March 29 (update!)

After writing today’s entry, I plan to upload nearly ten days of older posts together. I may finally be able to stop adding them by hand. Posting should become as easy as saving a diary entry locally.

In the entries that have not yet gone up, I have thought about relationships, career plans, my next product, and writing for my WeChat public account. Some questions have stayed with me for a while. Others are newer. For example, why are Pop Mart stores in Shenzhen and Guangzhou still crowded when the online excitement around LABUBU has seemed to fade? And why do Jellycat and McHugs toys appeal to so many adults at prices I find high? I often leave those shops saying I cannot afford them, yet customers keep coming. Perhaps I am simply not their target customer.

From a few visits, my impression is that most customers are working women. It made me think about the many things marketed to them: beauty treatments, nails, perfume, character merchandise, cosplay, bags, and pretty food. I also remembered Pop Mart’s steep share-price rise last year. After this week’s fall, people are again calling the trend a bubble. What I have seen in stores makes me want to examine it for myself rather than simply adopt that view. Perhaps there is an opportunity, though I need to investigate.

At a café this afternoon, while sorting yesterday’s idea notes, I asked myself whether my daily work includes making something useful—work that could show what I can do. To make the question more concrete, I searched job listings for roles I might want. After reading four or five, I was relieved to see real demand for the kind of work I enjoy, with starting salaries higher than I had expected. I saved screenshots of the responsibilities so I can use them to decide what to focus on each day.

After that, I felt lighter and sat up straighter. Looking out the window, I could almost see a way forward.