there is no hope — after reading the book: The Bright Side
Just finished reading a book called The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World written by Sumit Paul-Choudhury. The author said he chose to become an optimist after...