10 things i went out of my way to buy and try in 2025, ranked

26 Dec, 2025

i've come to accept that marketing is unfortunately my passion. i love knowing how and why individuals decide to purchase products or services. so let's start with my own list of 10 things i went out of my way to buy and try in 2025.

this list only includes products or services that i specifically researched or learned about before buying them; i.e., nothing i just happened to come across when out and about. it'd all be ice cream and yummy fruit otherwise.

10. sylvanian families - biscuit bears

NEW SYLVANIAN BEARS! i constantly saw these sweet little fellows on the twitter timeline and was so excited to buy them when i went to japan. six months later, i still haven't opened them.

mr. fuzzby: free them!

goes to show how even the most "guy who hates owning things" can be influenced by social media. slyvanian families is a toy brand i love, but now that i'm off twitter i have no idea what they're up to and have no desire to purchase their products cute as they are. my plan now is just to hold onto the biscuit bears until next year's christmas toy drive.

even though my collections are so curated, i've realized i still collect for the sake of collecting so often—buying every sabrina carpenter CD, every amana osaki figure, every official piece of barok van zieks merchandise. the latter, especially, i've purchased even when i don't care for the art. i felt quite ashamed when i received the 10th anniversary barok standee and immediately repackaged him to resell.

i've bought many more bears since then, but they've all been from the op shop so they were a couple of dollars max with money going to charity. if you must collect, let it be a theme rather than an IP.

9. eagle bar - long island iced tea

early in the year, i experienced a spot of delusion where i wanted to become a lifestyle journalist for some online magazine. at the same time, i was reviewing some pages about bars and nightlife on a work client's website. in my earnestness, i thought to pop down to auckland's three gay bars to get some real hands-on experience.

apparently my gay therapist goes to the same gay bar so i've been put off from visiting again.

8. the hidden village - pork sisig

i went to my gay therapist's queer male self-empowerment program at the HIV foundation for a couple of weeks and there was a filipino guy who said he loved pork sisig. aiming to connect with others, i decided to try his favorite dish at a local filipino restaurant.

the hidden village was true to its name and difficult to find within ponsonby central. the sisig was decent; its strong saltiness paired well with the mellow plain rice, not unlike putting ham in fried rice. i wasn't too fond of the texture, though i may have simply been used to the chewier pork texture in the form of large KBBQ cuts over small, diced pieces.

well i was all excited to share this with the guy at the following queer male self-empowerment program session, but before i had a chance to talk my gay therapist asked the same dude how his experience at the naked gay underwear party was. luckily, i had become so queer male self-empowered that i came out to my coworker earlier that day, so i called her afterwards to yap about it.

7. wego - large plain itabag

after attending the sideM live last year, i noticed that no one used backpack-style itabags and they were cumbersome regardless. so this year, i arrived in japan with a black duffel i had at home and promptly realized it did not hold up my merch and was actively falling apart.

a bit of an impulse purchase, i bought a 45~ cm WEGO bag on the recommendation of friends—long overdue as i've only purchased aliexpress knockoffs in the past. some features i like about the bag:

• big enough for posters and all the concert essentials like pen lights and water bottles (i needed four for the sideM live!)
• metal feet let it stand on its own
• panel is secured with both velcro and a metal snap fastener
• default panel makes it easy to pin most merch items and decorations except for enamel pins
• D-rings allow you to attach a longer strap (purchased at daiso) to carry as a cross-body bag; makes it look much more masculine and functional
• backside of bag is completely inconspicuous for day-to-day use

overall it can function as both an event and daily bag, though i haven't used it as the latter yet. honestly, who knows if i even will.

6. omrub - organic muscle rub

purchased as a secret santa present for one of my middle-aged male bosses who likes playing golf and going to the gym. my goal was to buy something NZ-made and consumable with non-plastic packaging. i found omrub on some list of sustainable gifts for dads which means that the writer has never actually tried the product but at least the other reviews for it are good. enjoy your free backlink!

omrub is made of completely organic ingredients and is designed to sooth pain after workouts. when my boss received his gift, he thought he got it from another parent of the team because it seemed like something old people would understand. i'm very glad, because my other idea was to go golf ball hunting (stealing).

5. night n' day - cardronana shake

pork sisig and cardronana deluxe shake.

was desperate for banana ice cream for weeks, so i bought a cardronana deluxe shake at night n' day.

night n' day, i believe, is new zealand's only 24/7 dairy chain. i first encountered one when i visited wellington a few years ago—and by one i mean four because they are literally everywhere in the CBD. combined with the flat walkability of te aro i really felt like i was playing yakuza. i have since been to japan and can confirm that 24/7 convenience stores will make you feel that way (night n' day isn't nearly as common in auckland, so i had to travel around 20 minutes by bus to reach a branch.)

the ice cream itself i learned about when browsing night n' day's website for other deals. it wasn't anything special. banana ice cream has that old artificial taste which is probably why it's not in the supermarkets. okay price for a cuteish dessert, and the amount of ice cream meant i could leave half for the freezer.

4. wayne massage - neck and shoulder massage

massages are usually an impulse decision, so i don't tend to go back to the same one or research them in advance. however, i did try wayne massage on recommendation.

the setting was more clinical than typical asian massage joints and i was impressed by the strength of the massage therapist. the prices were very affordable as well. on a recent visit, the therapist gave me advice on relieving a particularly tense muscle at home, so points for service.

i also tried wayne massage's reflexology course which was a kinda awkward experience not gonna lie.

3. specsavers - contact lenses trial

needed a competence confidence boost so i tried something scary and got contact lenses. the staff at specsavers were very patient with me, and i'm grateful that they allowed me to practice so many times before i finally got it.

the trick's to look down while you're putting them in and taking them out so that you don't have to see your own bloodshot eyes in the mirror.

i hate to admit it, but wearing contacts does make me feel more attractive and confident. i wore them to the sideM live, but as soon as day 1 started i began crying for 10 minutes nonstop and the contacts fell out when i rubbed my eyes. trying to put them back in made me so exhausted that i fell on and off asleep for the next 2.5 hours, missing 75% of the show i had traveled all the way to another country for.

2. thursday plantation - tea tree face wash

i'm pissed off at how tea tree oil actually works for acne because i've been so adamant so long that it would do nothing for me. it's so effective that i've felt new confidence in my face and actually kept up a twice-daily skincare routine for the first time in my life. plus, the light, natural scent is ideal for people sensitive to fragrances. just a good product all-round.

1. new zealand school of acupuncture - student clinics

another experience where i just wanted to face some fears and get rid of my sleeping issues. the new zealand school of acupuncture runs 1-hour student sessions for only $15 which is an absolute steal for any kind of personalized treatment. the sessions are easy to book online and you can get a spot on a weekend by reserving two weeks in advance.

now i was a bit nervous about having needles stuck in my head by a student but everyone has to start somewhere and they seemed knowledgeable enough (as much as you can be about a pseudoscience anyway). i don’t think acupuncture really has any health benefits so much as it is just a comfortable relaxing experience that gives a bit of a buzz.

funnily enough the supervisor was an old white guy who inadvertently helped me face another fear (looking at men).

he also said that i had an athletic body which did more for my confidence than any antidepressants or therapy.

final thoughts

social media breeds consumption

this is obvious, right? i and everyone else knew it before, but i didn't realize just how much it affected me in that it increased the limits i could go by showing me the lengths i wouldn't.

by that, i mean it's very easy to get caught up in a consumer-collector mindset because we see how insane everyone else is. japanese yumejoshi are renting whole rooms to display their collection of the same 800 can badges, american adult men have walls made of funko pops. me, i'm happy with a collection of sub-50 van zieks goods. isn't that still a lot!?

i thought it normal to buy three boxes of bear toys because at least i limited myself to bears over having a massive collection of every animal ever; there was no financial toll to only buy a big toy or toy set like that once a year. but the reality is i don't have space to display them nor do i really want my entire room to be teddy bear themed as a 24 year old man. there isn't any point to buying them and i don't think i would have if i wasn't constantly looking at fan collections and exposing myself to the official slyvanian families account's post... though they really are so cute.

of course people have always collected things regardless of social media but there is undeniably a new norm of collecting for the sake of it. but i can't say "just watch literally any video on youtube about influencer overconsumption" because all that will do is extend your limits even more.

the most valuable purchases

the products and services that i valued the most were all things that gave me lasting confidence, both in appearance and ability. using products or services to improve your confidence in appearance is a slippery slope, but there's little harm in trying to improve your abilities—though i do fall into a sour mood if i can't actually achieve or endure the difficult thing.

luckily it all worked out, so next year i want to try to get a motorcycle license again!

word of mouth goes both ways

the communication involved in recommendation usually only travels in one direction: the advertiser will pay the youtuber who will influence the tiktoker who will influence the follower.

the effectiveness of personal word of mouth over marketing is not just that people trust a source close to them, but that they want to share their experience with the source. people want to try things for the sake of connecting with others and show that they care about their interests and opinions.

corporations might try to encourage this through user-generated content and influencers might through parasocial relationships, but those connections can never go beyond base level. it isn't something you can replicate by pretending to be an organic poster on reddit either because who gives a fuck about some random redditor's opinion.

maybe the most effective form of marketing was the friends we made along the way.

#2025 #2D #art #comic #goods #japan #marketing #new zealand #review