Updated April 10 2025
Hey!
It’s been a little bit since I updated this. The last time was in January after having moved to Saigon for a while. You can read it here.
It is already April, and I have been living in Taiwan for the past month. Taiwan has been a place I’ve been coming back to for the past 3 years, each time at the same time of the year. This easy switch from winter to spring, where Taipei is transitioning from rainy and cold to some nice sunny days. We’re staying in the north of Taipei, in a very local and charming neighbourhood where luckily vegetarian food has been plentiful, and everything we need is accessible.
I picked up basketball again! Taipei has basketball courts everywhere in the city, all easily accessible. There are probably a dozen within a 10-minute walking distance from our home. I managed to find a second-hand ball and pick up some practice again. I had missed it so much. I now go practice whenever the weather allows it, usually at sunset time, on these courts by the Keelung River.
The courts are fantastically well maintained (Taiwan’s infrastructure is incredible and would be worth a post on its own), and they start filling up as the sun goes down. Students come after school and gather to play a few games. Makes me realise how much I prefer this over going to the gym. The bit of sweat, cardio, and dexterity practice is good for me. I guess some objective soon will be how to join some pick-up games despite my old knees.
The second big evolution for my time in Taiwan is that I picked up some drumming lessons. It’s something I have been dreaming of for way too long, and I am so happy I started. I am now a month into
this practice, and some things that seemed impossible before are now accessible. Now, another set of impossibilities are ahead, and I keep practicing on it. It’s been great, honestly, and I want to talk more about the feeling of learning an instrument like this and why I immediately knew this would be a great practice.
The last thing that changed since January is the fact that I joined a writing circle. I connect with a group of peers every week to discuss and share writing time together. It’s been amazing to have space dedicated to writing. I want to talk more about the dedication of spaces within the week to focus on a practice. This is illustrated through basketball, drumming, and writing, and how those 3 things have been the drivers to my routine and happiness. I want to reflect on how to emulate these spaces and maybe join more of them.
Finally, work-wise, things have been uneventful and smooth. I am steadily continuing with some long-term clients while onboarding a new one. The hours are not crazy and quite stable. It is good though. Maybe I can sense I could use a shift in that space in the coming 6 months? Let’s see.
Well, that’s it for now. I’ll try to update maybe next time there is some change in lifestyle, which should happen in the summer for sure.
Take care.
