The day was packed yet productive. I wrapped up prompt and tool description optimizations by noon, submitted a PR for the new data structure, and recorded a demo video. After summarizing weekly progress, I attended a meeting, then rushed to pick up Hamer. Back at the office, we discussed and implemented more on the data structure until 8 PM.

Returning home just in time for a family-cooked dinner, I finally had a quiet moment on the sofa, winding down the evening with the documentary Our Unwritten Seoul.

The day was full of energy and warmth. After a relaxed brunch together, Hamer went to her dance class while I played in an intense football match. Xiaoyan and Hamer enjoyed a leisurely afternoon shopping. Each of us did our own thing, yet shared a fulfilling family day.

We measured the house in the morning to plan furniture changes, with a brief disagreement that eased after open communication.

In the afternoon, we visited IKEA with Hamer, settled on a few items but decided to compare online options before buying. We only purchased two chairs—one for dining, one tiny Barbie chair picked by Hamer.

Exhausted by evening, I was touched when Hamer, still energetic, rewrote a heartfelt message she’d seen online: “To the best mom, Thanks for helping me grow,” planning to gift it lovingly to her mom.

I spent the day using Cursor to build a chat management module—completely new territory for me, but by late afternoon, I had a working prototype ready to migrate.

Hamer was thrilled after school: she alone received a carbon-reduction award, likely thanks to the big box and books we donated this morning.

We cooked pork ribs and broccoli at home for dinner. My niece Yaoyao, fresh from exams, hopes to work during the summer. We want her to come to Beijing to give it a try.

I also read two thought-provoking articles on music’s impact on productivity and motor learning.

Tonight around 9 p.m., a sudden storm knocked out the power for a few minutes. It returned quickly, and later we learned a fallen tree likely caused the brief outage.

Earlier, Hamer helped cook dinner—her joy in rinsing rice and stir-frying, under Xiaoyan’s guidance, made the meal especially meaningful. She ate every bite with satisfaction.

Workwise, I focused on optimizing plugin prompts and return types for the AI project, inspired by Claude’s system prompts. I also began defining the “Text to Map” feature and used C#’s \[return: Description\("..."\)\] to enhance output clarity.

Ping pong and an ice pop capped the midday heat.

This Dragon Boat Festival marked a special milestone for our family — our very first self-driving trip. The sense of freedom, the flexibility to explore on a whim, and simply being on the road together made it an experience to remember.

Our original plan was just to visit Yanqing for the Soda Music Festival, but the rest of the journey unfolded naturally, one stop at a time. We discovered that renting a good car and choosing cozy accommodations played a huge role in making the whole trip relaxing and fun.

There’s something deeply joyful about traveling with the ones you love — no rush, no pressure, just shared moments and open roads. 🌿🚗

🗺️ Itinerary Highlights

• Home
• Expo Park Flying Camp
• Chadao Ancient Town – Half Ton Guesthouse
• Longqing Gorge
• Baili Landscape Gallery
• Dishui Lake
• Miyue Residence · Manni Guesthouse
• Qinglong Gorge
• Heyin Café
• Philodendron (Little Angel Greenery)
• Home

💰 Trip Expenses Breakdown

Sometimes, the best trips are the ones not planned to the last detail.
Just a good car, a few comfy nights, and the company of those who matter most.

I finished the KML save test cases and spent the rest of the day resolving stream service issues—most went smoothly, making for a productive, if nonstop, day.

When I picked up Hamer, her smile and searching gaze from afar warmed my heart. After school, she played a bit, then joined me at the office. She’s been craving spicy snacks and playfully complained when I said “maybe tomorrow.”

With Xiaoyan out for dinner, we had a quiet evening—ate, watched TV, and went out for a light jog that, in Hamer’s words, was “mostly walking.”

This morning started slowly—both Hamer and I were sleepy, but she eats breakfast at school now, so our routine was simple.

I spent the day writing KML save test cases and fixing overlooked issues.

After school, Hamer’s eager smile always melts me. We played badminton, had noodles, then my phone got stuck in VoiceOver mode with a black screen. Unable to pay, I FaceTimed Xiaoyan using Hamer’s iPad. Our e-bike also had issues but finally started. At CapitaMall’s Apple Store, we resolved the phone issue—triple-pressing the side button toggled VoiceOver. A chaotic but memorable evening.

Today we wrapped up our Dragon Boat Festival trip with a visit to Qinglong Gorge, where the mountaintop offered clear views all the way to Beijing’s skyline.

On the drive back, we paused at a scenic riverside spot to enjoy a simple meal in the breeze.

Hamer slept peacefully through every car ride, like magic. With music playing, spontaneous stops, and open-ended plans, this trip felt less like travel and more like life on the road. Free-flowing, unhurried, and full of tender moments—it was a quiet, beautiful way to spend time together as a family.

Today truly felt like a self-driving adventure.

We explored the fading charm of Chadao, then headed to Longqing Gorge, where a thrilling water jetpack show wowed us. A bumpy van transfer and a scenic boat ride added to the day’s texture.

In the afternoon, we drove through the winding, tree-lined roads of the Baili Landscape Gallery, stopping to take in the stunning views.

As evening approached, we spontaneously booked a cozy, beautifully decorated guesthouse. After a smooth and surprisingly fast drive, we arrived by 8 p.m., ending the day with a shared “wow” of delight.

We kicked off our first self-driving trip to Yanqing, leaving at 9 a.m. after some clumsy adjustments to the rental car. Though I was nervous at first, I soon found my rhythm.

After a meal and some light shopping, we braved the rain to enjoy a music festival from afternoon to night. Highlights included NeongGarden, Constant & Change, 831, and the unforgettable energy of Second-Hand Rose, which had us all up dancing.

We ended the day at a charming guesthouse in an ancient town. No zongzi yet, but it was a special start to our Dragon Boat Festival.

On the last workday before the Dragon Boat Festival, I had a packed schedule. After a productive Sprint meeting, I picked up Hamer, who had a half-day of school, and we enjoyed lamb offal soup with a friend.

Afternoon AI meetings were smooth but lacked spark. I worked late debugging the KML save module, finally resolving most logic by 8 p.m.

Hamer, clearly worn out from the day, fell asleep early.

I spent the morning rushing to finish the MCP Plugins demo for tomorrow’s Sprint but only resolved a KML-saving issue. Writing tests took longer due to disorganized past test cases—a reminder of lingering tech debt.

After school, Hamer was relieved she no longer had to join a stressful science fair event.

Our evening at the river felt tense—Hamer accidentally hit someone while jumping rope, and I unfairly scolded her despite her apology. Lately, Xiaoyan’s constant complaints have also added to my stress.

Thanks to a midday nap, I felt refreshed and productive—something I’ll try to keep up.

The morning 2.4 retrospective was open and thoughtful, with even quiet team members speaking up impressively.

Although my last attempt at vector search didn’t fully succeed, I decided to pause it and focus elsewhere. I successfully completed the Wikipedia tool migration in the afternoon.

Hamer was calm while accompanying me at work. Afterward, we met Xiaoyan by the river for a lovely evening. Hamer read under a streetlamp, and Xiaoyan biked home, proudly finishing a one-hour ride.

Today was mentally draining—I spent the entire day trying to build a vector database for a plugin, but hit multiple issues, including a hidden dependency conflict.

Frustrated and exhausted, I left early to pick up Hamer and play badminton. She had a great time with colleagues, which helped lift my mood.

In the evening, we celebrated my birthday with a small cake and home-cooked dinner.

After dropping Hamer off, I started work early to finish an image-to-text module using resized images and per-request kernel instances. Despite some hurdles, I stayed patient and worked through them.

In the afternoon, I continued exploring vector store integration for the user manual—progress was slow but steady.

I picked Hamer up from school, where she proudly showed me a cute paper-clay zongzi she made. She came to my office but quickly got bored while I was in a meeting, later saying she doesn’t want to go again.

After a simple dinner, I felt deeply tired, both mentally and physically.

Today I finished the hardest full marathon of my life—slow, grueling, but completed in 5h33m.

I ran strong early on, but stomach issues hit around 13 km, forcing me to stop twice. Later, thigh and calf pain made running difficult, and I switched to a walk-run approach. It was my first time racing with energy gels, which may have upset my stomach. After crossing the finish line, I nearly fainted from exhaustion and low blood sugar. A long nap helped.

In the afternoon, I reunited with Xiaoyan and Hamer, and we returned home—tired, but proud of this hard-won finish.

A rainy, chilly day began with me noticing Hamer had left her English book at home. I debated delivering it but chose to let her face the natural result. She later said she shared with a classmate and felt fine.

At work, I submitted a PR on type handling and explored image-to-text and RAG, though progress was slow and delays are piling up.

I woke to peaceful birdsong and made fruit for breakfast, though Hamer didn’t eat much—her appetite’s been low lately. Still, eating at home gave us some relaxed morning time together.

I spent the day focused on tool migration, deepening my understanding of chat history and function parameter handling for future plugin work. Unfortunately, I got stuck debugging and couldn’t leave work early.

At noon, I trained legs at the gym for the upcoming marathon. Feeling worn out by evening, I took Hamer shopping, and we ended the day quietly by the river, enjoying the breeze.

On 5·20, I surprised Xiaoyan with Starbucks breakfast, though her initial reaction to the price left me slightly deflated.

The morning was filled with meetings, and in the afternoon, I focused on refining a Semantic Kernel plugin to return schema-compliant data—finding the key clue in a past chat history.

Beijing was hot; I played pingpong at noon, badminton in the evening, and jumped rope with Hamer at night. She struggled with a new move and got frustrated, but with patience, she made progress and smiled.

A small morning conflict with Xiaoyan left me feeling distant, though we briefly discussed it before leaving home.

At work, I finalized the YAML-based message scheme for frontend-backend integration with ChatGPT’s help—a satisfying milestone after days of planning.

An unproductive summer event meeting was followed by urgent bug fixing and preparing materials for tomorrow, which delayed me until after 7 p.m., forcing me to skip my run.

For dinner, we enjoyed crayfish sent from Hunan. Hamer especially loved it, happily peeling and eating with oily hands, though we were all overstuffed by the end.

After a restful morning, I tested life-in-weeks and running-page for my blog setup. Before noon, Hamer and I visited a nearby park—she drew while we snacked in the shade, enjoying a quiet, peaceful moment.

In the afternoon, we watched The Lament of Qu Yuan. The performance was moving, especially in the later scenes, and both Hamer and Grandma were brought to tears.

Before the show, we briefly met Xiaoyan, who was busy guiding Australian clients. We ended the day with a warm dinner together, wrapping up a beautifully full day.

I slept in until late and felt much better physically—less soreness and more relaxed. 

At noon, Xiaoyan and Wanna came home, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch. Hamer went to dance class while I played soccer. Though we lost 2–4 against a strong team, it was an intense and enjoyable match.

Afterward, I practiced piano and made progress coordinating both hands. Xiaoyan and Wanna took Hamer to get new glasses.