Hills

Hey!  Sorry for the lack of posts.  I've been out and about visiting relatives and just got back from a week of travelling between KL, Seremban, and Ipoh to visit the fam.  

I'll try to keep this space updated, however I will be moving back into Cafe 32 this week so it's gonna be hectic.  Here's one that I wrote when I was in Seremban, some 4,5 days ago.

I was bored.  Hours of playing video games and listening to my grandmother’s constant ramblings has finally grown stale.  My sister, as annoying as I find her, was unavailable to talk to as she was napping to nurse a growing illness of some sort.  There was no one else around, as I know nobody in my hometown of Seremban.

I needed to get out of the house.

But I’ve never been around Seremban on my own, plus there is no car for me to use.  So I decided to take a run around the neighborhood.  The problem was that I the housing area of Bukit Rasah was seldom covered.  Never has there been a need to map out these streets, until today.

Maybe I wanted to get lost, to rediscover a familiar setting.  So I did.

I laced up my yet-to-be-broken-in running shoes, prepped my Spotify playlist, and embrace the low-rumble of a remote thundercloud.  I figured if I needed any added motivation to run, rain would be it. 

And then I started.  Ran into a few dead ends, and looped around the hill twice.  Before I knew it, I ran far enough that I really felt lost.  The sun was searing into my cheeks, while rolling dark clouds slowly creeped over at the distance. 

I was alone.

That was a good thing.  I needed the time and space to think, to get away from my family.  So often did I have this… commodity when I was studying abroad that, the need for personal space was easily overlooked until my return.

Sure, there were times that the hidden (but ever-present!) band of wild monkeys or stray dogs got me peering over my shoulder more times than an innocent person should do.  Passing by the foliage of dense canopic overgrowth and banana trees had me sneak by, as to not alert anything (if any) living nearby.

By now, my calves were screaming from the constant incline and decline of my impromptu adventure.  And after circling the inner circle of the neighborhood for a good 25 minutes, I decided to call it a day.

I walked back home heavily breathing, drenched in sweat, muscles near-cramping, with a newfound appreciation for the housing area while I’ve took for granted: the old bungalows of over 50 years, to the newly built complexes of recent years.

Maybe I wanted to get lost, so I can find myself again, in an old place.  This time, as an adult with the world ahead of him.

Side note: Having access to exclusively Chinese shows really makes me appreciate the choreography put into any martial arts movie.

#88 - Lo-Fang