August 6, 2025

292 - four favourites 4️⃣

the best four numbers are 2, 8, 31 and 8128

Hey there, !

I'm shamelessly stealing this from the Letterboxd 4 Favourites concept because it's nice to have something to reference:

• Movies

  • Before Sunrise: because it's talky, fun, romantic and optimistic.
  • The Godfather: because it's the quintessential slow burn revenge film
  • Princess Mononoke: because it's the tightest Studio Ghibli film of characters and fantasy and message of nature vs industry
  • Kung Fu Hustle: because I will never not watch this film in all of its campy, kung fu glory

• Fiction Books

  • Foundation: the best trilogy of sci-fi books by the best sci-fi author - written like a series of short stories, and with such SCOPE
  • Night Watch: the best book by the best comedy fantasy author Terry Pratchett - a time travel crime thriller mixed in with a wacky fantasy world
  • Ender's Shadow: better than Ender's Game imo - one of the best 'children in space' but then also 'children on Earth after being in space' quadrilogies
  • Good Omens: the best book by the best comedy fantasy author Terry Pratchett plus the best (at the time) dark mystical realistic god fantasy author Neil Gaiman (who has now been outed as a creep) dealing with moden mythologies in the most hilarious way. THE BEST.

• Pasta shapes

  • Rigatoni: BIG TUBES GOOD
  • Penne: SMALL TUBES GOOD
  • Linguini: like spaghetti but better
  • Ravioli: one of the first meals I had at a sleepover in like Grade 3 or 4 or something was an enormous bowl of ravioli which I had never had before, and I was mindblown. Like pasta dumplings! Such delicious nostalgia.

• Boardgames

  • Blood Rage: VIKINGS SMASH. MONSTERS SMASH. FOR GLORY!
  • Pandemic Legacy Season 1: the best storytelling and gaming experience that was able to trick me into playing like 18 games of Pandemic. Incredible.
  • Chess: THE OG BOARD GAME never defeated
  • Glory to Rome: Black Box Edition: a most infamous game that I spent the most money secondhand for, that has some of the most beautiful minimalist art, and the swingiest game mechanics ever. In LOVE.

• Yum Cha Foods

  • Har Gao: king of dimsum
  • Egg Tart: king of desserts
  • Phoenix Claws: king of phoenixes
  • Cheung Fun: I used to have beef cheung fun exclusively until I was shown the error of my ways. It was a cholesterol thing in my family okay!!!

• Chinese Teas

  • Alishan Oolong Tea from Taiwan: I couldn't find the exact brand I bought in Taiwan but anything from Alishan is the lightest delicious-est version of Oolong!
  • Yunnan Golden Tips: my friend has Golden Tips that I love the taste of every time I go over - I'm gonna go and source some of this because it's so nice.
  • Sencha from Japan: again, there are so many types I couldn't find my particular brand online, but it's a light green tea that is refreshing to drink.
  • The Last Emperor flavoured Oolong from Maho Sensory: I found this at The Big Design Market and it combines a fruity flavour with oolong tea. It's a really pleasant, slightly sweeter tea that is really nice to drink.

• Countries I've travelled to

  • Hong Kong: because the food's good
  • Singapore: because the food's good
  • Japan: because the food's good
  • Taiwan: because the food's good

• Categories of 4 favourites

  • Movies: THE OG FOUR FAVOURITES
  • Yum Cha Foods: the best newsletter content I have is yumcha
  • Boardgames: because of nostalgia purposes and how much I like games
  • Countries I've travelled to: because the food's good

Chat soon :)

(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)

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📋Today's Question

Having some problems with the survey software that Buttondown uses - have got in touch to get this fixed, but for now will delay until I can work out the exact selections :D Also gives me more time to write haha.

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✔️Real Life Recommendations

1. MuNoir - a nice little wine bar tucked away next to Lasagne Lab in Windsor. Specialising in Pinot Noir and has a cool Cantonese menu (which apparently pairs well with Pinot Noir!). Warmed up with some yummy mulled wine and just chatted so nice

2. Pony White - back to brunch again, and can recommend this as having some nice food. The fried chicken burger's good, and they do some homemade sodas which are...well, a bit expensive but very delicious. Homemade sourdough too!

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🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. decryption's blog - MacPaint Art From The Mid-80s Still Looks Great Today - thanks to Tina for this link! Menu's on Macs over the years and how they evolved.

2. Being Full of Value‑Added Shit - I loved this part:

   I’m suspicious whenever someone says, “I’m an (adjective) (noun).” Why did you need to say, “I’m a great tennis player,” “I’m a deep thinker,” or “I’m a generous person”? Instead, why not simply play tennis, regardless of how great you are? Or think as deeply as you want? Or be generous?

3. We Become What We Behold - an interesting game with a pretty clear message.