What I've Been Up To

 It’s been a long time.

Most of the things I saw and experienced are written down on physical paper since I wrote faster than I could type. Been sending letters to friends too, taking my sweet time churning out words that might or might not be understood, felt and cherished.  Done on a whim, whatever’s written on it can be re-read by the recipient, not pressured by an imaginary time limit to reply fast like social media. It’s physical, able to be kept somewhere. Handwritten letters add a personal touch to the communication, as it can change depending on someone’s mood. Tried using a typewriter too, but only on occasion to type formal letters, since I don’t own a printer. That thing still works wonders when I needed sentences arranged neatly in rows and spaced evenly.

Brazil-made Olivetti Tropical

Been to places, done things, met new people, learnt new language(s), watched shows, built stuff in the span of 4 years since the last post. The passage of time sure is scary, one moment you’re still a kid and in a blink, poof – joined the society in the rat race. Days passed, and then weeks and before realizing it, next year is already around the corner. That will be the time when I’ll be quieter than usual (not that I talked much in real life) because along with the arrival of New Year, I grew older. Normally people will be happy nearing their birthday but instead I spent the time questioning the purpose of life, have some existential crisis, moping around before deciding to finally cherish this existence and treat myself to something nice.

Then coronavirus hits.

                Am not a person who went out much apart from going to work and meeting friends, restrictions of movements in Malaysia doesn’t feel that bad to me. We are still allowed to go out to get groceries since eating out is prohibited, and I being in the essential services got to move (not so) freely so my fellow countryperson could bring literal food to the table. We are all important, from the lowest rung of the ladder to the front liners. Heck, delivery persons are hailed as heroes too nowadays. So don’t be sad if you felt useless, your existence has a purpose but might not be in the way people generally think.

                Spending 6 hours straight of non-family human contact every single day (unless it’s important holidays) wore me out, since I am more inclined to rest at home in the evening, napping or indulging in my hobbies. Speaking of which, a friend of mine lent me a PS4 disc, Death Stranding which upon playing, I noticed some real-life parallels to the Covid 19 pandemic. Set in a world where people are isolated from each other, the only way for them to get supplies and resources are from delivery person, known as porters. Just like our take-out pizza boy, right to our doorsteps without us having to drive. The point of this game is connection between people. I myself haven’t finished the game and might write a hopefully-non-spoiler review on it. 

                Tried VRChat too when a friend coaxed me, but my laptop crashed when I'm genuinely enjoying interacting with people around the world. Bummer. So much different worlds to explore, either you can hang around in a spot, play some multiplayer games together (survival horror is fun with more people in it), visit places from popular shows or just sit around together, talking about common interest or catching up on things happening outside their country. Just like in real life, some people will be fun to talk to and then there will also be trolls who just wants to get a rise out of everybody. Eventually I stopped logging in since it required frequent updating which felt like a hassle. Socializing in the morning is enough for me, I guess.

"Gobsmacked", a kindly polyglot who explains language-related stuff

                Would recommend it if you can carry conversations, wants more online friends from all around the world, and have a good PC that can handle this virtual social platform. Definitely get a headphone/earset with a good microphone although playing as a mute is not frowned upon. To the friends I have made there, if you found me by the suspiciously familiar domain name of the blog, know that I cherished the late-night (using my time zone) conversations we had together. Wishing y'all the best in these trying times.