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Friday, December 2, 2022

Sounds of Qatar: The Late Check-in

Oh wow.

I don't know what else to say.

The World Cup has always been the forte of this blog. Take a look on all the posts I made for WC2010. I was talking shit the whole month as if I know stuff about football. And then WC2014. I got 'worse'. The blog labels for Brazil are even among the highest which means I talked even more shit during the tournament. I got a bit more slowed down during WC2018. It started as usual, super fired up at the group stage, but then adulthood hit and the next entry I submitted after my last group stage post was the "Thank You World Cup 2018" shenanigan.

Today, the World Cup 2022 has already been underway.

And look what I did? Nothing. Not even the "Welcome World Cup 2022" post like what I had always done in South Africa, Brazil, and Russia — which by the way, is what I'm doing now.

But seriously, how sad is it???

This used to be something I really look forward to. Now I'm too caught up in so many adulting shit I didn't even realize that the tournament was coming. I didn't even have time to update my blog regularly, the last one being 2018!?

Plus, this time is in Asia for God's sakes. I should've been more excited than ever gak sih!?!? How could I be so updated in every single matches in South Africa, so willing to stay late to catch important matches in Brazil, and at least keep up with most of the games even though I didn't update regularly in Russia!? Well I know the answer to those rhetorical questions but still, this one is Asia, how could I not have more excitement to welcome the hospitality of Qatar???

Pic's from here.

Well I can't blame it all on me.

At least here I am now, trying to redeem my absence in my blog even though the group stage of WC2022 is about to be all wrapped. Yea, I've skipped the first half of the tournament ugh...

Okay so here it is.
Let me make some attempts to do this.
For the sake of the old me's

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Vicky's Dirty Thirty

Oh yeah, still talking about this shit.

Sorry not sorry, because we're entering March. My birth month. I have this can't-let-go habit where I turn to this blog whenever I'm reaching a certain milestone in my life. And being thirty is not just a milestone, it's a HUGE MILE-FUCKING-STONE so... here I am, bragging a lot about this.

Anyways.

Remember my plan to have fun and all dancing before turning 30? Yea it turned to be a rubbish. I was being innocent and naive, thinking that Covid will be rid soon. You know what happened: the fucking pandemic had been on and off and on and off it gave uncertainty to everyone throughout my days of being 29 so... none of those plans happened.

Well it was partly my fault anyway because, who's smart enough to plan all those ambitious dances while at the same time being busy with works and workshops and on top of all spent 3 months in total living in Bali? Me.

Then entering 2022, I began to realize that... Gosh, I only have three full months to meet all my different circles and fulfill that dream goal I set a year ago! 

Super.

So yea! No more stoopid snoozing.
And that's where I began planning this:

Operation Dirty Thirty.

I started to write down the list of my circle - whose WhatsApp groups are pretty active and that's how I thought about them - and sending codes to meet them. Of course I brought up the idea of me wanting to have fun because I'm turning 30, just so it caught their attention.

Some reacted with huge enthusiasm, some were just responded out of courtesy, and some others were kind of wondering why out of the blue I was the one initiating to meet where usually I just tagged along lol. Well this is ME who's turning 30, okay, so of course I'm the one who should be more proactive.

Again, due to the fucking pandemic, those who responded earlier agreed to meet but, sadly, only casually. No dancing and boozing involved. Damn. But hey I couldn't complain because this weird ops aside, I'm actually missing these people. I couldn't remember where and when was the last time I actually met them in person! So of course I agreed to that plan and thanks to that, two of my circles were officially crossed off of my list.


Traveloka Flocks


CMUNNY Delegates


That leaves me with three more circles to go: High School Gang, Ogilvy Survivors, and Lazada Mates—all has to be done within this month. *chuckles* Sounds crazy, eh? Three different circles in less than 30 days, all should include dancings and drinkings?

Well at first I thought it was, but, somehow I came up with a plan just EXACTLY LAST NIGHT.

Involving apartments - yes, plural - renting, a bit of event organizing, schedule fitting, works hijacking, family compromising, and, a little bit too much of ambitious sprinkling. And according to that overnight plan, this should start exactly this weekend. The first weekend of March.

Oh and on top of that, I'm planning to go to Bali mid-March to do something I don't feel like disclosing for the time being, but then I realized I could use this opportunity to ask my friends there to complete this operation and add up more circles to have fun with!

Gosh.

I never thought my 30th birthday would extend to be a 30th birth-MONTH plan. I'm genuinely excited, and a bit grateful also, for not doing it last year and just gather everything to a compact 27-day ops like this! Now this March would be even more special than others!

Really hoping that all goes well this month because...

I feel dirty already for turning thirty.
So please just let me enjoy the preparation of it.

Dirty-less-ly

Friday, February 25, 2022

30 to 30

This is it.

I'm turning 30 in 30 days.

I've been bragging a lot about this since God knows how long. Well I know how long as well, it's about... I think it's about whenever I'm having my birthday. Oh especially when I was turning 24, God did I rant a lot about being 30 even though it was not for the next 6 years!? Such an ungrateful little kid.

I'm not gonna talk much. For now.
I just want to let myself sink into the fact that in 30 days, I'll be 30.


So...
Let the countup begin

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Is This... Home?


I've lost track of how many times I've visited Bali.

"Many times" is the only answer I know.

I've been there as I was younger. I've been there during my young adulthood, and getting more and more often as I grew older. I've been there with my family. My best friends. My significant other. My love of my life which is myself. I've been there for leisure, for business, for temporary living, for soul searching, you name it. During Ramadan, during Christmas, during Eid, even during Nyepi, you fvcking name it!

You want to hear something inappropriate but could really be the sole answer to this strong connection between me and Bali? My parents went to the island for their honeymoon. Not long after their wedding. So I might be conceived there. Ew, really, but this is important to track where all these feelings came from.

But hey.
Aside of that sole disturbing fact,

I do have this very deep connection with the island.

I feel like there's something that keeps calling me back. I swear I've mentioned this one too many times in my previous Bali posts, but this time, somehow, the calling gets bigger day by day, gets louder and stronger.

The biggest wake-up call happened just in my recent 2-month stay in Bali. I was in Ubud for two weeks, and I found this local laundry service which was ran by a very friendly and warm Balinese family. My last visit to their compound was specifically nice, ended up with me hanging around their super nice Balinese house drinking Balinese coffee talking about Balinese stuff and eventually...

About buying a house in Bali.

Honestly, for the whole 2-month stay I've been having that idea. A lot. Especially during my random visits to areas a bit further off Canggu, around Pererenan and Munggu. The rides across paddy fields, passing by local houses interspersed by expat villas, feeling the vibes of pristine untouched local life situated not so far from Bali's infamous hurrah—the idea was just, so nice.

And that visit to the Balinese family house seemed like validated my then-unnoticed dream. It didn't have to be exactly a Balinese house, because from what I heard from the Balinese family that kind of house is legacy and you can't just build something like that as a non-Balinese. I didn't even know what type of house, or even villa, that I wanted.

I wanted a house, in Bali. That's it.

Maybe that's why I've always felt this way towards Bali. Maybe that's why I constantly get all those callings from invincible Bali spirits. Maybe that's why I got all those wounds from falling off my motorbike, so I had a blood contract with Bali—and maybe that's why I got all those stitches on my foot, so I'd be forever bind by the story of Bali.

Alright, this is it. I've had enough signs. There's just one thing left. Not a question, just a confirmation for me before I really am gonna go with it.

I'm not supposed to ask this because...
I feel like I know the answer. Know too damn well.
But for one last time, I really want to confirm to myself.

Isn't This... Home?

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Check-in

Hello.

My long abandoned blog.

And happy new year! Gosh it's been so long since the last time I wrote here, eh? And gosh, has it always been like that? The way I opened my blog post? Lol anyways.

HOW HAVE I NOT BEEN WRITING FOR SO LONG!?

I've been doing amazing stuff apart from watching sports and animes which were the only entries I made for the whole 2021. YES can you believe it!? As per now, January 4th 2022, I only made SIX blog posts in total - unbelievable! - including one F1 race review, two Olympic-related rants, and three posts about my Studio Ghibli marathon project — which all of those topics are obviously not finished yet because of course it should take more than just six articles!? Some of them are even on the draft already, ready to be finished and published...

Gosh I really miss those days when I was all too excited about everything, that whenever I just had a wonderful day it took only three days max for me to write it down here.

I miss you, my blog, really.

And that's why I'm here now, to drop all the topics I thought I owe my blog to tell, some of which even dated back in 2018! God bless you, Vicky Amin crazy pathetic procrastinate...

Anyways, so here goes:

2018

2019

2020

  • Taiwan Trip
  • Bali Business Trip
  • The Pandemic
  • Canceled Japan Trip
  • Podcast Lyfe
  • Goodbye, Godwit
  • New Job - again, lol surprise! I've changed job twice during the hiatus
  • Bahrain Grand Prix
  • Toys, Toys, Toys
  • Thanks But No Thanks, 2020

2021

  • Workshop Era Begins
  • Work From Bali: Part One
  • 2020 Olympics: Favorite Sports & Athletes
  • Gift from the Office - oh yeah I won't spoil through the title so...
  • Italian Grand Prix, Again and Again
  • Saudi Arabia Grand Prix
  • Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
  • Work From Bali: Part Two
  • Project Twenty One: Batch Three
  • Thanks, Finally, 2021


Well, a lot of homework, eh? I better start working on those posts and talk less here. Or should I make it as one of my new year resolution?

Yea whatever it is,
Wish me luck!