Semester 19 Chapter XVII: Distant Worlds

Okay, here we go. I hope you guys had a good time throughout the holidays. Feels like shit is slowing down a bit these days. One more burst of madness around the New Year’s and then we start over again. I do wanna kick this off by shouting out everybody who has made my 2025 amazing. Looking back at it, it was definitely a good year. I’ve seen many cool places, I’ve experienced many new things, I got back into diving, I got deeper into yoga, I’ve spend loads of time with my favorite people. And yeah, it’s been ups and downs too but I guess that’s life. Shit doesn’t come with a manual and you just do your best. So in no particular order… All my loved ones… I have accepted the fact that my love language is time shared and boy have I shared some amazing moments with those I care about. All the runners and cyclists I got to meet in The Netherlands. Coming from where I come from, it’s pretty fucking cool bonding with people over something else than alcohol. All my yoga teachers who made me passionate about this whole thing. All the divers. I’m grateful for the opportunity to explore completely new types of locations. I’m back in that bitch. Gin, the dog. You’re a really good boy. All the vegans. I love all my non-vegans equally but I wanna shout out those willing to walk the extra mile. And that goes beyond veganism. So yeah… Thanks to every single soul who has touched my life this past year… I don’t take any of that for granted and I love y’all. And let’s make 2026 count!

Back to this thing tho… Monday evening, I went out to a bar to hang out with one of my bros and his corporate buddies. That was pretty fun. Tuesday, we had a pre-Christmas day. Dad, sis, neph, me and couple of other close people including my nephew’s girlfriend (they’re both 6). Real holiday vibes. The kids were excited, there were loads of gifts, some amazing food… Happy I got to be there for that. The day after we got invited by my dad’s partner’s son to his place. More people gathered and it was yet another lovely evening. Sending some love to everybody who contributed to preparing all the food and sweets. I don’t think I overeat as much as I used to couple years back but my belly has been definitely full in recent days.

 

Thursday morning, I was on a bus to Prague to do a proper catch-up with one of my best friends. There were many different ideas floating around but eventually we just had some good food, watched a movie (One Battle After Another is a really good fucking one and the character of Sensei is spotless) and talked for hours. The following day, my sister joined us and couple of hours later her partner did too. In the afternoon, we hopped into their car and off to Brno we went. I believe that was the very first time I drove the Prague – Brno segment. Traffic was chill, music was cool, it was all very enjoyable. In the evening, we had a big annual family gathering (both our family and family of my dad’s partner) at my dad’s. Another lovely event.

Since I pretty much don’t drink, I woke up fresh today and at 10am I was at a yoga class in my local studio. It’s freezing out there but it’s a beautiful sunny day and I’m thinking about maybe doing a cycling trip in the afternoon. We got couple more days of 2025 and I wish all of you all the best. All the love, all the empathy, all the connection, health and positive energy. And I guess some of that money too. This world can get pretty dark but we can’t let them fuck with our inner light. Oh yeah, and apart from everything I’ve mentioned earlier, I am also grateful for being me. For being healthy, for getting excited about new things, for having a job I love, for feeling good in my own skin. And I wish those things and more for everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• All my people.
• All the food.
• All the love.

Semester 19 Chapter XVI: Breathe In, Breathe Out

Okay, here we fucking go. I’m just gonna go ahead and start with the updates on my next year’s Malaysian adventure. Just because I’m so happy it’s rolling. So I have confirmed everything, I have paid for plane tickets, I have booked hotels for those few days before and after the program, and I have also booked one for Doha on the way back as I have about 21 hour layover over there. I have bought a new 3mm wet suit. I was considering taking my old 7mm one but then I figured that even my sensitive ass should be fine with something thinner in waters of 29 degrees. I mean… Most people dive in swim shorts and bikinis over there. I have also got a pair of gloves – those I don’t need for insulation but rather for manipulating with objects. The shop I bought the gear from is on the outsikrts of Brno so I took the opportunity to do a lovely bike ride there while at it. I have sent the deposit and paid for travel insurance, too. I believe I’ve done everything there is to be done at this stage. I like travels lined up in advance, I like things to look forward to and this is going to be something else.

 

The Czech Republic has been treating me well. I’m always happy to be back here. On Monday, I took it to my dad’s pub for the final trivia night where we placed fourth. It amazes me how popular this event is. The place was packed and people were really into it. My sis showed up too. Tuesday, I reunited with two of my friends. Thursday, my sis invited me for a play in the Mahen theater. It had been a while since my last visit. As a kid, I used to play there for a year or two and being in the auditorium now made me wonder how the fuck was I managing to keep it cool and not to get all nervous and shit. It’s a pretty big fucking place. After the play, we went down to the theater club for some drinks. Also felt like time travel. The place looks exactly as I remember it.

 

On Friday, I went to my favorite sauna. After that, it was back downtown where my sis threw her delayed bday party. The venue was Fryends – one of the best vegan joints in town. Delicious dinner followed by some drinks at dad’s. Saturday morning, I was on my way to Prague. Had a chance to catch up with some of my favorite people. Eventually, I made it to my friends’ tattoo shop to consult a side face tattoo. See, for the time being, I decided not to fuck up my face with tattoos completely. That moment might come later on down the line but for now, I’m happy with my face being my face. I had been playing with getting some details on the side tho. I wasn’t sure whether we would do anything but one of my friend is an absolute beast when it comes to shit like that, he immediately understood the assignment and since I loved the design, we went for it. So after centuries, I got some new ink. It was definitely the shortest session I’ve ever done. Designing took quite some time but the execution was barely 20 minutes. After all that, we took it to my friends’ spot and we hung out until early morning. 5 heavily tatted up vegans, my tribe. One of the girls brought a box of Christmas sweets and I totally overdosed on those.

 

I was back in Brno for Sunday lunch, went for a yoga class in my local studio in the afternoon and wrapped it up quite early as I’d stacked up some sleep deficit. I still got some work to do this week but it’s pretty light as most people are already somewhere on holiday. Oh, and I got myself a new pair of headphones for work. My old ones were torn up, right side wasn’t really working, it was a bit overdue. I would also shout out News Feed Eradicator. It's a Firefox add-on I've recently installed and as the name suggests, it completely kills news feeds on socials. No more doom-scrolling, no more spam, much more time. Don't miss any of that at all. Anyways, hope y’all good. Take it easy, keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Planning.
• My people.
• New ink.

Semester 19 Chapter XV: Radical

I wanna start this one by sending some love to all my radicals. And to the ones who stand up for something meaningful. The societal mainstream is strong, ignorance tempting, turning blind eye extremely convenient… And it takes effort to reshape all of that. And I’m talking every level. Empathy is a virtue, solidarity is key and sometimes the sexiest thing is to go directly against whatever the status quo is. And being called a commie, being called a snow flake, soy boy, party pooper, problem… Shout out to everybody who dares to be different. God knows I’ve been dealing with a whole lot of friction in regards to some of my values recently but guess what… There are many things about me which are not perfect. I’m flawed head to toe, I still learn, I get confused… Sometimes I don’t say the right shit at the right time to people who matter to me… But listen… Being radical about certain shit is probably the coolest thing about me. It’s cool to have shit to believe in, it’s cool to dream of a better world and it’s also cool not to disconnect every chance you get. To many people all that means restraining yourself, to me it’s the purest form of freedom. And I just wanna shout out everybody that fights their little wars on the daily. It’s cool to be ethical, it’s cool to be spiritual, it’s cool to see beyond your individual self. And if you get isolated by some? So be it… That means very little to the embrace you get by those on similar wavelengths. Tune out the noise, breathe, focus… We got this.

Now let’s jump back to this. I’m on a bus to Prague at the moment and I spent the first two hours of the ride arranging my volunteering in Malaysia that’s now absolutely happening in April. A while back I took a decision of doing some epic shit once or twice a year regardless of money lost due to not working. I got some savings that will never be enough for a house (shout out to billionaires and capitalism) but I might as well use some of them for something fun while I still have the spark and energy. So yeah, three weeks on a small Malaysian island, diving everyday, building artificial reefs… Can’t fucking wait. Haven’t done a project this exciting in a while. Just booked the tickets, no way back.

 

Last couple of days in The Netherlands were cool. Mostly yoga, work and the usual. Yesterday, we took it to Leiden. The weather was amazing and so was the bike ride through the dunes. We spent the whole afternoon at this Blue Spa Wellness right next to the central station which was also super nice. It situated on the 12^th floor of one of the tallest building around so you get some amazing views. There are many saunas, many pools and chill rooms, and they offer really good rituals too. After that, we checked the Christmas market and then wrapped everything up by dinner at Lab071. Lovely joint.

Today, I haven’t done much. Had some lunch, packed my shit and off I went. Got about three weeks in the Czech Republic and I’m looking forward to all of that. Feel I need to recharge my social batteries and find some more peace of mind. Hope y’all great! Keep it cool, keep it radical, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Leiden. 
• Yoga.
• Volunteering plans!

Semester 19 Chapter XIV: All That’s Left Of You

Fuck it, I’m just gonna start with this. Yesterday evening, I had a chance to see a new Palestinian movie called All That’s Left Of You. And listen, I’m not gonna sit here acting like I know everything or that history isn’t complicated. I would just really like to recommend this piece to anybody who still somehow feels that whatever has been happening in Gaza is or can be justified. I’ve had the most heated arguments about this with some of my closest people and at this point I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of seeing that bullshit narrative in the news, I’m tired explaining that genocide is bad, I’m tired of clarifying that a Palestinian does not equal a terrorist etc. It’s quite fascinating how many reasonably smart people become completely detached, racist and brutal when it comes to this topic. And granted, the global narrative has shifted but it isn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be. This movie is beautiful, it’s touching, it’s gentle, it’s layered and it is a testimony to what’s been going on over there for generations. Found myself tearing up couple of times.

Okay, back to this thing. The Hague has been quite cold but we have been witnessing temperature increase in recent days. Two days ago, I ran 23km on a lovely cloudy day at 10 degrees. It can’t get much better than that in terms of running conditions. The one objectively fucked up thing is obviously the daylight. Not nearly enough of that. But we gonna hit the rock bottom soon and then the tables start turning again.

In the past 10 days, I managed to attend a really nice dinner at a friend’s place and I visited Filmhuis twice. It’s a cinema downtown that screens mostly alternative movies and even tho I’d been there only once prior, stars aligned and there was a reason to go there on two consecutive days. The first film I saw was Bugonia which was quite violent but also super playful and it might pour some fuel into all the conspiracy theories rabbit hole internet meme lords. Good watch. The second movie was the one I started this whole blog entry with.

Other than that it’s been workouts, it’s been runs, it’s been some reading. I’ve watched all four of the Stranger Things episodes released in the first batch and although I’d forgotten pretty much everything from the previous seasons (honestly, no idea how most of those characters ended up where they were), I really enjoyed it. Some good TV right there. A friend of mine has also sent me an opportunity to do some diving volunteering in Malaysia and man… The whole idea excites the fuck out of me. I’m in touch with the research station over there already and if everything goes well, I’ll be doing couple of weeks at the station sometime next year. God willing.

And that’s that. Worked quite a lot today, got a bit more work ahead still. Also got a yoga class coming up in about 2 hours – I really wanna stress once more how much I love that shit. My hamstrings are still fucking stiffed but most of other things are slowly evolving. Super grateful for that activity. Anyways, hope y’all well and all is going just the way you want it. Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Yoga.
• Movies.
• Dinners.

Semester 19 Chapter XIII: Detours

Hello world, here we go again. It’s a lovely Sunday evening, I’ve had a pretty fucking amazing weekend and the last thing on my to-do list is a sauna session which starts in about an hour. Energy levels are good, spirits are high, let’s get to this…

The working week was not that eventful. To be honest, weather was kinda shit and although I managed to do some running, I barely did anything outside yoga, work and an occasional workout. The real fun started at the weekend. Saturday morning, I took a bus to Amsterdam to catch up with one of my dear friends over there. It was exactly what I expected. Good food, good talks, lotta fun. In the evening, we went to this Brazilian dance performance. It took place in a former church, it was two people (a woman and man) dancing and it was all modern. Meaning, there was a lot of improvisation and it all felt very expressive. It did touch me tho. I was projecting all kinds of narratives and things into it. Both dancers were great, both were gorgeous, and after the whole thing I had a chance to spoke to the guy. See, it all happened because the guy had served as a model at a sculpting class my friend takes. All in all, a really good event. It was all sponsored by the Brazilian embassy which provided some wine too. On the way back, we got some kofte wraps at this Turkish bistro and shortly after we called it a day. Gotta say, I fucking love the mixture of different people and cultures here. That’s definitely one of the most positive things in this country. It’s so interesting, it’s so colorful and even thought there are problems, all these different people share this space, they share their stories, their cultures, their cuisines. I wish the Czech Republic had a bit more of that.

 

This morning after breakfast, I headed back to The Hague. Since I’d parked my bike at the central station in The Hague the day before, I just hopped on it and met with some guys from the cycling/running club for a coffee ride. It’s a thing they do here and there on a random Sunday. About 30km with a coffee break somewhere on the way. And boy, did that shit get interesting. About 13km from home on the way back, I got a flat. Which would not have been an issue as I did carry an extra inner tube, pump and all the tools necessary to replace it. One guy was nice enough to stick with me and we found out fast that my quick release at the wheel axis is completely jammed. We did managed to loosen it up and change the tube but we couldn’t tighten it back up. By that time, we’d got joined by another of the squad heroes who wasted no time and called one of his bike repair pros who happened to be at his workshop not too far away. So there we were, dealing with the issue straightaway on a Sunday afternoon. Mind you, all of repair shops were obviously closed so without that gentleman, I would have been pushing my bike towards the nearest tram station and the adventure would have ended right there. Now, the guy we went to is one of the most seeked bike guys in the city. Used to work for Lola, now he has his own thing. He was super nice, he made us some coffee, he quickly changed everything and since he happened to have a set of decent tires, I asked him to changed them too. Mine were worn out as fuck. Nice little 70EUR burned but that’s what happens when you get an old bike and use it like all the time. I’ve recently got a new chain, new back shift gear wheel and now those things. And honestly, I was just happy it all worked out the way it did, that a solution just landed like that on a silver platter and that I don’t have to deal with any of that shit tomorrow. My bike is fixed, it’s good and it’s ready to go for sauna and for all the shit I got planned tomorrow. So yeah, shout out to my bike group connect and shout out to the guy who fixed that… Day saved and properly enjoyed.

And that’s about that. I’ve just done some cleaning, watched two episodes of the new Stranger Things and I’m knackered. Gonna push myself into full-mode tiredness with this sauna thing and then I’m out. Shout out to all the cyclists, all the runners, vegans and everybody fighting the good fight. Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Amsterdam.
• Cycling.
• People.