“Keepin’ it 235%” Entry 1: Set the Tempo, and a Giant Sea Serpent. (3/26/20)

Pump the brakes kev whoa whoa whoa…yo hold up! what’s up with you man? I thought the next post in your travel blog would be about “Day 3 (Part 3) – [Insert a chill yet vibrant title to describe your late afternoon to nighttime experience in Shizuoka, Japan] (11/12/19).” WHAT IS UP?! D:

To answer that – technically, Listen to what you see. is “a blog + travel journal by a wave.” It’s not just a travel journal, but a blog as well – the way I started this whole writing experience is based on the idea that this is both a blog and a travel journal together. This gives me the flexibility to deviate from the normality of my 2nd Japan trip travel entries and keep it 100% (or actually 235%, which I’ll explain shortly) with y’all the same way when I do written entries about my thoughts in the current day (in this case, today – Thursday, March 26, 2020) when I finally feel is appropriate to do so. This is just one of those days.

Before I get started, you’re probably wondering why I called it “Keepin’ it 235%” rather than Keepin’ it 100% (people usually say this as everyday slang to mean being authentic and truthful, or some people say keepin’ it hunnit if you want to get more street with it haha.) – as you may or may not know, I’m one of the hosts of a video gaming podcast called the “Nintendo Jump Podcast” (btw, shameless plug but check us out! We’re a video gaming podcast created for Nintendo gamers, by Nintendo gamers. Although, two of us (including myself) play on other systems too 😀 just sayin’! We’re on all the podcasting apps such as spotify, google play, etc.).

Anyway, If I recall correctly…during one of our episode recordings, Darrel (one of our awesome hosts) said something about being ready for an upcoming game (dang it! I wish I could remember but I don’t at the moment…), and asked us what we thought about it. I responded by randomly spitting out a number much higher than 100% (since I felt more than 100% ready) and said: “yo, I’m 234% ready!” Then Darrel said, “Really? Only 234%?! I was expecting 235% man…” Both Darrel and Sergio (our other awesome host!) laughed right after, and I followed up with a laugh / chuckle and said something like “haha aaaiiiiittttteeeee (which translates to aite or alright in slang but just more drawn out to accentuate my vivid expression of agreeing with that host at that juncture) yeahhhhhhh 235% there we go!” So that’s really how that “Keepin’ it 235%” came to be, and I figured given the fact that I like to exaggerate my excitement on things a bit more than the usual, average person – 235% is the right number for this new blog series that I’m doin’ at this juncture. There you go – I’m gonna keep it 235% on this one right here, right now. (or I mean, I have been since I started writing this blog entry, but y’all know what I mean?) Here we go.

Since the whole COVID-19 outbreak got more prevalent here in the states a couple weeks ago, a lot has happened since our country has been taking more and more precautionary measures on having a lot of us stay at home, essentially shutting down gathering of any sort, and heavily encouraging us to practice social distancing and self-quarantine.

Not to anyone’s surprise…and personally, my life has definitely been affected. Even though I still do my usual morning acai smoothie routine + sous vide cooking (which btw is an excellent way of cooking), it feels very surreal that we’re being heavily encouraged to stay indoors as much as possible in order to stop spreading this coronavirus as much as possible (because we could be the carriers of COVID-19 while being asymptomatic – we could have it without even knowing we have it).

The whole WFH (working from home) situation and adjusting to this lifestyle for the time being is definitely something that I’ve gotten used to fine (I definitely feel extremely fortunate that I still have my job… there’s a myriad of others who aren’t so lucky unfortunately), but the one thing that surprised me and threw me off guard was the way I approached my social life since this COVID-19 outbreak got more prevalent here in the states a couple weeks ago.

With the exception of having a zoom call with some of my close friends from California last Saturday (which was honestly one of the highlights of this whole coronavirus fiasco), I’ve honestly just gotten more and more introverted as the days go by. To be real, during this whole COVID-19 situation… I’m not as motivated to talk to people as much as I would think I would be.

I’m not doing this because I think people don’t care about me (even though I’m fully aware that pretty much everyone around me is more focused on their own lives and figuring out how to deal with this COVID-19 situation like I am), but it’s because I realize that instead of spending so much time on social media and trying to keep up with the news of what’s going on, all I want to do is focus on just keeping up with my own routine, making sure that I keep and stay as fit (both physically and mentally) as I can without any sense of being lethargic at any point, and spending more me time rather than keeping up with all of the group conversations and things that I have ongoing (unless it’s urgent and super important for me to participate in, of course I’ll make exceptions). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely cutting out my social life – I’m just adjusting to a different way of doing things to keep me refreshed and refocused on something I like to call “Set the Tempo.” Even before this whole COVID-19 situation got more serious, this is the theme of my year that is defining who I am and setting new goals to achieve this year.

Honestly, it has been tremendously difficult to keep up with people nowadays for me just because I’ve been putting in more work hours while working from home, and just being more focused on what I want to do in my spare time. I do try to keep up and check in with friends and family on occasion to see how they’re doing + hope all is well and that they’re safe, but other than that, I’ve just been dealing with my own personal things in terms of what I want to do to get better during this rough time that we’re experiencing today. It does helps that I just got Animal Crossing: New Horizons (what a perfect time for this game to come out late last week, seriously…), and that our gaming community (as a result of our “Nintendo Jump Podcast”) has been ridiculously into it since it’s release, especially Sergio (he’s probably the world number #1 Animal Crossing fan I know). Video games have been a nice medium for me to have as part of my me time, especially since it’s one of my greatest passions in my life.

To put it simply – I just have a lot of moments during these past two weeks where I just don’t want to talk to people. I really don’t. I just want to be alone and in my own thoughts without any distractions and just focus on me.

When I say this, I mean that when I do talk to people, I’m not just talking to them for the sake of talking and getting my quota in of like “oh I’ve talked to this many people and said this many things already, done. I’ve met my quota good night.” haha not like that – I’m being more choosy and picking when it’s the right time to talk to others when it matters the most – like with seeing how people are doing + checking in, and especially when it comes to figuring out different ways to help both the local Portland Community (such as donations to a particular small business that I love + the PDX COVID-19 mutual aid fund and network) and the 626 area (back in Southern California) during a time when families and people greatly affected by the coronavirus outbreak need it the most.

Honestly, I love it – I love that I’m being more introverted at this time just because what I say to others when I do talk can hold much more meaning and isn’t just talk wasted. Ever since I’ve moved to Portland, I’ve been thriving more and more under the notion of operating within my own private time, and spending more time with small groups of people (rather than at parties and at huge social gatherings – unless they’re birthday parties, baby showers, weddings, you know the events that really do matter and are personally significant to me).

It’s been an interesting change in my life especially in becoming more of a listener and an observer, which I’m getting more and more comfortable doing. It’s still a work in progress on my end, but I’m seeing the benefits as the days go by. I feel that being a listener / observer is so much more important and effective in interpersonal communication than just being a talker.

Don’t get me wrong – I do love talking to people in general, but I’m just being less frequent about it because of where I am in my life. I hope y’all ain’t offended about this especially since it’s coming from me (as a person who is a social butterfly) – For those who are close to me – this shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s weird for me to say that I don’t want to talk to people that much right now, but I mean I gotta keep it 235%.

I see this as me being a giant sea serpent (like Leviathan from the Final Fantasy Series – also known as one of the best RPG (role-playing games) series in video gaming history) hiding under the water most of the time. When you think of Leviathan, you don’t necessarily see her right in front of you immediately, but if you wait and look carefully with a good view of the water, sometimes you’ll see her come out and show her true colors. That’s when you’ll get to see who Leviathan really is, and what she is all about. She picks and chooses when to come out of the water, and does it in a way that not only makes her feel more comfortable and confident, but also more importantly, makes it count.

For the past couple weeks (and especially as an alternative to the usual Orangetheory since they’re temporarily closed for the time being due to the COVID-19 situation), I’ve been finding myself in an auto-pilot, de-stressing sort of moment whenever I go out for a run (especially whilst listening to podcasts at the same time). I have this routine now where I would go outside (obviously with being as respectful of those around me through social distancing!) and just go for a run down by the waterfront in the city. I would have moments where I would go for a long run, then walk, then run again, then walk, then run til I get back to my apartment and call it good for the day. I’ve also incorporated running across the local Tilikum Crossing Bridge (one of Portland’s 12 bridges) from the west side to the east and back as a nice roundtrip. That bridge is really nice to run on, and at night, it glows with a fantastic shade of green – very pristine, and it’s quite refreshing to see. There’s something about running that just feels very therapeutic to me.

Keeping with this new routine along with my other existing routines / passions / hobbies + being more introverted as I am now is what I do to “Set the Tempo.” I think it’s extremely important to set a tempo that you are both comfortable with and uncomfortable to a point where it just gets you more motivated to become better as a person for yourself and for others. This is the beautiful struggle of life that I embrace – the daily grind…the process is the dream (as what Kobe Bryant, who has since passed since earlier this year, has mentioned during his jersey retirement ceremony back in December 2017).

I hope y’all can see where I’m coming from in my current state of mind. I know that it may be quite a bit to take in, but that’s what’s been going on with me currently.

It’s getting a bit late, I’m starting to get tired and fall asleep on my office chair haha but anyway…

Also, not to worry – I’m still focused on my travel journal! (the next travel blog post of my 2nd trip to Japan will come by the end of this upcoming weekend!). I just wanted to stop by and share these thoughts with y’all just because this is my current state of mind – this is me keeping it 235%.

Take care y’all, stay proactive and safe during these tough times with the whole COVID-19 outbreak, and I’ll talk to y’all in my next travel journal entry via my 2nd trip to Japan.

Cheers / Wave