Bali holiday and other things I've been doing

I just got back from a lovely family holiday to Bali. The waters were blue and warm, the weather was beautiful, the skies were clear (a precious thing we don’t take for granted these days, in hazy Singapore). I always look forward to spending this time away every year with my parents, siblings and nephews, and I am the sort of idle layabout who particularly enjoys do-nothing beach resort holidays, so this was a very welcome break. This holiday, I deliberately went as analog as I could. I left my Kobo at home and brought a hardcopy book (The Notebook by Roland Allen, which I got halfway through and am enjoying very much so far). I also brought along a book of NYT’s Saturday crosswords so I could puzzle on paper instead of staring at my phone. I didn’t bring my Switch, despite being in the thick of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. I think this was the right call—not having my entertainment devices with me made me much more present with everyone else, on top of giving my eyes a good break.…