Welcome to my website! This is my little corner of the Internet, where I hope to practice a few things: coding, journaling, introspection, and most importantly, the ability to exercise the discipline necessary to consistently practice those things.
La Manon is a cafe in Tatebayashi, a city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. I took a daytrip to Tatebayashi when I was in Japan in early 2025, and had some pretty good keema curry at La Manon.
Of course, that's not the reason why I went to Tatebayashi, or La Manon. Tatebayashi is one of the main settings of the anime A Place Further than the Universe, which is not only one of my favorite anime, but is, to borrow an expression from a friend, part of my personal canon. La Manon in particular appears in a few scenes throughout the show, being a hangout spot for the character Megu. (one of my regrets is somehow missing the Megu shrine at La Manon despite, from my understanding, sitting basically right next to it - I think I was just too hungry at that point to notice)
So why La Manon? If you know anything about the show, you'll know it's about a group of girls who go to Antarctica, so I'm definitely not picking the most exotic or memorable location in the show. Honestly, in the moment, I didn't pick this name very deliberately, and it just came to mind, but in hindsight, it makes perfect sense. Megu's character arc is fundamentally about confronting her shortcomings and overcoming complacency. At this moment in my life, that story resonates with me quite a bit.