Bali and Tokyo Vibes

I am freshly back from a work/fun trip from Bali and thought it’d be a good time to jot down some thoughts and retain some of that Bali glow. Feeling contented about life in general on this Saturday afternoon comfortably propped up in my own bed, having spent the last week in anonymous ones. I’ve done my Saturday workout, taken a nap, and it’s still the better side of the weekend. Ahh.

I had a great time in Bali. The work bit was productive and the fun bit was fun. Leo came with and for two days we hired a scooter and zipped around the northern part of the island with spectacular views of rice fields, mountains and the sea. For work we were put up at Sanur, in close proximity with the beach where we could pop out before the breakfast buffet to watch the sun rise. At the workshop I reconnected with some old friends and made new ones too, and received good feedback on the sessions I facilitated.

Above all, I left Bali feeling energised and ready for possibilities - possibilities to live better, make more out of my life, and - dare I say it - have some inner peace even if the world feels like such a hostile place these days. The feeling is that I have space in my heart to just be.

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Somewhere above the clouds between Bali and KL on the way back, I realised that a soft smile had found its way to my face. It was a moment of connection - a song that I like was coming through the earphones (can’t remember which song now - I was running through my Spotify Liked Songs) and I started thinking about some people that I know from work and little stories about them.

I won’t be specific here, but it’s about finding out that people have lives outside their work lives, doing various creative and courageous things. Knowing that they are doing these things just makes my heart swell with something that feels like happiness. Like, how glad I am being connected with such cool people as they cease to be one-dimensional work people, but start having different shades of humanness and personalities that come to life. And somehow this also validates my creative urges and gives me permission to express myself too, and contribute to this world of people being their cool selves :)

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One more thing that inspired me from Bali was the rituals that I observed people do, preparing daily offerings and blessing different parts of their homes. Men or women would balance trays of little banana leaf plates holding fresh flowers and other offerings, and place the plates in front of their houses or in various corners. Fragrant incense sticks are lit, and water is sprinkled towards the sky.

Something about these simple but beautiful gestures touches me deeply, even if I do not know the story behind. Something about a routine repeated daily, connecting one day with the next, and the next. From our hotel terrace four floors high in the quiet of dawn, I saw the same thing repeated in different households near and far. The placement of the offerings, the lighting of the incense, the upwards sprinkling of water.

Also, while I’ve never seen the point of fresh flowers since they are dying - fresh flowers daily as an offering to life I’m ok with. Thank you for the beauty, life, however transient.

It’s been nine months since I wrote here. Some of those earlier months I burnt both ends of the candle and felt like crap, but I’ve since learnt a little bit more about myself, to be a little bit more relaxed, and 2025 has so far been okay.

In March I went on a trip to Tokyo, bunking at my friend Mel S’s place for ten days. The trip was arranged as an antidote to burnout in December last year, when I desperately something to look forward to. So I booked the trip, and every time my brain beavers needed something to build, I added to my dossier museums to visit, art supplies to buy, and whatever else tickled my fancy.

A fantastic idea and something I should look to replicate next year. I hadn’t travelled solo for pleasure for ages. Mel and I went to Hakone together the first weekend I was there, but the remaining days she was occupied with a convention and I spent the entire week applying my people-pleasing self to myself. What a pleasure. I went to about seven museums, got gloriously inspired, and spent all the money I should have spent on accommodation on art supplies. Most of the art supplies I got were made in Japan and were much cheaper there anyway (50-70% off compared to prices in Malaysia!), so it was the ultimate guilt-free shopping experience. Went to Book Off and lugged back some second-hand books. Went to Nippori and got some fabrics. Food. Onsen. Food.

Ahh.

After getting back from Japan I felt so much lighter, a feeling that I had largely forgotten after years of continuous worrying about my freelance livelihood and the subsequent transition into a formal work environment.

The feeling of open skies and the open road.

Maybe I’m not over travelling after all.

It's Sunday night. There's lightning and thunder outside the window. Part of me is still in chill mode but there's a familiar thrum of Monday blues setting in. I need to close this blog post and do some other things before going to bed, so here goes.