Austin

What I learned today – finishing Mario Golf on the Gameboy multiple times, many years ago did nothing to improve my golfing skills. Not that I had any in the first place. The last time I held a real golf club was back in GIS when we had golf for our physical education classes. They’d file us into a van and drive us out to the golf club near our school. Then they’d put us on the driving range for us to try to hit the balls as far as possible. I can’t recall how good the rest of my class was but I know I was terrible at it. More missed swings than balls hit, more balls landing a few feet from the tee instead of way out in the range.

Fast foward to tonight, where I found myself putting (heh) all those years of golfing to the test. It was fun and chill night with my sister, her in-laws and friends at this trendy driving range called Topgolf. If you haven’t been to it before, think of it as a bowling alley, but with way more open space, and different skill requisites. Instead of throwing balls at pins, you were whacking balls into colored holes, and taking sips of alcohol in between. It was interesting to see the veteran golfers wipe the floor with everybody else, despite it being a non-competitive night.

No surprise, I didn’t do well. Not that it mattered, and I knew I wasn’t going to be impressing anybody. Then I started thinking about the fun activities I would have before my hypothetical dream wedding (yes, I’ve written about it before) – we’d be doing fun stuff like jamming, playing some Dota 2 local lobbies, and
assembling keyboards together. Sounds like it would be an awesome day. Fortunately for me, I don’t need to have a wedding to do those things with my friends. (LUL)

Less than 24 hours until the wedding ceremony and dinner. I get to wear my tailored suit for the second time (what a great investment!). It’s going to be a real good time.

Photo of the day: this bus with a drawing that reminded me of a shitty ninja drawing I did many years ago in college. Don’t think I can find it anymore but I’ll post a comparison if I do. Turns out, it’s a private bus for people to rent.

Tonight, we finally moved into my sister’s new home. The place is beautiful, many rooms, high ceilings, wide open spaces, a nice back yard and front porch – pretty much everything you would want in a home. Apparently, they bought it for a steal too. On the downside, there’s no internet yet and cell coverage here is terrible, so I haven’t been doing many online activities. I guess this gives me a chance to be productive tonight – or to chill out playing videogames or watching shows. The weather has been much better today with no rain and wind that numbed my hands every time I went out for a smoke.

Snuggles has somewhat settled down, but she still barks a lot at my sister’s husband. Not sure why, hopefully she’ll become friendlier over time. She enjoys running all over the place though. Especially up and down the stairs. It’s something she never got to do when living in my apartment back in KL.

The more I hang out with my younger sister, the more I realize how much she’s like me. If you’re reading this Beth, it’s a good thing! (in my opinion) She talks in the same monotonous tone, has a chill outlook on life, and isn’t concerned with silly subjects like politics. Way to go. She and her husband have been wonderful hosts (I know it’s not just because I’ve been helping them to move boxes) and have made me feel at home in this foreign city. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back here in the future.

Austin is full of mosquito hawks. These things look mean but they’re supposed to eat mosquitoes. Only issue is I haven’t seen any mosquitoes around. Maybe because they’ve been doing their job. Or they think I’m some big mosquito. Who knows?

Sitting on a couch in a driveway in the middle of the night just to get internet. Nothing suspicious right?

Last night, when I checked Google Assistant to find out what the weather was going to be today it told me that it was going to average 3-5 degrees Celsius. Initially, I thought it must be some kind of error, or maybe it was just a mistake. How wrong I was.

Fast forward to many hours later, this morning I took Snuggles out for some fresh air – it was cold as fuck. Google didn’t lie. The worst part? It was cold for the whole day. It felt like being in the UK during winter again. Except I spent a lot more time outdoors instead of hanging out in nice warm offices. The cold weather persisted all day long, and it’s still cold now even though it’s probably the warmest it’s been all day (7 degrees C).

Fortunately, the rest of the week will be back to normal – 13-15 degrees. I’m so looking forward to tomorrow. If I knew today would be this cold, I would have packed some gloves. I don’t miss having cold hands. Smoking was slightly more fun though – I’d exhale way more smoke than usual.

Snuggles seems to be slightly racist. She barks a lot more at people of a certain color than others. Dogs are supposed to be color blind right? Maybe something else is triggering her. She’s still super attached to me. It’s going to be difficult leaving her behind 🙁 those puppy eyes could melt the coldest heart. Sigh.

On a happier note, Austin has some pretty good ramen. Not as amazing as Tomita, but still very authentic and delicious. I highly recommend Tatsuya Ramen if you’re jonesing for a fix (of that Limp Bizkit mix).

Another day of activities ahead tomorrow, the wedding is only 3 days away now!