Semester 14 Chapter XIII: Back Home

What’s up everybody. It’s Sunday noon and I’m sitting in my dad’s apartment in Brno. It’s always good being back here. This morning I did about 15km run around the city, then had some lunch and watched the first episode of this new Czech TV series named Volha which looks really good. My dad and his partner went out for two days so I have the apartment for myself and I’m decompressing. Some rap blasting out the speaker, I feel fucking great.

 

Last week was pretty eventful. I had to wrap up my life in Tenerife. For now. Cleaned the apartment, said by to my flatmate, had some goodbye hangouts, parked Pluto and went to the airport. Lotta my things stayed there tho so I’m definitely coming back when the summer’s over. Again, I feel great about these past two months and I think it’s pretty cool going back there once I enjoy everything I intend to enjoy over here.

 

I arrived to Brno Thursday early morning and found my dad waiting for me in the living room with some welcome drink. I obviously still work over here but I’m squeezing as much of other shit in too. I managed to grab a lunch with my sis on my first day here, I picked up my nephew from his kindergarten along with her fiancee the day after… We all hung out for a bit and then we spent the evening celebrating dad’s bday. We’re still solid. We got into the longest talks on philosophy, politics, mental health… As we always do. Went to bed at around 3.

 

On Satuday we paid a visit to my bro living just outside of Brno. Met up with my sis and the little one at the railway station. Her girl joined us later. My nephew passionately loves trains so he had a blast on the way there and back. Since my bro has a small baby too, it was more of a family day with some food and beer. Seeing these kids being kids… Gotta say… I feel fucking great not having one. Apart from all of that apocalypse coming within our lifetime shit, it's really hard work...

 

Last night I probably got my first solid good night sleep since my arrival. But everything has been great. I love my runs, I love the walks with the dog, I love talking to all these people. And there’s more to come. Oh, and I also managed to recorded this little freestyle I got in the chamber for a while: https://soundcloud.com/taeb31/grind_freestyle. Hope you guys are doing well too. Sending some love to everybody out there. Small shit matters, mental health matters, balance matters, inner peace matter. Don’t you ever forget that. One!

Highlights:

• Brno.
• Shop assistance asking me for an ID when I wanted to buy a bottle of Jameson. Made me remove my shades and cap too to double check. Hasn’t happened to me in ages.
• My fam, my people.

Semester 14 Chapter XII: Czech-out

Let me kick this motherfucker off on some positive note. Got new Swizz Beatz in the headphones, got a cup of some black ass coffee in front of me, got sun shining outside… Feeling good in this bitch.

 

Last week was fucking great. It was mostly work as usual but it was also some dates and hangouts. Weather has been beautiful, we spent lotta time chilling outdoors, eating out, watching movies… Good vibes only. At one point I got contacted by a guy I met in Shanghai. He was asking people to record a short happy b-day video for a girl I used to hang out with back in the day. That shit sent me on a trip down the memory lane once again. The more time passes, the more surreal it all feels. The whole Shanghai being real at some point. All the people, all the places, those tons of memories. Feels like different lifetime. And I’m absolutely in peace with the fact people simply grow apart to some degree and that some situations you can’t simply relive or recreate. And I still feel gratefulness for being able to experience all that. But again… Feels fucking universes away.

 

I also got contacted by divers in Medano. Ended up doing an OWD course with two guys (Canadian and German) over the weekend. They were great, the course was fun and I got to dive in both Abades and El Balito on my last weekend here. Wouldn’t have planned it better. Been like 6 weeks since my last dive so it really all fell into place.

 

So yeah, in 4 days it’s back to the Czech Republic for a while. And I got lotta reasons to look forward to that. I’m also happy that I found a reason to come back here when the summer’s over. I’m enjoying whatever flow this has been. Next time, I’m gonna talk to you from my country tho. Sending love to everybody out there. One!

 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• Lying in.
• That fucking vegan ice cream in Medano. God damn.

Semester 14 Chapter XI: Work & Plans

Hello world, here we go again. I got 10 days to go in Tenerife. Although it looks pretty likely I’m gonna be back here in September, I’m totally looking forward for the summer outside of the island. Shit’s looking great. Whole bunch of tattoo sessions, whole bunch of parties, catch-ups, trips… All that. But yeah, these past two months have been great over here too. For fucking real.

Last week was pretty much usual. Focused on work, regular workouts, runs… All the good shit. I also finished this translation project me and my dad had been working on for some time. Happy that’s over. I managed to move some classes to better rates… Doing my best in that department. And planning of activities when I’m back home. I really love the way this whole thing is shaping up to be.

I feel this year is still pretty quiet on heavier music releases but I do enjoy the new Rae Sremmurd album a lot. Even though there’s barely any hype surrounding this release, the duo still got it. Production is smooth, the vibe is still there… Feels kinda crazy it’s been like 8 years since we were on No Type. I also got back to Kendrick and some Kevin Gates. Now, I’m bumping new NLE Choppa and it sounds pretty good too. When you get a Wayne feature, you know you’re doing something right.

What else. On Friday, we did a little road trip to the other side of the island. This La Ruta spot is fucking epic. Totally makes sense to do the drive just to chill there for a minute. On the way back, we stopped by at Galletas for some veggie fajitas. Tasty as hell. Outside of that, not much of traveling around.

It’s Sunday, shortly after noon, and I’m about to go do my run. Gonna go to Cristianos later on to look for a snapback or smth. Since I lost my whole Shanghainese wardrobe, I’m gonna rebuild my shit this year. Got myself some new shorts, gonna fix the headwear and when I’m back home, I gotta get my t-shirt and hoodie game back on track. Walking the line between non-consumerist vegan and not wanting to look like a hobo can get pretty challenging but I think I got this. Hope y’all doing well too. Sending love to all my people. Made no pics last week but we're back next week. One!

Highlights:

• Rae Sremmurd.
• Drives.
• Hip-hop. Just because.

Semester 14 Chapter X: Late Night Cabs

What’s good… Another week wrapped up. Sitting at this Hemingway Café once again, the staff is getting the whole joint ready and I’m about to get my morning cappuccino in no time. It’s a bit chilly but overall you can tell the temperature is rising. And here and there, I remind myself of how good we got it over here. Shit, in the Czech Republic it’s been fucking snowing lately. Still.

 

Well, last week… On Monday, I drove Pluto to the mechanic’s for a check-up. He cleaned the whole cooling system, changed some ventilators and fixed some minor issues. Nice little 100 EUR but it seems like the car actually does work a bit better now. My usual car shop was closed so I went to a guy next door and even though his English was also non-existent, we figured it all out. And it was fun.

 

My dad was here for couple more days so we had some more time to hang out, eat some good food and drink some beers. I dropped him off the airport Wednesday morning and I felt happy that he felt happy about his whole stay here. It was just Tenerife and both me and him are familiar with the place at this point but we did some exploration, we did some good talks. And at moments, it was resembling our adventure times on the other side of the planet.

 

I spent quite a lotta of time with the girl too. Hangouts, walks with the dog, stuff like that. We did a trip to Cristianos on Friday, spent some time chilling over there, and in the evening, we decided to come back for some partying. Now, musically, we come from two different worlds. So yet again, we ended up going to some hard rock clubs. Drinking beer, taking shots, getting twisted. It’s a world I had not stepped in before in Tenerife and it feels like walking into some weird movies. It’s entertaining as fuck. I would also like to give us a special shout out for not taking Pluto that time. We figured that since the objective is to get fucked up, we’re taking bus on the way there and a taxi on the way back. Apart from the fact that the taxi costs about as much as gas for Pluto for 10 days, it was obviously a much better choice. Mature and responsible. We spent the next day not doing jack shit. Which was also fucking great.

 

Once I finish my coffee, I’m gonna jump back in Pluto, go home, do some workout and running (after these two days of getting fucked up and lying around), I might finish some work with my dad, do some work by my own and then see what the rest of the day brings. Hope you guys are doing well, sending love to everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• My dad.
• Lazy days.
• Active days.

Semester 14 Chapter IX: Pluto Trips

Okay, yet another Sunday, here we go. Last week has been a pretty eventful one. My dad arrived Sunday morning and ever since then, I’ve been moving around like crazy. Different trips, different towns, good food and excessive amounts of beer. But let’s start from the beginning.

 

So yeah, Sunday morning, I picked my dad up at the airport and we kicked it off by some beers in Galletas. The cool thing about my dad’s stay is that he doesn’t fully rely on me. He’s got some buddies staying on the island so he spends some time playing cards with them too. So far his nights were distributed pretty much 50/50 between me and them. And it’s been good. Different places, different bars, different towns. Last week, I was torturing Pluto a little bit. See, my dad’s friend has a house nearly all the way up in Santiago Del Teide and pushing this old fucking car up the highway with the pedal on the metal is a bit of pain. You fucking watch the thermometer going up praying for the best. And I’ve done that shit 3 times last week.

 

The highlight was easily yesterday. We did a trip to Orotava (my first time), Puerto De La Cruz (my second time) and Garachico. Orotava in particular is a very picturesque town. Whole lotta churches, couple of nice buildings and squares and pretty spectacular Victoria Gardens in the center. Plus the views down at the ocean and Puerto. Puerto is okay but packed with tourists; didn’t spend too much time over there. We did some ice cream and beer in Garachico and then we went up the hill to get to Santiago Del Teide. Pluto was doing okay all the way up to the last part. At that point, the engine temperature got high enough for me to stop the car at the nearest restaurant for a beer and wait for it to cool off. Got some more coolant into the system and we were good. Gonna bring the car to the mechanic’s sometime soon just to see if there’s anything else we can do to boost cooling. Pretty sure it’s really just the combination of an old car and a weak engine but maybe there’s a way. We’ll see. We stopped by at my dad’s friend on the way back, we got some more beer and then I went to Isidro for my meet-up.

 

Apart from that, we’ve been to Adeje, we did a pretty nice trip to Playa San Juan, we went to Isidro couple more times. Happy days. I’ve been reasonably busy with work but nothing too crazy. I’ve actually had a whole lot of last minute cancels which basically means less work while still getting paid. Last week was pretty heavy on those.

 

 

 

 

So yeah, everything is going well here. I’m having a blast, my dad is enjoying his stay, everything is just the way it’s supposed to be. I still have about a half of Sunday ahead of me and I’m pretty sure we gonna spend the most of it outside. Hope y’all having a great time too. One!

 

Highlights:

• Road Trips.
• Hangouts.
• This bar in Isidro with a live Spanish singer going all in with the vocals and moves. Such a random evening with so much good energy. Gotta get back there soon.