2025 Recap

I’m writing from the Philz in Hollywood. Lately it’s so damn hard to concentrate in my apartment. Holiday brain.

We are here to review 2025. Probably one of my most eventful years in a while

Winter

  • Getting ready to leave for California. There are some loose ends to handle and I also want to say goodbye to my friends. I hit up my fav places with my fav ppl.

    • Carnegie Hall / Mala project with Tim

    • Watching Maybe Happy Ending with Kelvin

    • Ice cream with Saad and Chaitya

    • Hit up some final LIC spots with Mansoor

    • Steak and magic show with Tim and David

  • Head back around Feb to help Mom and Dad move into their new house. From then on, for a couple months, I become a bit depressed. Wondering what I’m doing in the deep suburbs, far from friends and the city I’ve lived in for the last six years. Things also feel a bit frayed with Harry for whatever reason. Lots of random anxiety about moving back to California and what life will look like.

  • Harry also adopts a dog (Russell)!

  • In March, the four of us go to Vietnam on a family trip. Definitely an angsty time for me. Lots of contemplation about what I’m doing in life. But the trip itself and the cities we visit (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) are amazing. Food is amazing, the bustle is fun. Definitely want to visit again (I liked Hanoi more than Ho Chi Minh. Felt a bit more vibrant)

Spring

  • After reading How to Change Your Mind, and listening to some friends (Mansoor, Jess, Harry), I decide to take shrooms.

  • Pretty soon after Vietnam, I have to go back to NYC for work. Feels like a homecoming of sorts.

    • Go to Millie’s birthday party and see a bunch of friends: Tim, Will, Apollo, David. We end up at a warehouse rave in LIC which ends up being randomly pretty fun.

    • Get dinner with Evan, Mansoor and Jess

    • Actually get closer to my teams at work. Genuinely enjoyed that time overall

    • Karaoke + clubbing with Tim, David, Ama, Apollo, Millie, Will, Amy

  • Immediately after, go to Buenos Aires. Have a decent time overall

    • Oddly enough, I don’t think I’m that lonely there. I end up meeting a bunch of people: Peter, Emin, Abbey, Ben, Kris, Jordan. In the months past I haven’t kept in touch. But for a couple weeks it felt like summer camp memories.

    • I mostly remember eating a lot of meat (too much), doing a bunch of random touristy stuff, trying to go on dates, going clubbing once (I don’t even like clubbing but it seemed like the thing to do), going to a couple TimeLeft dinners, using the pool/sauna in the apartment, meditating (after Mansoor mentioned it so many times), talking a LOT about dating (at least with the people I was with, everyone talked about dating/sex pretty much every time we met up),

  • After BA, I come back to California to be with Dad. Mom and Harry are in Korea so he’s home alone with Russell. Compared to the first time around, this period feels a lot better. Not sure what changed. Maybe the post shrooms/BA realization that life can be larger than the daily grind. That you can do whatever you want, really.

    • Side note: You get so used to the daily grind. So pigeonholed in whatever role you’ve assigned yourself. It takes effort to remind yourself life can be so much more than that. I default to the “responsible” choice. Or the path of least resistance. Something to consider as I get older not to get too stuck in my ways

    • During this time, I also take up the trumpet. The idea is that I use it all the time in my production so it’d be cool to learn the real thing. The real thing turns out to be much harder than expected and I give up after a few months :’)

    • I also start taking acting classes at Margie Haber. This turns out to be kind of demanding. The teacher is rigorous. I respect him (his dedication to the craft, the way he carries himself) but dislike him (such a stickler, demands emotional outpouring at almost anything, scrutinizes everything) at the same time. BUT! Overall, I enjoy it.

Summer

  • Explore LA

    • I bounce around from Airbnb to Airbnb. Hollywood, West Hollywood, Culver City, Highland Park, Pasadena, Silver Lake. An oddly enjoyable time. I spend a lot of time randomly driving around. Seeing what the city has to offer.

      • I kind of miss that. Being able to drive and check out random places… I guess I could do that now but these days I feel kinda tired and don’t want to deal with traffic.

  • New car!!! I get an Ioniq 5

  • Harry and Mom come back from Korea. The next few months are rocky for the entire family. But in the end, I think it was a good thing. Things that had to be said were said. Scars were formed and healed.

    • I guess with any rough period of life, it kind of hit unexpectedly. And it was bad but not really anything you could expect. And as bad as it was, it wasn’t really that bad.

  • I go up to visit Andrew in Seattle. I also see Jessie and Vidush while I’m there. Summer in Seattle is a pleasant time

    • We go clamming!

  • I get a new apartment in Hollywood. I remember frantically analyzing every advantage and disadvantage of living there (same with getting my car)

    • In the end, I don’t think the frantic-ness of my decision making was necessary.

    • My Ioniq is currently busted due to the ICCU (kind of expected, I guess but still a pain in the ass).

    • My apartment is nice but a bit isolated. Feels like I’m living in an ivory tower

      • Grievances include: needing two separate elevators to get to my garage

      • 3 elevators for a huge building

      • I don’t love living so high up, I guess? Maybe a mid rise with a balcony

    • I guess my point is you probably won’t make a perfect decision. So don’t white knuckle your way through trying to make the right decision. Just do the due diligence, and adapt.

  • Harry and I do a small weekend trip to San Diego. We want to see Comic Con. The Con is way too crowded and kind of disappointing since we don’t have tickets. But San Diego is a nice little time away from home.

Fall

  • Go back to NYC for Evan’s wedding! I see old friends

    • Hang with Evan and Jess at the wedding

    • Karaoke with Apollo, Chai, Amy and Will

    • Lunch with Will and Kelvin

  • Tim visits me in LA

    • We do the studio tour together

  • I spend a lot of time trying to figure out my life in LA

    • Start doing musical improv at UCB (love it)

    • Join a choir (I originally join to meet women / make friends but it turns out to be mostly married women and grandmas). Still rewarding overall and I love singing either way

    • Take a music production class

    • Join a co-working space (it’s great overall but I just don’t like having to drive regularly to get there)

    • Join Asian American Collective

  • I start making friends

    • Arcee and Sara from improv

    • Rin from the music production class

    • Anish from FB Marketplace

      • I was buying a standing desk from him and we started talking about music. He turned out to also produce music so we hit it off from there.

  • I started seeing Nicole

    • We met on Hinge and have an odd amount of details in common. Both went to Berkeley. Our dads went to the same college (one year apart). Our moms also both worked as flight attendants. Maybe I’m reading into it too much but it is interesting haha.

December

  • Hosted my first dinner party/housewarming at my apartment

2025 Takeways

  • Consistency is possibly the most important thing to do what you want in life

    • I used to think success was formed with broad strokes but lately I think success is achieved with a thousand little cuts built up over time. Just the way I feel.

  • Control what you can but let everything else go

    • At a certain point this year, it felt like I was trying to control so much. It was exhausting. It’s also a waste of energy to some degree. How much can you actually control? How much is out of your hands? Do what you can and trust God to do the rest. Otherwise I think I’d go crazy trying to fine tune everything.

    • I think the base human instinct is to try to grip your way through the struggle. Keep pushing and pushing and pushing till something breaks through. But I don’t think that’s the best way to live.

    • I felt this a lot during trumpet practice. Especially when my teacher got me to read Inner Game of Tennis.

  • If you’re caught between doing something and not, it’s probably better to just do it

    • Maybe you hold back out of fear of change. But end of the day, you have to live your life.

    • I agonized over a lot of decisions this year. Where to live. What car to drive. Whether to move from NYC to LA. But every time I just made the decision, life kind of unfolded in a more sensible way.

    • Right before you make the decision, there’s a huge decision space you have to contemplate. And you drive yourself crazy trying to make the perfect choice. Once you act, you just adapt and move on. Kind of simpler.

    • Maybe this changes over time/age. But while you’re still young, you should try to make as many decisions as possible without too much fear of the fallout.

2025 Goals

Here are the goals I set for the past year and what I accomplished:

  • Settle back in California (or at least sublet and decide for sure I don’t want to move here)

    • Actually did this! And I’m glad I made the move. I’m very happy being able to see family whenever I want and as much as I miss NY, LA still has a lot to offer

  • Date seriously. Maybe even find someone I could one day get married to

    • Kind of??? Things are going well with Nicole (though still kind of early). Most of the year, I didn’t date at all. Between Argentina and being in the suburbs, I didn’t have that much time to meet people.

  • Health

    • Implement a healthier food prep situation where I cook the majority of meals at home.

      • YES!!!! Actually glad I did this and my diet has improved significantly. It’s not perfect and past weeks, I’ve found myself eating out a lot more. But overall this has been a success

    • Consistently exercise throughout the year.

      • Uhhhh kind of? Haven’t been super consistent. I think the level of effort involved makes it hard to be consistent. Anything requires activation energy. And LA living requires a good amount of activation energy

  • Deliver on my house music project: Dance Inc.

    • Nope. I’m dragging my ass here. I think I gotta get the minimum out. Don’t worry too much about promo. Just put it out there and get the story across

  • If I decide to move to LA — build a life

    • Daily / Weekly routine

    • Social life

      • A sports activity, an artistic activity, a community activity

    • Yeah, did a great job here. Really explore a good amount and I deserve to spend December doing NOTHING

  • One month working remotely in a far flung place

    • Yep, did this too.

  • Find an alternative stream of income

    • Nope. Also found that I didn’t care so much about this either

Overall, did a pretty good job.

I’ll write my next year’s goals in a follow up. But for now I am hungry