Author: [email protected]

Level 1 – Day 3

Bonsoir from Paris! I made it a few hours late today, but that doesn't mean I'll skip my workout 😉

I ended up working out at a calisthenics park called "Square Eugene Varlin". Below was the workout for today. I swapped diamond push ups on knees with full diamond pushups, jump dips with full dips, and incline pushups with full pushups. I am noticing the program isn't including as much abs so far. I hope that changes, or I'll be making adjustments as I go.

Day 3 Reps Sets Rest time
Full body workout Pull ups negatives 3 5 enough
Full body workout Diamond push ups on knees 8 3 enough
Full body workout Jump dips 8 3 enough
Full body workout Explosive australian chin ups 6 3 enough
Full body workout Incline push ups 8 3 enough
Full body workout Straight legs bear crawl 15s 3 enough
Full body workout Pike push ups negatives 5 3 enough
Full body workout Side knees raises 6 each side 2 enough
Full body workout Lunges Max 4 enough

Level 1 – Day 1

This was my workout for the day:

Day 1 Reps Sets Rest time
Full body workout Push ups on knees 10 3 enough
Full body workout Australian pull ups 8 3 enough
Full body workout Push ups negatives 6 3 enough
Full body workout Australian chin ups 8 3 enough
Full body workout Bench dips 10 3 enough
Full body workout Jump pull ups 6 3 enough
Full body workout Pike push ups negatives 8 3 enough
Full body workout Bent knees leg raises 8 4 enough
Full body workout Squats 15 4 enough

I am in Dusseldorf. There was no calisthenics park nearby so I had to be scrappy in finding pull-up bars to use.

Project Small Fish (Completed)

Update 2017/12/30: This project is now complete and I published the results here. Here's the video with the final outcome:

Current Progress (completed!)

100%

Deadline: December 31, 2017

This is the first project I formally structure in this way, and I am hoping that this new format of projects and goal creation would help me add a bit of structure to my time.

So, what is Project Small Fish?

Project Small Fish is a mental and physical fitness project. My goals are to:

  • Be in a better mental state
    • In earlier posts I mentioned how I felt that I was mentally weak, and that I needed to improve my mental stamina and clarity.
  • Be in a better physical state
    • I haven't really took my physical fitness seriously for a long time, and there can't be a better time to do this than now.
  • Have a small win
    • Given that I am currently in a fluid state with no deep commitments or a stable home, it's nice to feel that, if everything else fails, that I'll at least have achieved something.

The program I'm following is 8 weeks long, so it should be just shy of two months, but I am giving myself extra slack just in case.

At the end of this project, I should be able to do the following:

  • Basic Exercises
    • 10 Pull ups
    • 30 Push ups
    • 15 Dips
    • 15 Leg raises
  • Static Skills
    • Wall handstand
    • L-hang
    • Frogstand
    • Archery pull ups
    • Elbow lever
  • Dynamic Skills
    • Clap push ups
    • Clap pull ups

At the time of this writing, the exercises in green above I can do, the orange ones I can "sort of" do it but I struggle, and the red ones I just can't do at all.

Admittedly, the list of exercises above is not glamorous, but I am a big believer in "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". This process should help me get into the habit of training as well as strengthen my joints for more advanced exercises - I don't really have a good track record when it comes to joint injuries.

I'll be following a training program on the web I found called Caliathletics, which felt to me that was the most interesting/appropriate program to follow. The "Beginner" program they have consists of 8 levels and should help me achieve exactly the goals I've written above.

I'll be reporting my progress as often and as thorough as I can.

The OpenVillage Festival

Today I went to the OpenVillage Festival that's organized by the EdgeRyders community. I got referred to this community last week through Bilal, and through online exchanges the people seemed interesting/crazy enough that I knew I had to come to Brussels to chat with them.

I admit, I am still not too clear what EdgeRyders exactly is about. The people that are part of it are clearly ambitious, knowledgeable, and interested in making a positive difference. From what I gather, the way they are aiming to achieve this is by outlining what are the different needs that humans need to be happy, and exploring how these needs can be met through collaboration as well as co-living.

The people I met today were certainly a diverse crew of talented people, and often have ways of thinking that I haven't been used to, at least for someone coming from Silicon Valley. A reasonable portion of the people I interacted with are anti-capitalist, anti-corporation, and believe that everything should be open-sourced.

While I appreciate open-source, I am also a huge believer in the power of business. Also, while capitalism is far from perfect, I have yet to see a better model by which a society should operate. I'll be keeping an open mind these days though - would love to observe a better (and more environmentally friendly) alternative.

We did an urgan game today where we split into teams and explored the city. Somehow, I ended up wearing an eagle mask. Here's a picture with me and Bilal pimping it out in Brussels!

Last Day in Sweden

I just arrived to the airport in Brussels, and writing this in the tight seat of the bus that’s taking me to the city.

My last day in Sweden was quite a ride. Linnea, given her background in international relations, was planning to attend the utvecklings forum, a humanitarian forum. Out of curiosity, I decided to join. I would say it was quite beneficial.

  • I learned about Shahira Amin, an Egyptian journalist who works at Nile TV. She spoke of the struggle journalists are going through in Egypt and how freedom of the press has evolved since the days of Mubarak (it got worse).
  • We did a workshop to discuss how diversity relates to democracy. Everyone in my group presented themselves through their NGO (all the attendees apparently are working for humanitarian NGOs or for the government). I decided to represent “Kayany” since, strictly speaking, I consulted with them in Lebanon this past Summer.

I managed to meet up with Ahmed Elewa, the brother of my great friend Motaz. We’re now exploring creating a DIY youtube series in Egypt.

Towards the end of the day, Linnea was insisting that I try “Surströmming”, a fish delicacy from Sweden that, I must confess, is probably the most disgusting thing I ever smelled and tasted. Here are videos from the experience:

After that painful, yet very authentic, experience. We went for sauna + swimming in the river. The fresh cold water was a great remedy to the horror my taste buds had been through.

Finally, Linnea’s friends Amir and Victoria came over and we baked. I think this is the first time I ever bake in my life. Not a bad start, I’d say:

Anyways, now that I am in Belgium, I am quite tired of “having fun”. Time to change gears a bit.

Sweden Day 2

Today I ended up going with Linnea to the Fotografiska, Stockholm's Photography museum. I haven't been to that many photography museums before, but this one was certainly very special.

I got introduced to the work of Paul Hansen. His exhibition featured humanitarian photos from Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Afghanistan, the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, Ukraine, and Sub-Saharan Africa - a very memorable collection that left an impression on me.

Aside from the photographs, there was one part of the museum where they had three projects for RGB (Red, Green, Blue). It was a very simple setup, but left a very artistic touch. Here are a couple of photos Linnea and I took:

Later we met up with Sebastian and Joakim for a fine Swedish dinner. It was lovely catching up with these folks. I feel like a have a mini-family here in Sweden.

Catching up in Sweden

Today was a beautiful day. I met with Linnea and walked around the city together. While walking around we ran into Sebastian - what a coincidence!

 

Other than that, we went home for a home-made dinner. Linnea’s boyfriend Amir and friend Victoria came over and we had a great evening chat. I even made my signature tabouleh dish, though it didn’t come out as good as I would like.

This is just a super short update. That’s all for now.

Landed in Stockholm

I landed in Stockholm earlier this evening. My visit to Sweden will be a highly expedited one. I am only here for three days before heading to Brussels to join the OpenVillage Festival in Brussels.

Only two days ago did I decide to come here, and upon arrival I started to get those euphoric feelings of having the ultimate freedom. I feel very blessed and privileged to be able to travel around the world this easily and to have a global network of great friends.

Speaking of friends, I am here to visit my Swedish friends Linnea and Sebastian. We were close friends back in Taiwan when we were all exchange students. It's been 3.5 years since I saw them. Can't wait to see them over the next couple of days - so stoked!

Arabic Voice Assistant Prototype + Tarifa

It's almost 3.30am here in Tarifa. It's my last night in Spain, and reflecting back, it's been quite an adventure!

I am realizing that I am not writing as much as I would like, but I'll make an update on today and try to be more consistent and provide mini-updates.

Today was a very productive today. Firstly, I prototyped my first ever mobile app. Secondly, I prototyped something I have been thinking about for some time: an Arabic digital assistant. Voice assistants (think Siri, Amazon Echo, Google Voice search) will become more and more useful as wearables proliferate and as voice recognition reaches human parity.

Here's a quick demo of it (in Arabic). The only thing the assistant does is schedule alarms, but that's already super useful for me to use every day.

Work aside, Tarifa is apparently the kitesurfing capital of Europe. I took a couple of kitesurfing classes over the last two days, and earlier today I went to the beach to see the Kitesurfing League that was going on this weekend.

I also had a great Spanish dinner with Lisette & Ilga, two Dutch girls I met while here in Tarifa. A Spanish guy from my hostel also joined us, and I slowly realized he was gay given how annoyingly touchy he was (and how he's still sitting on the couch behind me waiting for me to finish working, even though it's almost 4am and he really should leave).

Anyways, time to sleep. Tomorrow I take the bus to Malaga, then from Malaga to Sweden!

The Ultimate Freedom

Greetings from Madrid! The last few days I was occupied with the MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp reunion here. It was refreshing to see everyone and for all us to spend a few fun days together.

I am now sitting at Café de la Luz, about to finally start "working" again after all the festivities. I put "working" in double quotes because I am using the word "working" in a fluid sense. "Working" these days, in the absence of any structure or a job, is really just analogous with me just having my laptop open.

I bring this up because today is special. It's a day where, for the very first time, I have no plans in my life. Literally zero. Nothing. Nada.*

Sitting here at this coffeeshop in Madrid, I have no sense at all of where I should go next or what specifically I should do. There's no reason for me to be in Madrid, but there's also no reason for me to be anywhere else, really.

At the same time, I have the capacity to do practically anything. I can take off on a world-trip if I feel like. I can go to the Far East and indulge in martial arts. I can go to Africa and climb Mount Kilimanjaro, or maybe Nepal to do some meditation?

What I am experiencing now is the luxury of having the ultimate freedom. Having said that, there is a very fine line between ultimate freedom and being completely lost. That fine line, I think, is purpose. I currently have no purpose that I am fully committed to, and as a result I consistently feel lost.

I do believe though that purpose is attained with a blend of thinking and acting. I have done plenty of thinking (and this blog is a testament of that), and it's now time to be acting. More to come on that.

* Well, strictly speaking, I just booked a bus to Cordoba tomorrow. But, I think of that as random probing rather than an actual plan.