Semester 20 Chapter XI: Push It To The Limit

Aight kids, here we go again. It’s Saturday early morning, I’m enjoying some peace and quiet and since I have plenty of time, I’ve decided to update your favorite blog. Last week was fun, it was relatively eventful… Let’s get to it.

 

I did spend last weekend moving around like a maniac. Friday evening, I hit the yoga studio, then the sauna and then I ended up at this event in a yard in the city center. Some art debates, some djs, stalls with food and drinks… And many cool young people. It was giving some Berlin vibes – Brno has its moments. I met some friends, my sis was there as well, it was fun.

 

Over Saturday and Sunday, I was just doing lots of sports. I cycled a lot (with sis), I ran, I went to the swimming pool and I hit my yoga studio twice more. See, I’ve recently bought the unlimited summer 3-month pass so I’m pretty much living there now. I’m doing a bit more of hot yoga these days and it still feels great. And I take it all as steps towards my teacher training that is going to take place in about half a year. I also like the fact that I’m slowly becoming an item in the studio. I talk to people more, I’m learning some names… Becoming part of the community.

Monday evening, I joined dad for his trivia night. This time around, I helped quite a lot as there was a hip-hop round and I took away a voucher to a pretty lovely wellness center just outside of town. I’m planning to cash that soon. I also ended up at one pretty lovely tattoo shop the other day – not to get a tattoo (that’s on pause mostly because summer, water etc.) but to hang out. Nice studio, good vibes.

 

Been recording some more music too, things are moving. I’m also on a Kazuo Ishiguro book (Nocturnes) these days and it’s probably the lightest read I’ve experienced from him. It’s still layered and has many sad tones but on his standards it’s pretty much a comedy. Started watching the new Darth Maul series as well. Looking pretty good. Oh yeah, and I'm in NY Times (link here) - talk about life goals. Anyways, hope you guys are good! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Running.
• Cycling.
• Yoga.

Semester 20 Chapter X: Tattoos & Vibes

Okay, here we go again. Missed the last weekend as I spent it all in Bratislava at a tattoo convention. This sometimes happens. Anyways, it’s Friday afternoon, I’ve finished my work for the week, I’m playing some of my new tunes and in about an hour I’m hitting my yoga studio. Everything has been going well, vibes are good, let’s get to this.

 

Last week, one of my best friends visited Brno for a bit so I had a chance to spend two evenings with him. We’re both off alcohol and gotta say it again… The longer that goes, the less appealing any sort of drinking becomes. I really appreciate the fact alcohol has slowly left not only my life but also lives of many of my close ones. Thursday evening, another of my bros arrived and the following afternoon we were both sitting in a car heading towards Bratislava. Now, even though the city is just around the corner, I had been there only once before when I was like 19 for a rap concert. So this was my second time. And just like before, I didn’t manage to explore anything. Spent most of the weekend at the convention and driving my friends around for coffee and snacks. It was a really good event tho. And it was really nice to see how much love some of my closest people get. I witnessed people approaching them pretty fucking starstruck, expressing their admiration, asking for selfies, buying off their prints… All in all, it was an enjoyable and successful trip. Arrived back at Brno Sunday night.

Monday evening, I attended a meet-up of our local cell of the Green Party. Coming through with my resolution of trying to be a bit more active in the real world. Wasn’t super impressed by anything over there but that can be also just because of me having unrealistic expectations or not being educated enough on how shit goes. Gonna be patient and will give it a try couple more times. My sis came to that thing with me and afterwards, we both hit a movie theater. Her colleague has completed a short film which wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t terrible neither. And it was like 30 minutes.

Rest of the week was pretty chill. I’m happy that the weekend is here – I intend to do quite a lot of physical activity. Yesterday, I went for a 15km run and it felt great. I’ve also been working on music a lot. I believe we’re sitting on an EP worth of good material now and I can’t wait to give it some proper treatment, polish it, re-record it and put it out there. I’m even playing with the idea of making a music video for one of those tracks. Like for the first time actually doing the whole fucking thing. We’ll see. I’ve talked to various people from my little volunteering Malaysian mission, too. That makes me happy – those people are great and hearing their voices makes me smile. Hope you guys are doing great, hope you keep it light and positive and that you do not entertain bullshit. Don’t let anybody fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Bratislava.
• Hangouts.
• Music.

Semester 20 Chapter XI: Secrets Of Life

Ayo, here we go again. I wanna send a shout out to the song Secrets Of Life by Seven Beats. It popped up in my headphones on today’s run and man… It has barely 1000 views on Youtube but it is absolutely beautiful. I’m generally getting a bit deeper into my music bag. Been recording a lot these past couple of days and after like 20 years, I’ve been writing and recording in Czech. Feels like having a completely different set of tools. Enjoying the hell out of that, me and my music partner are planning to lock in and hopefully make something cohesive out of it. Always feels good diving those waters. It’s Sunday afternoon, I’m listening to the whole Seven Beats album and I’m feeling great. Let’s get to this thing tho…

 

So last Friday evening, I grabbed a cab and went to the Tawau Aiport. Later on that evening, I did something I had never done before – check into an airport hotel. It was basically either spending twelve hours on the floor somewhere or getting a nice comfy bed. Figured I’m old enough not to torture myself and man, was that a good call. I taught one class in my room, I had a shower and I had a really solid sleep before boarding the plane to Istanbul. The plane landed a bit later than planned so I had about 40 minutes from touchdown to departure of my connecting flight. And even though this was totally a responsibility of the airline, I didn’t feel like hanging around Istanbul Airport more than necessary so I enjoyed a little airport sprint and eventually made it. Got to Vienna around 7pm and around 11pm I was in Brno. The trip was concluded but the energy stays – I really feel like I might fuck off for several months again in about half a year doing more things like that. Connecting it all with my yoga teacher training and all… Gonna let it sink in but the idea makes me pretty damn excited.

 

I liked the fact I had Sunday as a buffer day. Went for a run, napped, caught up with dad and his partner. On Monday, it was back to business as usual. Work has been going well, I’m back on my daily pull-ups, I went to swim some laps with a friend of mine and I even hit the sauna on Thursday. Met up with my sis, grabbed a drink with the music buddy on Friday… Pretty cool week. Weather has been beautiful around here (maybe a bit too summery for this time of a year) and Brno is kinda killing it to be honest. About half a year ago, they opened a whole new infrastructure around a segment of the river not too far from the center and man… Really gives you a reason to take a walk and chill there. Water is clear, there’s a vegan ice cream truck, there’ some coffee, there are people… And there’s an option of taking a long hike up along the stream. Or cycle – you can pick and choose – there are lanes for both. Friday afternoon, I did just that, discovered some new cafés and some newly established pathways… I really respect what they’ve done with this. Already using some of that for running.

 

I had a chance to spend the weekend all by myself which felt pretty therapeutic after doing quite a lot last month. Did some morning yoga on Saturday and in the afternoon, I hopped on my bike and did about 60km wrapped up (you guessed it) by the river. This morning, I did about 15km run and in the evening, there’s dad’s b-day celebration coming up. So yeah, things are going well here. Hope you guys are doing well too! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Brno.
• Running.
• Cycling.

Semester 20 Chapter X: Tawau Adventures

Okay, one last check in from Borneo. It’s Friday early morning, I’m still in the city of Tawau and I got couple more hours before I leave for the airport. Got the new Keecap album in the headphones (fire), just finished a cup of coffee blacker than my soul, feeling good in this motherfucker. These past 5 days have been quite eventful so let’s get to them.

 

I’ve been staying in a hotel called Check Inn Tawau which is situated right in the city center. This has made many things quite convenient. I have found some restaurants happy to accommodate my veganism, I found a scooter rental place about 100 meters away, there’s a supermarket across the street… I’ve been working this week but due to time difference, my classes wouldn’t normally start until about 2pm. Which gave me quite some time to explore shit. Tuesday morning, I did rent a scooter and started my adventures. Sea around here is brown and not appealing at all so I steered my attention inland. I found this random forest waterfall on maps about 30km from the city and I took it there. That was definitely the toughest mission I’ve gotten on. The last 8km of it was pure gravel, stones and puddles. To the point I contemplated turning it around couple of times. The scooter did not like it one bit. I made it tho and it was bizarre as fuck. A couple of centuries back, it probably was a tourist spot. There was a locked gate (which I climbed over), decorations and statues were covered by plants and dirt, and there was also something that looked like an abandoned accommodation facility with bunk beds from a horror movie. Not a single soul around. Checked it out, snapped some pics and wrapped it up. On the way back, I found a vegetarian restaurant Zheng Teck which became my lunch spot for the following 3 days. Since it’s located about 6km away from my hotel, the scooter came pretty handy. Nice people, delicious food, happy days.

 

On Wednesday, I woke up early (as I always do) and took it to Tawau Hills park. Now, that one is official. Got there after 7am but since they open at 8, I had to wait a bit. Walked around, watched some monkeys being monkeys and eventually got in. You pay 20 MYR, you get a map and you get to go. They also offer accommodation and if you have enough time and energy, you can do a pretty challenging hike to Mt Magdalena about 17km away and climb it up. I didn’t have that much time plus my only shoes here (apart from slippers) are Chucks which kinda disqualifies me from shit like that. I walked at least 10km in that park tho. Went to check out the tallest tropical tree in the world (88 meters), enjoyed fresh breeze by the river, saw a beautiful waterfall – happy I got to do that. And again, almost no people. You can tell that tourism here really focuses mostly on sea activities and island hopping. Oh, and I’ve seen maybe like 4 white people throughout the week. Almost none. I’ve also been photographed with the scooter rental people, with people in restaurants, parks, markets… I’m sure I’m all over local social media at this point. Anyways, after my little hike, I took back for some veggie lunch and then dived into work.

 

Thursday, I hopped on my scooter once more and went to the Lion Hill about 50km away. Pretty short but quite challenging climb up but the views were totally worth it. I still had some time left after so I took it to a place called Tagal Kampung Kijang. Yet again, everywhere it was just me – no other travelers. When I arrived there, a woman showed up, I paid 2 MYR, got a ticket, she opened up the gate and I drove down to the river. In a minute, her, a kid and another guy followed me. The guy was documenting it the whole time like I was fucking Justin Bieber or some shit. They were nice tho. I was told that I was the first non-Malay person they’d ever seen there – that’s why they were a bit baffled. Found myself a little gem. The water was crystal clear and there were so much fish in it. We fed them, we chatted and then I took it (you guessed it) to my little veggie place.

 

What else… Right next to my hotel, there’s a restaurant where I often go to get a coconut or some quick food as they normally have different types of veggies and tempeh. I found another spot not too far owned by this Indian dude with good English who is happy to arrange stuff off the menu and everything I’ve had here was delicious. Work has been going well but mentally I’m still halfway on the Pom Pom Island. Slowly touching down tho.

 

I’m trying to dose news very cautiously. Have caught up on The Daily Show and some Josh but that’s about that. I had to return the scooter yesterday as they don’t operate of Fridays so I’ll spend my time before the flight in the area. Happy I got to see this town, happy I got to do some cool shit, happy I got to spend some time by myself. I hope you guys are well, too! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

 

Highlights:

• Tawau Hills Park.
• Zheng Teck Vegetarian Restaurant.
• Lion Hill.