It's an Exciting World

Malaysia 2025

Steph and I left early on Friday to get a flight from London to Kuala Lumpur. The flight is about 14 hours direct, and we made it there on time. We got to the hotel and were exhausted, but due to the time difference it was early morning. We decided to push through and went on a walk to the butterfly house. It was hot and humid, and I have not been used to that for a while, so I was sweating buckets. I fully saturated one of my button down shirts. The walk also was longer and more confusing than expected due to the large drainage ditches and highway. We made it there eventually, with a nice detour through a park and a call to Steph’s parents. We then made it to the butterfly house and saw lots of types of butterflies. It was really nice to see them all, and we took a relaxed time going through the air conditioned exhibits before leaving for some mall shopping.

Steph wanted to see a wagashi place, and it was in an art themed mall. Each store was an artist or group of artists, with some food mixed in. The wagashi place was a mix of art and food, and they had some extremely ornate exhibits of wagashi along the normal ones. For dinner we made it to Uncle Roger’s restaurant, Fuyoh!.

We caught the planes to Mulu the next day. It is a little strange how Malaysia has different immigration per landmass, but I guess that makes sense with the history and landmass layout between peninsula and islands.

Mulu is on Borneo and we stayed at the Marriott there, which was surprisingly nice. We met Jess and Diana there, and I crashed the first afternoon while they checked out the park. The main attraction for Mulu is the national park. It is a gorgeous bit of jungle, pinnacle mountains, and caves. We only did the jungle and caves parts, and didn’t do the mountain hikes as those were intense and multi-day.

We started off with the easy Botanical Trail, then went to the Racer Cave. This was an intro trek to see who would be able to do the more rigorous Clearwater Connection route. Steph and I were the only ones who ended up doing the Clearwater Connection. It wasn’t particularly hard, but it was long and everything was so slippery. I also didn’t enjoy the hand sized huntsman spiders. I had a good time in the river portion, but that only lasted around half an hour of the three hour trip.

We did the canopy walk, which was a long set of hanging walkways going from tree crown to tree crown in the rainforest. It was nice to do, but didn’t give a good view of any animals as I assume they avoid it. We went to the tower and it was much the same. Near the tower was an amazing strangler fig that had a gorgeous crisscross pattern at the base with the hole in the middle where it had killed off the host tree.

The last main activity was going to the gigantic Deer cave. It is one of the largest chambers in the world, with millions of bats calling it home. The cave is 148m high inside, and even more across. We also go to see some of the rarest cave formations, the showerheads, where water makes a pipe coming down from the ceiling.

We then went to Kota Kinabalu for scuba diving over two days. We did 5 dives the first day and 3 dives the second day. It was amazing diving and we saw: lots of nudibranchs, puffer fish, a seahorse, a turtle, lots of clown fish in anemones, and so much more. The reef wasn’t 100%, but it was doing much better than most reefs we’ve seen recently.

We said goodbye to Jess and Diana and headed back to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with Jeff, Patty, and Elizabeth.

Steph and I did our tours separate from Jeff and Patty, but we both went to the Batu Caves. They have been converted into a Hindu temple and have monkeys roaming around them. It was amazing to see, and the stairway was gorgeous. The temples themselves were so colorful and the atmosphere was delightful. I really enjoyed see them.

Steph and I also did a cooking class, and we got to see a typical neighborhood market and cook three Malay dishes: coconut rice, spicy noodles, and sweet pancakes.

We had diners with Jeff, Patty, Elizabeth, and their Aunt and Uncle. It was nice to talk to them, and I got to show them all my recent work. They were blown away by how well the AIs work now.

For the last evening we went by the mall under the towers and saw the fountain lights show. It was a good end to the trip and I was ready to get back. A 13.5 hour flight back the next day and we were in London.

What would be week 128 and 129 in London.

June 28, 2025 1

Chillin’ with the Kitties

This week was really chill, with Steph in Zurich. I did a lot of work, and met with a lot of people again. I am finally getting into making product instead of networking and that change feels good. I need to be careful to not get too focussed on product so I can continue on the company growth route.

The rest of my free time was spent coordinating on renovations to our new flat. I’ve really enjoyed sitting on the balcony over the canal. I look forward to living there.

I went to both choir rehearsals, and really enjoyed it.

Otherwise not much going on.

London Weekly 127

June 23, 2025 0

Climbing Coworking and Ducky Race

This week I had a few days at Yonder to do climbing and coworking. It is a really nice setup with the first two floors being a climbing gym, then the third floor as a coworking space. I met Punit there and we climbed together.

I went to both choirs this week and really enjoyed the songs we were singing. I’m looking forward to performing with them. I joined for drinks after with the games choir and talked more with Zaheer.

Over the weekend I went to the open parks in London. I met Zaheer at and we stopped by 5 amazingly nice gardens: Belgrave Square Garden, Wilton Crescent Garden, Eaton Square Garden, Chester Square Garden, and Queen’s Gate Garden. It was raining some that day, but we found good spots to stay dry for the most part. I also really enjoyed talking to Zaheer abou the future and how AI could impact things going forward. I really enjoy talking with him, and appreciate that he doesn’t get bored by it.

Sunday I went to the Teddington Rubber Ducky Race with Diana, Jose, Zsofia, Anel, and Pavel. Anel and Pavel showed up towards the end, then we had an amazing Sunday roast and Pimms at the Teddington Arms where Jose is the manager. We hung out in his flat afterwards, just above the bar. I had a great time with that group, but needed to get back home early to meet Steph as she came back from her cave dive rescue training course.

London Weekly 126

June 23, 2025 2

An Eventful Week

I had an amazing amount happen in one week. Selling a house in CA, Buying a flat in the UK, leaving Meta, and starting on my own company.

On top of that there was a lot of choir and people visiting from out of town.

After getting back from Turkey, We took a much needed day to rest at the flat. Then I got to my last few days in the office. I also met up with Punit, and we walked around the Camley Street Nature Park. Steph and I also dropped by IKEA to get some furniture shopping in and establish a baseline for what we are looking for in our furniture for the new place. We closed on Tuesday and got the keys. There was still some furniture left in the flat so we got that moved out on Thursday.

I had a lovely going away drinks on Wednesday, with a lot of my Meta colleagues coming by. Many had already gone home since a plumbing issue caused the P Building to be shut down. I also left my keyboard in the office since I rushed out, but not a huge thing to have left.

Thursday I was free and the weather was nice and left my phone at the flat. I walked from King’s Cross to Russel Square, then down to Westminster. I walked through St. James Park, Green Park, and Hyde Park before having lunch in Little Venice. I decided to head back and jumped on the tube to get back in 15 minutes.

Thursday evening most of the dive group for Turkey came over and we had a lovely evening of games. They were so nice, and I really appreciate the books from Diana, Jose, Anel, and Pavel. I’ll read through the one from Anel so I can discuss it with her.

Friday I had a motley assortment of friends over, and it was great to see them all getting along so well and connecting. Nicole, Radha, Marissa, Bijoy, Lynne, and Pauline came. I really enjoyed the evening, and I want to host more social events like that. The new place will be better setup to handle it, from the layout of the space and having our own furniture to move around as we like.

For Friday I did a twist on the blueberry scones that I’m calling blueberry dumplings, as I wrap a few blueberries in the scone dough. It turns out much better than the scones, due to the blueberries staying whole and inside the dough instead of leaking everywhere.

Saturday Morning we had a call with Yutong and Paul. It has been too long and I was really happy we were able to get so much time talking to them. It was really late their time, and I appreciate them staying up so late to talk.

Michael and Michelle arrived Saturday around noon. They took a jet lag nap before we met up with them for dinner at Dishoom in the Battersea Power Station. We then headed to The Treehouse where we met with Nicole and some other of her friends. It was a really nice evening, with drinks late into the night. A little too late into the night for me, but it was still great discussions. It was interesting to hear the others complain about their moms, and when they asked me I could only answer “My mom is perfect.”

Sunday was lots of choir. In the morning we went to Merkato Mayfair, a church converted to a food court. The acoustics are great in there. Then we headed to Comic Con, and performed again. The guys from dive club were amazingly supportive and showed up to listen and record. We walked around afterwards until the Con closed. Then I headed into Covent Garden to meet Evelyn, who happened to also be in London this weekend. We had dinner at Seven Dials market, then watched a street act. We then met her husband and went to Mr. Fogg’s Society of Exploration. It wasn’t their normal kind of place, but I think they still had a good time. There was a live singer who did amazing jazzy cocktail covers of pop songs.

I’ve also been setting up tons of meetings about leaving Meta and a whole different set of meeting with builders to walk them through our plans and get bids. I feel bad that I haven’t done much actual work yet, even though it has been only two working days, during which I was mainly handling the flat purchase.

London Weekly 125

May 26, 2025 1

Turkey Diving 2025

I went on a dive trip with a great group. Gokhan was leading the trip, and I was roomed with Frank. The others on the trip were Pavel, Anel, Lata, zSofia, Cheryl, Jose, Diana, and Romana.

We got to Gatwick, with most of us taking the same flight that Gokhan recommended. He was already in Turkey, so we met him when we got into the airport there.

We were diving in Fethiye for the first two days, and staying at an all inclusive resort. I was tempted to join in on the karaoke, but decided against it as I was really tired from the travel.

The first day of diving was really chill. The experienced divers were paired with newer divers, and I got paired with Pavel, as both of us are intermediate. The dive had us go through some tight canyon swim throughs. They were neat, but there wasn’t as much life as we’d hoped. The two fish that were surprisingly abundant were the puffer fish and lion fish from the Red Sea. We relaxed in a small cove in between the dives and had a really nice lunch. The second dive then was around that cove with a small wreck in the outer part of the cove.

In the afternoon we went to a famous lagoon and had drinks while relaxing near the beach. A few people rented paddle boards and went around the lagoon. The whole day paragliders were coming down from the nearby mountain that had a cable car running up it. They were coming down almost one a minute the whole day. Many were tandem as well for tourists I assume. We got to watch them landing on the beach and on the boardwalk.

We had a relaxed evening at the hotel, with an amazing sunset. The next day we did an absolutely amazing first dive called Aladdin’s Cavern. It was a huge cavern with a large skylight and archway entrance on the surface. We took the underwater entrance, and it was amazing to come up into the air dome to see the light coming down from above. There was also a large school of fish playing in the light rays that really accentuated the space.

I chose to not do the second dive, as did Jose. Anel was also hanging out on the boat as she wasn’t a diver.

Once we got back to shore we headed straight to Kas. We got a large AirBnB that was rustic, but really nice at the same time. It had a huge balcony and garden. We picked a dozen or so lemons and made lemonade our second night there. They had a nice cat that reminded me a lot of Kanga there. She wanted into the house so badly, but the notes in the AirBnB said to not let in any of the cats. While in Kas we went out to dinner each night. The first night it was at a decently fancy place, and it was tasty. I got a traditional Turkish dish and it was unique. I wouldn’t say I liked it, but it wasn’t bad.

The next day we went out for a few basic dives, but the life near Kas was better than near Fethiye.

That afternoon I got a really nice massage that really helped on some pent up tension I had. Lata organised the outing to the spa and she got the full Hammam experience, plus a coffee peel. It sounded like a lot more than what I was looking for.

That evening we stayed in at the AirBnB and had a lovely night just hanging out and talking.

Gokhan really wanted to play some Backgammon, and it had been at least two decades since I last played. I picked it back up pretty quickly. The first game Gokhan threw really hard as I was figuring it out again. The second game He took more seriously, but still had some silly moves to make it more interesting. He ended up regretting that as I was able to pull out a win.

The second day of diving in Kas was the best, besides Aladdin’s Cavern. We started with the Canyon then went to the the Tank. It was interesting dives. We then had a lovely evening at the Kas amphitheatre. I really enjoyed the time to just relax and talk with everyone there. I learned a lot about each of them and feel like we all got closer from the time just relaxing together. I grabbed a neat snack of a steamed bun filled with Turkish barbecue meat. It was tasty.

After that we went to dinner along the coast in another nice restaurant. We met Gokhan’s friends at the end of dinner as they just came down. A few of us were really tired and headed out. I also had a few kitty friends that were happy with the bits of meat I was sneaking them under the table.

The next morning we headed to the start of the trail for a small section of the Lycian Way. We did a 16 km section of the trail, and it was pretty tough. The whole way had lots of loose rocks that made it precarious for rolling my ankle. When we got closer to the end of the trail it was a lot of climbing as well. We took a break for snorkelling but the water was muddy and people couldn’t really see well. The one highlight on that snorkel was the turtle that came right up to everyone in the water.

We also had a nice lunch halfway through at a small restaurant that was really in the middle of nowhere, and just for people hiking along the trail it seamed.

At the end of the trail we got to a really nice hotel in the little village Ucagiz. There were some really friendly cats, my favourite called the Manager. He let me carry him around and pet him, and was so friendly. I missed dinner because I needed to make some calls that evening.

The next day we did a snorkelling trip to the sunken cities. We also went to a seemingly random cover that had so much more life than anywhere else we’d been. I really enjoyed seeing the large groups of fish that would part as we swam through. We also got out of the water and walked around the ruins some. It is amazing how many ruins are spread around the area.

The food on the boat was amazing, just like the previous time. It was a lovely dinner and everyone ended up stuffed.

We then went to the nearby castle, and did a quick hike up to it and back down. The castle was overgrown, and I found two hedgehogs in the underbrush, which is the first time I’ve seen hedgehogs in the wild. I stopped to cuddle another kitty, who was just as friendly as the Manager.

That evening we had a dinner out as a group, despite everyone already being amazingly full already.

We headed to the airport the next day, with a stop for stuffed Turkish pancakes.

This would have been week 124 in London.

May 18, 2025 1

Back to Singing

This week I did a lot of singing, and skipped out on just as much.

I went to choir rehearsal for Ready Singer One on Monday and then West End Musical Choir on Wednesday. I’m still enjoying both choirs, and they don’t take up that much time overall. I skipped the Tuesday rehearsal, because it was for a performance I wasn’t going to be able to make.

I was also supposed to go to Overtures on Friday, but forgot my ID and was turned away at the door. I still enjoyed sitting and watching Outernet for a little while.

Book club on Sunday was a great discussion, with one of the larger attendances in a while. We were talking about Work Pray Code, and we each had personal identification with the message of work in Silicon Valley trying to be all of a person’s life, filling in for religion and other social structures.

Otherwise it was a calm week, and I got a lot of work done on my side projects.

London Weekly 123

May 6, 2025 0

Steph’s Parents in London

This week was mainly spent with Steph’s parents. We went to several dinners around London, and all of them were delicious.

We also went to SIX the Musical, and I think they liked it. It is shorter and more energetic than many musicals. They said afterwards they would have liked to learn more about the history beforehand.

We also finally made it to the Cotswolds. We went around to most of the major villages, and even stopped by Jeremy Clarkson’s restaurant.

It was great to see Elaine and Russel.

London Weekly 122

May 4, 2025 0

Bridge Command

This week we did a really interesting activity that simulates Star Trek. It was really well done, but I took a position that was just ok, radar. I learned from that and I know now more about the experience, so I’ll be able to do more next time. Steph had an amazing time, running around and repairing the ship. Steph was also on Navigation, but got backup from the comms station.

I also looked after Henry again this week, and while I was in the neighbourhood I took some walks through Hampstead Heath. It was a gorgeous time to be in the heath, as many of the flowers were in bloom.

Steph’s parents got into town, so we went to dinner with them at Coal Office. They took the repositioning cruise across the Atlantic, so they didn’t have any jet lag.

It was overall a lovely week in London.

London Week 121

May 4, 2025 0

A Build up to Spring

After the choir dress rehearsal on Sunday I got very sick. Monday and Tuesday I didn’t really leave the bed. Wednesday and Thursday I was in bed mostly, but trying to work. Friday I made it to the office as my fever had broken. I still had a lingering cough for a few weeks. This was pretty much all of London week 119.

London week 120 was much better. I still had a cough, but I was able to get out and about, and the cough wasn’t so bad that I had to back out of the choir performances. I had a great time performing again on the steps of St. Pauls, where Lynne and a friend came to watch. It was also during a half marathon going through London, and right by the Cathedral, so it was chaos in that area. I had a good time of it with the singing. I was also strangely happy to have a light sunburn from standing on the steps for so long. It feels good after so many months of cold and overcast to have a sunny enough day to get a sunburn. The other choir performance was in front of the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. We got there early and had a nice picnic under some amazing cherry trees. Then we walked around and looked at some of the other nice flower beds around the memorial. The performance went well, but the choir was on a flat area high up, so it was hard to see the audience. I only did the first cast, and I stuck around to hear part of the second cast, which was a nice change of pace.

During the week not much happened. I finally made it back to dive club, in the new pub, The Crown. I also finally put in my notice at work, so my last day will be May 21. I’m looking forward to doing something of my own again. We also went to the play Stiletto with Nancy and Punit this week. I wasn’t a huge fan of the play as the musical numbers didn’t fit into the play, they were points where the action paused and then people sang about their emotions. We then got drinks at an amazing bar, Mr. Fogg’s Society of Exploration. It was a lovely atmosphere, with great drinks.

Nature has been amazing these past few weeks, despite me being sick. The weather has been lovely, and we’ve started to see the first baby birds. I also saw a fox walking along the outside of Regent’s Wharf, and we took a morning to just have a picnic in the park before I headed into work. It has been slow and lovely overall.