Closed café, Leura, New South Wales, Australia

This was taken after a half-day hike in Blue Mountains, Katoomba, New South Wales. Mike Tan took us to Leura, the neighboring town, which looked like the suburbia in The Good Witch, a favorite feel-good Netflix series. We walked around the neighborhood. Many houses looked empty.

In other news: my cousin Kring and her husband JR joined us (Manong and me) for lunch and coffee today. I love how simple the pizza in Cibo, EDSA Shangri-La, tasted—there was a touch of elegance to it. Wildflour at Podium was where we had dessert and coffee. Today was the first time I tasted tonic espresso—literally, single-shot espresso diluted in tonic water. It was refreshing. I convinced Kring, already the mother of two charming girls, to try it, and she squirmed in disgust. She told JR the story of the afternoon when I scrubbed sili on her nose after convincing her that it would be fun. Ah, I've missed hanging out with Kring, my favorite childhood playmate.