Tag: Phuket

Ferris Wheel – 3rd December 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Smooth Tim sells sofas – modular
And his voice has become so popular
Now the king of Dumbdom City
His voice has never been so pretty
Hiding confidence he found lacking
Advertising dollars are his backing
A billion books sold with nothing to say
Four hours of reading is his work today
On this wheel but no longer grinding
Empowering words are his finding
Pulled up from bootstraps and collar
Another four-hour day, another dollar

Inspired by listening to a Soaring Twenties podcast where Tim Ferriss was being dumped on, perhaps rightly, perhaps unfairly. Hot takes provide interest.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

Francis Bacon

Today I’m feeling:
Happy, and relaxed though a little tired
Today I’m grateful for:
All the people that made it possible for Amy and me to fly to Phuket today. If you think about it, there are a lot of people involved in making this happen, which we now take so much for granted.
The best thing about today was:
Swimming in Pim’s pool and looking up at the palms.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
A drunken Amy screaming in the car as I drove to the restaurant for dinner. I enjoyed it as much as I could as it makes me happy to see her happy.
List three goals for this month.

  1. Try to have some money left by the end of the month.
  2. Start using Ableton again and compose some music.
  3. Not lose my temper with my students.

4th Jan 2023 – 1. Fail 2. Fail 3. Success

I took this picture because we’re staying at Pim’s new rental house in Phuket and this is the pool which took me a few minutes after arriving to jump into. Good backstroke for my shoulders but exhausted afterwards.

The Container – 3rd November 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Oil is needed for the container
Good PR from the explainer
Once made, it needs to be filled
Opposition to it must be killed
The container is mandated by God
To surround those found to be odd
If the flow is something not agreed
The container must be seen to succeed
This box is not some piece of Tupperware
It’s a restricting restraining nightmare
Beaten by always holding one’s breath
If not capitulated by finding one’s death
Held inside, the hope and dreams of others
But not to be shared with Bigger Brothers
The container will succumb to decay
As new containers will come into play

If there is no solution to the problem then don’t waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don’t waste time worrying about it.

Dalai Lama

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and fulfilled.
Today I’m grateful for:
One of my students, Rista, came up to me and asked me if I dropped any money as she was holding out a 100 baht note. I hadn’t but she insisted I take it. When I told her it wasn’t mine she refused to take it back and consider the idea of keeping it for herself. Maybe it will bring bad luck or just the fact it’s not hers so she shouldn’t keep it and once it’s passed on she no longer has the burden. Anyway, I bought some yummy ginger fried fish and rice for dinner with it.
The best thing about today was:
Being in the classroom with my students again. It made me feel so happy to be a little part of their lives again.
Where are you visiting soon?
Amy and I were considering a quick trip to Vietnam when she’s back but we decided to visit Pimmy and Fern in Phuket instead. It will be nice to be near water again even if it is such a short time. Amy lives in Drummoyne at the moment and rides the ferry to work every morning. That’s a nice way to go to work.

Khokwan took this picture because she was playing around with a mirror photo app and asked me to look at the camera. Today I was a model teacher with two students as we posed for a photo shoot for some promotional thing or other. We were all a bit bemused as we were asked to look like I was teaching while we all smiled at the camera. Hopefully I’m not made into a 20-foot billboard.

We got that attitude! – 5th October 2020

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I am so happy and grateful that I sat and stretched this morning. I feel much better and less stiff.

To-do list

  • Is there someone you can connect with? ½
  • How about a random act of kindness? ½
  • Listen to more of your own music
  • Keep practising that guitar! ✅
  • Workout and yoga too!

Now it’s the 29th and I’m on school holiday for about ten days. It’s nice not to have to go through the familiar routines of getting up and going to work. I’m curious how I can get back into my morning routines after missing them for so many weeks since it started getting dark in the mornings.

I have to motivate myself to do that because I know I definitely feel better when I do those things in the morning.

I have been good at practising guitar and really enjoying it. I am making slow and steady progress. I do notice more pain in my arms thought but I’m hoping that that will just be muscles strengthening slowly. I’m getting interested in the whole music theory and will pick up a MIDI keyboard soon.

I’ve also been learning Thai with a tutor and can see comparisons in this learning. Got to stick with it – through the difficult periods.

Right now I’m in Phuket for a few days with Amy (meeting up with Fern, who it is great to see again). We are staying in a 5-star hotel and seeing beautiful sights, eating amazing food and we are forever grateful for everything we have. I am generally happy and content with whatever I am doing.

Tonight I looked at the sky and contemplated what a twenty-year-old Shaun would think of the idea of where he is now. I’m glad I never gave up on life even in dark and directionless times too.