travelores
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In Travelores
My First Time Scuba Diving!
Back in March 2025 — a week before Nyepi to be exact, I decided to try scuba diving for the first time ever with my friend, Mercy. It’s a nice thing to have a friend who’s down for an adventure like this. After mustering up all the courage to start and book the program, I found myself watching a lot of videos about Scuba Diving tips, what to do and not to do. I even read a lengthy article about Decompression Sickness or commonly known as “The Bends” and how to avoid it. Safe to say that I came prepared…
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In Poem
Today, I met my younger self for coffee
I met my younger self for coffee today She was 5 minutes early and I was 15 minutes late She wore all black and a pink scarf and I wore the same. Sweet coincidence, I thought. She ordered mochacinno frappe and I ordered iced latte with no sugar She shared her recent travel to Bali with her friends. I told her I live there now. She then told me she spent her whole night crying, she felt unlovable. I told her that someone’s lack of capacity to love you does not mean you are unlovable. You can move mountains or…
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Colors of Defiance
I may not know how to work my way on the streets, but let these inks and papers be my way of defiance. This is one of the poems I wrote these past weeks that depicted the chaotic situation we’re facing right now. It’s grief, anger, and all kinds of negative emotions came like crashing waves. This is my coping mechanism — writing.
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In Bare Words
Bali: a love letter.
It’s funny how we call some places “home” even when they aren’t ours to claim. But I’ve realized that home is not a physical place — it’s a feeling. A quiet knowing that you belong. I remember it vividly, back in 2018 I applied for a job in Bali (which I didn’t get and broke my heart lol). I would always imagined what it felt like to live there. I’d wander through Google strret view to picture every corner of the street. I wondered how it would feel like to live in the island of gods. Fast forward to late…
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In Bare Words
On Freediving: Life is a lot like line training
Freediving taught me that life is a lot like line training. You hold your breath, grab the line, and go — one pull at a time. You don’t see the bottom, and you’re not even sure how far you’ll make it. But you trust the process, you only focus on what’s in front of you — the line. With each dive, you become more aware of your body — how it reacts, resists, and eventually softens. You equalize. You adjust. The ocean is vast around you, but it fades into the background. It’s just you, and the next pull, one…
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In Bare Words
On Freediving: What once scared you is what liberates you
Where It All Began It all started when I was working in Berau, East Kalimantan and access to underwater heaven was so easy — just hours away. I have swum with stingless Jellyfish, seen bunch of turtles just a few meters off the shores, seen insanely healthy corals and colorful fishes coming in and out, and to top it all off, I met three gentle giants of Whale Sharks in Talisayan circling our boat — they looked majestic as I’d pictured it to be, and then I saw a couple of people who held their breath and just disappeared deep…
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A Traveler’s Tale
Was he merely a life lesson, or someone meant to help you become more acquainted with yourself? A question she spent a long time pondering on, trying to make sense of everything that had unfolded so quickly. Time hadn’t let her breathe — it kept pulling her back, as though the past refused to loosen its grip. What was it in the air at that time that felt so different. She tried to return to that city to salvage any remaining pieces, only to find that every corner felt unfamiliar — as if everything had vanished the day he took…
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In Poem
Incantations.
Find me at the place you first found me under the weeping willow tree where poets gather round after dark reciting the poetry that sounded like incantations to you  Search for me at the place you lost me deep in the cold mystical forest where my scars scare you away and the myth of poets went to die here blends with the wind fear consume your whole being, so you flee instead leaving me with your chain of reasoning  a poetry written by me inspired by Willow – TS  Â
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In Travelores
Postcards from Bajo.
One leaves one’s heart in the depth of Bajo sea, amongst the dancing corals, and its scorching heat whispering to the winds to take them back
