On the TV, obvio.

INTRO

Hi and cheers and sorry to get ahead of myself! I'm a 30/M, southeast Asian, disputable roots in Canada, living a life of whimsy, all while championing contentment as I wait for that serendipitous day that happiness, well, happens. Adventure to me not as grand as leaving the country every month, but as banal as trying a new place to add to my map as close as down the street, or a 6 hour drive away. I chase after small pleasures because I prefer finding adventure in company and the small exchanges, but not necessarily in small talk. I like challenging what makes me comfortable because I believe that the novel is what tests our beliefs and we're better people when we know exactly how far we can and can't go. To me, there's always time for a bookstore, a garage sale, hunting down some childhood memory, or an ube milkshake at Lucky Chances at 2AM. All the little things are what I look forward in sharing with new and old friends and my therapist in a few weeks.

WHAT

I told myself I'd write something to hopefully make someone feel understood. My whole goal at this phase of life is to find people who make me feel understood, which is very different from finding and building people up to be people who understand me. (It's a concept I could go on about forever.) While I go on my next adventure this Christmas Eve, which may bleed into Christmas, I wanted to leave up a post in case my next worthwhile friend, who would ideally be my next best friend, hops onto Reddit, sees this, and says, "Hey, that guy seems like he's in an interesting place and I want to be his friend." I'm looking for a friend who has a whole kind of life for themselves but is missing a person who just makes them feel understood about their normal life. A friend that I just click with and could meet up with or have phone calls with every so often to catch up and feel like we haven't missed a beat. Or even that kind of best friend where you are almost always messaging and it never gets old. The kind of friend that just shows up at my door and we end up on the couch, playing games, going through algorithms, cooking together, mixing mocktails and cocktails and laughing about how we're both horrible at it. Y'know, the small pleasures.

WHERE

I'm confined to my apartment in the East Bay over this holiday season, but you can find me in the SF FiDi 3 days a week, where I'm also happy to make your acquaintance. Work and friendships take me to LA often and random articles in my algorithm take me to different cities for no reason more than to try some dish or drink or to walk by a feature I can't find here. If you're a foodie, maybe we can start mapping out or next food adventure(s) after work? Am not looking for friends online only.

WHY

I've made good friends (and dated people) from Reddit (and other parts of my life, too, obvio). But I prioritize communication through words and I hope writing these words reaches someone that is at a place in their life that they can value the proposition this post is making. I'm well beyond tolerating people that are emotionally stunted and want to find people that are able to take care of themselves at least 50% of the way. As someone recently put it, I'm looking for the next set of people to socialize myself into a better person and part of that comes from recognizing that what I have just doesn't cut it. I hope you do.

People are adventures the same way getting an event planned can be. And I want adventures that aren't just places, but people. And I heard that adventure is definitely out there! So, shoot me a chat?

Oh, and I don't have any plans for the holidays since I'm not seeing family, so if you're also just as disparate, maybe we can cook our own Christmas dinners and watch a yule log on the TV or something. My favorite Christmas move is Olive the Other Reindeer and I'd love to hear what your comfort show or movie is!

OTHER NOTES

6'0", Southeast Asian, flexible working day job exec, yellow and a soft orange like a sunset are favorite colors, am a Leo, very much an ambivert and was last an INFP, but historically an ANTP, reads, writes more, can't ride a bike, can be boundlessly empathetic, and am often told I subvert pretense. Oh, and I'd love for you to meet my cat.