#like luckily i could avoid that the pst two days by doing nothing but reading all day for 12 hours in a row

[shqhaeil-blog]

     spotted at the campus is 𝐍𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐈𝐋 , a fourth year graduate student majoring in 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐘 & 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 . he can be determined , passionate , & straightforward , but also sluggish , apathetic , & judgemental . coming from seoul , south korea , this student is now 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 - 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 years old .

     hallo everyone , it’s your local 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐁 ( she / her , pst ) here ! it really has been a hot minute since i’ve been in any sort of rp , so i hope you all enjoy the company of my muse 𝐍𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐈𝐋 ( pinterest board ) & my daring attempts at writing up somethings decent . he is a muse that i strive to rekindle , so i decided to do that by bringing him here ! he’s quite a handful to be honest , so fair warning before you read below the cut . some wanted connections will be at the bottom as well !

     𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐒) , brief mentions of : nsfw , alcohol , & drugs .

i’d like to think his pinterest board speaks for him , so these are just a few additional detailed points about him .

growing up as an only child , his parents really pressured him into finding his passion as soon as possible . luckily , he picked up his first pair of drumsticks at the age of four . while his mom would work in their garden , haeil would continue to beat on empty buckets , or practically anything he could get a noise out of . it was definitely a huge step . his natural talents with music made him stand out like a sore thumb in his neighborhood . while parents wanted their kids to be doctors , lawyers , etc . , his parents encouraged the artist within him .

as for the rest of his kid years , they breezed by like it was nothing . haeil was the talk of the news , being the youngest to master various instruments & already beginning the practice of creating his own lyrics , all without the help of anyone . as a self - taught artist , he was deemed to be someone special .

at the age of sixteen , everything was still being handed to him on a silver platter . neither of his parents or him had any worries for his future at this point . & maybe , he thought , that was the something that lead him to who he is today . he had no real life experiences as a child . he didn’t face any harm coming his way ; rather just focused on what a perfect life he could continue to live . but as the amount of cameras grew by the dozens , constantly following him around & being shoved into his face , he grew sour & thought about this lifestyle . he discussed with his parents that he didn’t want that easy life any longer . he reasoned that he wanted to grow as a person & find his own voice with his music .

after reluctantly agreeing & sending haeil off to california for school , they expected to hear every day from him . from every day turned into every week , from every week turned into every month , & what resulted with not hearing from him at all . what they didn’t know was that he was going off in a downward spiral of his own : breaking the seal of what was the picture perfect child . he was squeezing in every piece of reality into two years : sex , drugs , alcohol , pain , sadness , happiness , heartbreak , all of it . there’s not a thing in the book that he hasn’t experienced over the course of those aching years . with this decision of him came a wretched consequence . his emotions became nonexistent . 

at age nineteen , when he figured that he somewhat got a grip on himself once again , he decided to pursue going to university here for the sake of having a degree in something at least , & that something was an easy ride for him : music theory & composition . on one hand , sadly his old habits haven’t completely died with his past , & much more controlled nowadays . on the other hand , he’s found a new hobby : using people for the sake of writing more lyrics . it’s one form of entertainment . whether it comes to one date , a one or more night stand , or even a relationship for one whole week , he’s all game if it brings him what he wants . due to this new habit of his , he finds it hard to commit to anyone anymore ; especially , after a long term relationship that screwed him over ( from age sixteen to early eighteen ) . he always questioned if love was real in the first place after that . a scheme like this only aids him to cope with what was done to his heart .

additionally , haeil is also selling his songs as a side job . he discusses that he doesn’t want any credit for anything ; thus , allowing him to sell his work for more money . lowkey can be someone’s sugar daddy . & ever since he started this business , it’s been too easy to file out so many songs for artists . but along the way , he lost the spark with his passion without even realizing it .

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 & 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 : due to the trauma he’s been through , he’s not much of a talker . although , when he does open his mouth , it’s probably something straightforward . he’ll be completely honest with a person ,  & he doesn’t care whether it hurts their feelings or not . what makes him worse is that he doesn’t show any emotion . he’s also probably not interested in anything unless it has to do with music . he knows he’s lonely & he always denies it . he pushes people away to avoid getting too close , so he doesn’t get too attached & invested . he’ll definitely walk away from a person without telling them if he’s bored . he’ll take affection behind closed doors & will gladly return it because he’s probably going to use it to his advantage . he’s a broken man to sum it up to be honest .

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐒 ( all connections are open to m / f / nb muses ) : like this if you’d be interested in any of them , & i shall come to you !

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 : haeil suddenly disappeared due to the fame he was getting , & they couldn’t hang out anyone due to his parents not wanting him to associate with anyone who didn’t have a name in the industry . now , they’re surprised & disappointed how he’s changed . hopefully they can bring the same bright - eyed person they once knew .

𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐏𝐀𝐋 : when haeil was cooped up in his own little studio , he needed to talk to someone about his life . up until this day , he still talks to them about what he’s thinking & such . this person probably knows the most about him , but they haven’t met in person yet because he isn’t ready to expose who he is .

𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 / 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐓𝐒 : they do or don’t know about haeil’s reputation . they’re either being used for his music or being kept around because he sees potential to use them in the future .

𝐄𝐗 - 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 : from the ages of sixteen to eighteen ( in california ) , haeil met this lovely person who never failed to make him the happiest he can be . it wasn’t until one night that he caught them with another . they’re the reason why he can’t commit to anyone , & he only blames himself for not being worthy of a relationship .

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓(𝐒) : this is someone haeil’s officially let into his two / three person music circle . while he does write plenty of songs about dumb love , he has a handful of secret songs he keeps to himself . they’re on a much more personal level , & he wants the songs to be done to their full potentials . he considers this person / these people his friends , but he wouldn’t say it out loud .

#shq:intro #░▌︴° ⋄ 〉𝙾𝙾𝙲 — 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘽 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 out .

[accuhunt]

How I Connect Meaningfully with Locals as I Travel the World.

Curious how to meet locals while traveling? Some introvert travel advice from a fellow introvert.

I’ve been quite torn about talking about travel (with snippets of sustainability, veganism and personal battles of course) while we’re in a global crisis. But this week, 84% of you voted in my Instagram Stories that I should, atleast occasionally.⁣ I’m a bit relieved, because dreaming of travel allows me to momentarily escape these bizarre times too.

“Social distancing” is the need of the hour. We must keep our distance from people and stay away from social gatherings to (hopefully) contain the on-going crisis. For social butterflies, this is a trying exercise. But for introverts like me, it’s no big deal.

Over the past few days, I’ve hardly stepped out of my gate except for the occasional grocery run. I’ve been writing, catching up with my folks, watching pointless movies and reminiscing about my travels over the years. And that got me thinking.

As an introvert, I don’t enjoy hostels, seldom go partying, avoid social gatherings and can rarely strike up a conversation in a group. Yet I’ve built beautiful friendships in several corners of the world based on shared interests and meaningful interactions. I’m constantly asked how. How to meet locals while traveling? What’s some practical introvert travel advice for meaningful encounters on the road?

Here are some tools that have enabled me to connect with people while I travel:

How to meet locals while traveling based on your interests: Airbnb Experiences 

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A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Jan 14, 2020 at 8:59pm PST

You’ve probably used or heard of Airbnb as a platform where people around the world can host travellers in their homes. I’ve been using it for years, staying at experiential accommodations like remote fincas in Central America, hip hideouts in Europe and even an off-the-grid treehouse in Sri Lanka.

But a while ago, Airbnb launched something even more epic – “Airbnb Experiences“. A collection of unique, curated travel experiences (hikes, day trips, classes, workshops etc) offered by locals in their town or city. It’s the perfect answer to how to meet locals while traveling. A game-changer for introvert travel. A chance to experience places from a local’s lens. It democratizes livelihood opportunities through tourism. But most of all, it’s a rare opportunity to meet locals who share similar interests.

Over three months in Cape Town in 2019, we connected with some beautiful souls through Airbnb Experiences. Hikers, social workers, vegan chefs and marine biologists. Some went on to become good friends, some hiking buddies. And some definitely moulded our perception of life in South Africa.

Not on Airbnb yet? Sign up with my referral link to get upto 40$ off Airbnb Stays / Airbnb Experiences.

How to meet vegans on the road: HappyCow

I remember my first evening in Matsumoto (Japan) quite vividly. I was on assignment with a group of fellow writers / photographers, and had a long day out. By early evening, I was famished, ready to have an enormous meal, but devastated to discover that on offer was a meat-laden buffet with only slim salad pickings for my vegan self. I decided I needed to eat better, and walked away.

Outside, the weather was cold and rainy. I walked on the deserted, dark street, with no shops or restaurants in sight. I had no local SIM card and no idea where to look for food. Luckily, I had turned on international roaming on my Airtel SIM and cellular data worked fast. I quickly opened the HappyCow app and was delighted to see a vegan-friendly izakaya listed a kilometer away. I had no idea it was going to change my entire experience of being vegan in Japan!

Through the noren (a traditional Japanese fabric used as a door), I walked into a charming old wooden tavern, to be greeted by a sweet elderly woman. In basic Japanese I’d been practicing, I tried to ask for vegan food. She pulled out a stack of handwritten cards, each explaining traditional dishes that could be made vegan! In broken Japanese and English, she went on to explain how traditional Japanese food was essentially plant-based until the Meiji era. Over warm sake, we talked about food and life in Japan, her beloved city of Matsumoto and my excitement to explore more of Japan. While parting, she gave me a hug and a gorgeous collection of her origami!

Since I turned vegan in 2015, I owe it to HappyCow – an app which maps vegan / vegetarian food wherever you are – for leading me to incredible vegan food and soulful encounters around the world <3

Also read: How to Travel as a Vegan and Find Delicious Food Anywhere in the World

Introvert travel on a budget: Meetup.com 

PIN to refer to this post later.

I’m hardly one to sign up for social meetups. I’d probably be found in a corner, unwilling to make small talk, cursing myself for showing up! But interest-based meetups are different. You meet a bunch of strangers yes, but there’s already a common thread to skip most of that dreaded small talk.

Meetup.com has been around forever, but I’ve started using it only recently. In South Africa, I joined a meetup group of female writers – right up my alley. The platform also led us to local hiking groups, especially for trails rarely traversed or incredibly expensive to do independently.

Especially as a digital nomad, spending a month or two in a spot, interest-based meetups are a great way to connect with like-minded people. And there’s nothing quite as beautiful as a friendship formed halfway across the world, especially one that lets an introvert come out of her shell.

Also read: Four Years of Travelling Without a Home

How to meet locals while traveling to bond over food: EatWith

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A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Jul 27, 2018 at 10:49pm PDT

As much as it’s fun to explore new restaurants and cafes in a new place, I love the idea of a homemade meal in a local home – and that’s exactly what EatWith is about. A platforms where chefs open their dining rooms to travellers.

My first brush with EatWith happened years ago in New York City. Together with a friend, I landed up in the home of a Jewish family for a traditional Sabbath dinner. As much a cultural experience – complete with Hebrew prayers to bless the wine and challah (braided Jewish bread) – as a culinary one.

Also read: How to Ease Your Transition Into a Vegan Lifestyle

Virtual connections before real ones for introvert travel: Instagram

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A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Sep 3, 2019 at 9:52pm PDT

Instagram has changed travel in many ways. Personally, it’s become a channel to connect with like-minded locals and discover responsible travel experiences around the world.

In Bhutan, Instagram enabled me to connect with amazing women in the country. Some working tirelessly to promote compassion towards animals, one revolutionizing the digital space in Bhutan and even the country’s first solo female traveller!

In Iran, an Instagram hashtag led me to an underground vegan movement! One that spans food, travel, music and spirituality. I’m constantly in touch with the friends I made, often exchanging poetry, articles worth reading and life updates.

In Myanmar, Instagram led me to someone who has been exploring unmapped villages in the country’s tribal belts. And my own motorbike adventure, of which I must write about soon.

As I often write, like all social media, Instagram is merely a tool. It’s totally up to us how we use it.

Also read: Inspiring Indians Using Social Media to Drive Positive Change

How to meet locals while traveling as a digital nomad: Facebook groups

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A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Jun 26, 2018 at 5:40am PDT

While writing this post, I began thinking of my most memorable (planned) encounters around the world, and traced so many of them back to Facebook.

Location and interest based Facebook groups have led me to a Mayan Spanish teacher-turned-friend in Guatemala. To a bunch of committed animal rights activists in Thailand. To a tribe of inspiring zero waste practitioners in South Africa. To a Syrian refugee and his awe-inspiring life story in the Netherlands. And to many local events, talks and spots that have helped me immerse myself in a place beyond typical tourism.

Also read: How to Earn Money While Travelling

On my wishlist

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A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Jan 31, 2019 at 8:46pm PST

In remote, offbeat places, I love to leave my encounters up to chance. But in cities and tourism-oriented spots, I’ve started relying more on technology to lead me to meaningful experiences. I’m currently eyeing the following platforms:

Veganary Mini-Tours: As a passionate vegan, I’m always looking to connect with local vegans wherever I go, learn about the evolution of cuisines and of course, try local vegan food. I think Veganary Mini-Tours is going to add more magic to my vegan travel life – with short meetups with local vegans around the world! They’ve launched in 20 destinations so far, and as more people support their crowdfunding campaign, I hope they’ll be everywhere soon.

WithLocals: A platform that connects travellers with local hosts to explore a city from a local lens, spanning hiking, cooking, music and other experiences. WithLocals sounds like an easy way to beat the introvert travel blues, while building meaningful connections.

How do you meet locals while traveling? Have you tried any of the above platforms?

*Note: I wrote this post in collaboration with Airtel. Opinions on this blog, as you know, are always mine.

ALSO READ:

How to indulge your wanderlust at home

The last indigenous cave dwellers of Sri Lanka

Is it possible to fly responsibly?

PIN me!

The post How I Connect Meaningfully with Locals as I Travel the World. appeared first on The Shooting Star.

How I Connect Meaningfully with Locals as I Travel the World. published first on https://airriflelab.tumblr.com

[greatplanettahoe]

Japan Log Day 4

Day Four of Japan - Tokyo Skytree

Today was a fantastic day. It was long transit wise, but well worth the hour commute both ways. We started today off a little late, as we usually do, and got on the train headed to the tower. An hour later, we arrived as Oshiage station. We headed up a few flights of escalators, passed under a high pitched ringing area, and into a mall. We passed by stores, one with Rodeo in the name that was so painfully American that I felt ashamed. There was another one called Lowrey Farms ... as if that's not cringe-worthy to read, just think about the kind of clothes that they sell there.

We made it past all the stores and found our way into a food court. It was basically a box, with the shops on the outer ring, seating on the inner ring, and then the middle cut out so you could see the food store below. Which cut out a lot of potential seating. My luck for beating rush hour seems to not work here in Japan, so the food court was very busy. We circled it twice before deciding to go to a shop that sold hamburger steaks with some sort of sauce on it. We also got a bowl of rice, and a soup that was ... interesting. Definitely different than what Lilia and I are used to.

After we were done, we headed up to where we purchase Skytree passes. There was a lot of people, and since we wanted to see Tokyo at night, and that was four plus hours away, we decided to see the aquarium first. The aquarium in the western portion of Skytree town is two floors, and chock full of sea life. There was a giant tank full of nothing but neon tetras (GOALS!) and lots of jellyfish! There were nautilus' and some eels I've never seen in person before. Lilia described them perfectly as "Little Mermaid evil eels". We moved on to see a two story tall GIANT tank with manta rays, a small shark, and loads of large, random fish. It was stunning.

We moved on to the other side and there we saw some fun mixed aquariums. One had huge fish in, with one of the fish looking like a former LSHS teacher that had an unfortunate bulbous forehead. Some of my HS buddies on here may remember Mr. Unkles. (Pst, guys, it was bigger than the one we named at Bridges pets!) Then, we saw the tank behind that. It had so many eels in it, I almost wanted to start singing poor unfortunate souls as they were literally the little eels that stick out of the ground. Now all we needed was an octopus lady locked up somewhere.

Behind us, the lights dimmed and we walked over to the penguin exhibit that had a beautiful light show. We watched the penguins play for a while after the show ended and went on our way. Down the pathway were some seals. As Lilia walked past them to see the penguins more, I stayed behind to get some photos. I witnessed two seals have a small bitch-fest before one jumped off the rock they were both on. I made my way towards Lilia and the first floor of the aquarium.

To say that the aquarium had a lot of goldfish was an understatement. I almost feel like I was visiting Ginny with her love of goldfish. There were so many colors and styles. There was one small tank that had some goldfish with bulbous eyes that reminded me of Ginny's fish McNugget. There were ones that were white with black spots, or more of a red than a gold. Sadly, no koi. I want to see koi! I say and then immediately look up where ti find a public koi pond.

We finished up our visit to the aquarium with the standard gift shop. We both picked up a couple keepsakes and moved on back to the food court as we were both kind of munchy feeling. And there was a crepe place. I got a chocolate banana crepe and a four berry parfet, Lilia got a strawberry parfet and a melon soda float. All was wonderful. From there, we decided to finally hit up the Pokemon Center in Skytree Solamachi.

When the website says it offers 300 stores, I honestly believe it. SO MANY LITTLE STORES! Lilia got sidetracked by a jewelry store, and boy was it worth it. She found two rings that she loved, and I found two necklaces that are both silver, so I can wear them! One needs a longer chain, as right now it's more of a choker than a necklace. Or, rather, if I swallow too hard, it's going to ping off my neck like Hulk flexes and vaporizes his clothes. The other is short, but fits well enough.

Happy, we wandered a little bit, turned a corner and was ASSAULTED by Pokemon. BOOM, the center was right there! We spent a good 30 minutes to an hour inside the store, probably more deer in headlights than we meant to be. There were so many things, that it's hard to recall them all. Of course, the obvious plushies lined the walls, and they had a small Ditto line that was absolutely adorable, although limited. There was cookware??? and stationary. Socks, shirts, mystery balls that offered a stamp, a tissue box cover, candies, glassware, and probably more I can't think of right now.

Lilia and I both spent probably too much at the center .... but at least we both got gifts for people that weren't us.

As we left the Pokemon Center, we saw what I've been wanting to see since we got to Japan. Amezaiku. Old Japanese candy crafting. We were lucky and got to see the artisan work. He grabbed a shapeless blob of heated candy, and sculpted it into a frog. It was an absolute delight to watch him work. He was very polite and sweet to talk to, and luckily knew enough English that we could get our point across. We both bought a couple things from the shop and went on our way to the Skytree proper. But no, seriously watch this video, he's amazing; https://www.youtube.com/watch…

We walked past the weird carnival that they were holding on the Skytree deck where kids could be in a hamster ball on water, or a small rowing boat. There was also one where they were on bungie cords and could jump as high as they wanted. Luckily, the crowds had died down, and instead of using the fast lane for tourists only and paid double, the nice lady said that the wait in the normal line was only about 10 minutes and we could do that instead. It didn't feel like 10 minutes, honestly.

We finally got our tickets, and headed up. We got into a beautiful, large elevator that had gold around the top and cherry blossom (sakura) flowers inside. Their "Spring" elevator. Now, the observation deck is called floor 350. That's because it's 350 meters, or 1148 feet, off the ground. Way too high. The elevator also went the speed of the trains, so we rocketed up to the observation deck. Lilia's ears were popping like popcorn, and I got a nice case of vertigo.

We wandered the first deck for a biit and moved down to the slightly lower deck, 345 to check out the store, and avoid the cafe on the other side. Deciding to get some juice from the cafe on 350, we went back and wasted some time there. That's where Lilia got her beautiful shot of the cups on the neat light-up table. We both grabbed some souvenirs from the Skytree Shop on the floor below as it was already getting dark, snagged tickets to go up to floor 450 (you guessed it, 450m off the ground, so 1476 feet) and went on our way.

The elevator ride took 30 seconds, so ... it was fast. The cool thing was that the elevator glowed blue on the way up (One Japanese guy exclaimed "Sugoi!" (Amazing) and immediately got red). The not cool part was that while the first elevator was enclosed and you couldn't see outside, this one was the opposite. I looked to my left, saw that I could see the city as we ascended, and promptly said "oh God no".

After the incredibly smooth ride, we got off. The pathway curved upwards, and we walked up the pathway and stood at the top, watching the city for a while. We eventually made our way to the elevators down and sat on floor 340 to watch the city move underneath us. And also to get past the rush hour that happened while we were up in no man's land. Seriously, Way too high up.

We left Skytree, and wandered through the rest of the shops that we missed on the way up, and left. We got to the platform fine, where while waiting 10 minutes for our train, we saw a couple get off and stare and point at the Keikyu line map. They looked very confused, so we approached them to try and help. Since Google hasn't led us astray yet - only we have by being confused on where to go and being shuffled along with the crowds - we fired up their destination and steered them on the correct path. Hopefully they made it.

A handful of minutes later, we were approached by an elderly Japanese man, who knew just enough English to ask us where we were going and if we knew what train. We showed him the maps, and he saw our destination was an hour away and made a face of "woah, that far?" He wandered off, and came back about a minute later, confirming that yes, that was indeed the train we wanted to take, We thanked him and his generosity, and continued to wait.

The ride home was pretty peaceful, and the train slowly got more packed. Luckily we had gotten on early enough that we were able to get seats. Now, this is one thing I will always really appreciate from the locals. If you're in the middle of the car, but it's your stop, if you politely say excuse me - even in English - they will get out of your way to the best of their ability so you can get off to not miss your stop.

The walk home was nice in the night air. We swung into a drug store where Lilia finally got cotton strips instead of cotton balls because those don't apparently exist in Japan. She helped me find Ibuprofen and the Japanese version of Icy/Hot for my ankle as there were a couple times today where it definitely wasn't doing too hot. We both picked up some candy to try out, and they're both different in texture, or what we expected, but not bad!

We got the rest of our vacation planned out finally, and tomorrow we're hitting up the Aqua Park in Shinagawa for a show called Sakura Aquarium (by Naked ..... hopefully there won't actually be naked people. They actually decorated the Skytree while we were there today, so it should be super pretty!). Should be fun! We found a ramen restaurant near us that we're trying tomorrow as we're going to take tomorrow easy.

We also found a Burger King on the map while looking for ramen restaurant. It's 5 minutes away. Guess what we're getting Friday? :9

#Japan Log #Day 4 #Japan Trip