Cuba 2015

Hello, wow it feels like forever, thanks for bearing with me while I went on vacation. This is my summary of my trip to Cuba, I went for a week with my fam. Ignore the changes in tenses, sometimes I would write the post at the end of the day, sometimes I would write them as they happened lol, enjoy.

Day 1
Always the most tiring day...stayed up till 2, took a 2 hour nap, got up and left the house around 5 ish. We made it to the airport at like 6 ish and our flight was at 8. The flight was only like 3 ish hours, we made it to Cuba around 12 ish, there no time difference either. Took a bus to our resort and it's pretty nice. The first day is always spent feeling out the place, resting a bit and finding things to do. My brother and I walked around and played some ping pong and basketball LOL. It's like 5 and we're just sitting in the lobby. It's SO hot like no joke lol. There isn't much to do here it looks like besides chill at the pool, that seems to be the main attraction. Then food and small things like the gym and stuff...maybe I'm wrong but hopefully there'll be more exciting stuff to do. So we walked around and found this beeeeautiful beach behind the resort, less crowded than the pool but 10 times more beautiful, the sand, the water, the peacefulness. My bro and I chilled there for a bit, def gonna swim tomorrow. Had dinner with the rents and walked around some more, ended up chilling poolside just having conversations with my bro. Gotta remind myself to take whatever I'm given and embrace it. To find the positive in whatever circumstance I'm in. It was a nice day chilling and talking with my bro, now we're in bed, debating whether to watch a movie, goodnight.

Day 2
Simply put, a super loaft day LOL. Didn't get up till like 4 cuz of the lack of sleep the previous day, surfed around on the TV and saw Fast 6 was on TV, watched that till like 6, had dinner reservations at 6:30. It was supposedly a sushi restaurant but only the appetizers were sushi, turned out to be some teppanyaki kinda thing, it's pretty exclusive cuz you can only book it once during the resort. Food was pretty good and seeing the dude cook was cool. After that walked around with my bro some more, went to the beach and chilled, took some nice pictures and went into the water. Came back around 9 and went into the pool. Came back up, showered and went down to get some food at the buffet that closes at like 11, dope stuff. Sat in the lobby for a bit and did some reading, came back up and watched a movie with my bro. This trip has def been pretty lacking in terms of things to do, but it's been nice chilling and talking with my brother. Goodnight.

Day 3
Got up surprisingly early lol, went to grab lunch with the fam, took a bus to downtown Cuba. It was alright lol, thought it'd be more lively and such but it was a bunch of flea markets and small shops. Took another bus to this mall, but it was more of a really big plaza lol. Walked around with my brother and these 2 dudes came up to me, well one came up first and was like hey Canada? Cuz I was wearing my Raptors jersey, we had a nice conversation and then he's like hey wanna smoke weed with us LOOOL. A bit later his boy came to me and was like hey man wanna smoke later? I'm like nah it's cool LOL. Got to ride double decker buses and man it's dangerous cuz the trees are hella tall and if you sit in the corner seat, be careful and aware lol had to duck a couple of times of the branches would've slapped me. Took another bus to this pretty nice restaurant and ate lobster. My dad made my brother and I answer this hella lame questionnaire talking about do we like traveling, are we enjoying Cuba LOOOL. He's like it seems like you aren't having fun. Legit today was a journey lol...did so much walking, sweating and bussing. Finally back at the resort like 6 ish...hit the beach with my bro to get our feet wet and get some nice pictures of the sunset. Now just chilling in the kitchen eating some food, yo their fries are bomb, tastes exactly like New York fries. The go to drink for sure has definitely been piña colada. It's funny cuz I'm like no alcohol and sometimes they'll mishear you and still put it in. Lemme say the amounts of alcohol they put it is a lotttt, I got a coke and rum before and they put so much rum in lol. My bro took a shower so I took some time to get some reading in, came back up and just chilled into the night, watching shows, goodnight.

Day 4
A day in the resort. Got up at like 1 and headed to lunch with my bro. The food is pretty dope, there the all day buffet, then there's actual restaurants you can go and eat at selected times. Today was a tiring and sweaty day man, played ping pong with my bro for a good hour. Went back to rest for half an hour, came back out around 5 ish to play basketball and we played till like 7, went to rest again. Came back for dinner with the rents at 8. Lemme tell you I love how friendly the locals and the employees are here. From the waiters, the bartenders, to even the electricians, our TV wasn't working and he came to fix it and we had this funny conversation about phones and random stuff LOL his name was Julio, my boyyyy. After tiring day, just chilled with the bro in the lobby for a bit playing cards then went back into the room to watch TV LOL. While we were sleeping cuz we had to get up early the next day, we just had random conversation and it was real nice. He jokingly said I can't wait till we get back Toronto so we can never do this again LOL...but the more I thought of it...my brother and I never get to chill or talk that often unless we go out of our way to make plans, so I'm definitely thankful for that this trip.

Day 5
Early morning...got up at 7 to get breakfast at 7:30 with the fam. Bus came at 8:30 to take us to a sugar cane plantation to show us how it's made and such. It was pretty dope, we saw the actually farm of sugar cane crops, got to taste raw sugar cane, then drink sugar cane. We then went to a museum of the history of Cuba or something, it was cool seeing like the weapons and stuff. We legit went to the underdeveloped area in Cuba. It was pretty simple and plain, imagine Favela in call of duty LOL...or in Fast 5 when they're being attached in that city. Pretty much it would make a dope call of duty map lol. Heading home now and it's only like 1, I'm starving! Had lunch with the fam, went back to rest a bit, went out and got some good ping pong runs with the bro, then played some basketball till 6 ish. Got ready for dinner, went to this cool Cuban restaurant on the resort that you have to book in advance. After we went to play ping pong again except my dad joined and he absolutely whooped us LOL. Heading home and I saw wrestling on TV, first real sign of Canada haha...back home in 2 days, another early morning tomorrow, goodnight.

Day 6
Woke up at 7...breakfast at 7:30, hella tired. Going to and spending the whole day at Havana. It was jokes cuz I was eating with my brother and the waitress comes cuz she's seen us a bunch of times and she's like how old are you guys, then she asks for our names and she's like oh I'm 23 too...LOOOL. Then we had this long conversation, pretty sure she was flirting with me...that or being super nice so we'd tip her LOL, gonna go with the first one ;). Off we go to Havana, apparently it's a 2 hour drive. We stopped a couple of times at some tourist attractions. It was cool, our taxi driver took us to old Havana where more of the poor people live, then he took us to new Havana where more of the rich people live. It's crazy, in old Havana water is pretty scarce. While in new Havana all the buildings are super clean and new and all the embassy buildings are here. We went to this real nice restaurant with a view of the ocean and they had an infinity pool, those pools where you can swim to the ledge and it looks like you can fall over? The lobster there was soooo good. It was so jokes our taxi driver asked how old my brother and I were and he's like oh I have a son who's 10 and a daughter who's 23 as well, you might like her LOOOOL. Afterwards, went to more sight seeing places, went to this huge flee market, imagine a Cuban pmall kinda thing but smaller stores but same overall size, there were only really like 8-10 kinds of stores then just repeat like 4-5 times. And everyone is hella pushy and in your face trying to sell you things lol. Came home around 7, had dinner with the fam, played some ping pong, chilled at the beach, then came back up around 10 to shower and relax. Today was surprisingly a real good day, I'm usually not a fan of sight seeing and all the walking but I guess I've grown to appreciate it. That and it was diff cuz instead of walking everywhere. My rents paid a taxi driver to drive us around to diff places so we'd spend like 20-30 minutes at each place taking pictures and such then move on. Tomorrow's our last day here and we're just staying at the resort, def sleeping in for sure after 2 consecutive late nights and early mornings, PEACE!

Day 7
Slept in today, woke up at like 1 and went to lunch, played ping pong with the bro for a good couple of hours. Met this guy named Alex and we chilled with him for a bit. After we went home to rest for a bit. Came back out and played some ball and more ping pong and met this other dude named Marcus, both of them were from Cuba. Now just chilling waiting to go for dinner at 9 ish. That's the cool thing about all day buffets, if you're not hungry you can go for your meal whenever you want. After we just chilled and packed. Def hitting me that I miss home so much now lol.

Day 8
HOME TIME. Woke up super early to pack and check out. Our flight was supposed to go to Cancun then to Toronto and we were supposed to wait 2 hours in Cancun, but instead we didn't have to wait at all. Like a 3 hour or so flight, but it took quite a while to find our bags cuz there were so many people. Back to Markham at like 9 and had dinner...FEELS SO NICE TO BE HOME.

I'm so thankful for this vacation, for the time spent with my family, with my brother...to get away from life, the pressures, the stress, unplugging myself and appreciating the things and the people around me. God is good, PEACE.

It's Not Goodbye. It's See You Later.

At the airport right now...bout to board a plane to Cuba at 8:30. Going to Varadero to an all inclusive resort, AYYYY TURN UP. Def a nice way to end the summer before heading back to school. Plus the whole fam is going and fam vacations are pretty rare but something I've grown to appreciate and love. I believe the resort in going to won't have free internet, so I'll be mia for a week, no internet, no nothing, which is a good thing....to just unplug for a good week. My mom will probs buy some internet so I can update y'all possibly. Def gonna keep a log of what I do, expect lots of pictures that's for sure. But with that being said, this isn't goodbye cuz you only say goodbye to people you're never gonna see again, this is merely see you later, in a week to be precise. PEACE!

Life Is Beautiful

Believe in God like the sun up in the sky
Science can tell us how but it can't tell us why
I seen a baby cry then seconds later she laughed
The beauty of life, the pain never lasts.

- J. Cole

I love these lyrics....it acme to mind a couple nights ago in bed and I was just reflecting in bed...thinking to myself, dang...life is beautiful. Life is crazy, life is a journey...it's a game...it's a sport...it's whatever you want it to be. There are happy time, sad times, painful times, amazing times...the wide range of feelings that you can and will feel in your lifetime is crazy. From rock bottom, feeling like life is over...to feeling like life is amazing and there will never be a better moment. There's life...birth...new creation...and sickness...and death. There's friendship, relationships, romance, hard times, breakups, fights, everything. Life is so crazy, there's legit so much to take in...the sun, the rain, the snow, the leaves, the grass, everything. As of late, I've just been really admiring God's work, just everything around me...nature, people, everything. How the littlest things can make people super happy or super sad. The wide range of emotions people can feel based on someone else's actions or something. There;s so much to admire, appreciate and most importantly experience in life...make sure you cherish and love every moment of your life...don't get caught up in random nonsense, understand what is and what isn't worth investing time and effort into. Learn to appreciate the little things in life...the everyday ordinary things you might usually take for granted. Love love life man...you only have one life...and it could end at any given time, live it, love it. Peace.

Perspective Is Key Part 2

Part 1 http://thebestyouneverheard.blogspot.ca/2013/04/perspective-is-key.html

Mindset is everything man...how you approach life, how you approach a certain situation...can be good or bad, life is what you make it, right. You can make the best of a bad situation, or make that bad situation even worse. In life, you can choose to dwell on the negative or move on, when you fall down you can choose to cry, be sad and look at your scrapes and bruises...or you can get back up and dust yourself off. Attach that mindset to anything...when you lose a game, you can be sad, dwell on that lose and get angry...or you can move on, get better, use that loss as motivation. That's one thing that separates winners and losers, people who succeed and fail, their mindset. That's kinda where I've been at lately...attacking life with a positive mindset...taking whatever comes, even the bad and trying to make the best out of it...I hope that motivates you somehow to do the same with your life, with whatever situation or thing that you're dealing with right now. It's only bad cuz you're making it bad, it only feels terrible cuz you're telling yourself that it should feel terrible. There's beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success...J. Cole.

Real Recognize Real

Today a great point was made...think about your circle of friends...whether that one tight group you have...or the multiple groups you chill with. Ask yourself some questions...can you be brutally honest with these people...even if it hurts...even if it means telling your friend they're being stupid or doing something dumb. Can you  joke around with them to the point of rudeness, but they'll never take it seriously because you're friends and it's always back and forth. Can you count on them for anything...whether a phone call at 2 am in the morning...taking a walk at midnight to the park...stranded somewhere with no ride or your battery died in your car and they'll come pick you up or help you out or at least do whatever they can do help you out, whether calling someone. Can you answer these questions about the circle of friends that you chill with...people you call your homies, your ride or dies. I really hope so...I'm privileged and blessed to be surrounded by people who tolerate my humour, my jokes, my rudeness and never take it or me seriously because they know it comes out of love. I'm lucky to be surrounded by people who can tell me the honest truth...even when it hurts and even when it isn't what I want to hear, but I know they do it out of love and for my benefit. If you can't answer those questions about your circle of friends or the people you hang out with,,,why do you hang out with them...for fun...cuz they make you feel good? Are they your real friends tho? Will there be there for you in times of trouble...or even are they reliable to depend on in those times of trouble. Just some good food for thought for you and a reminder for me tonight...of how lucky I am to have some beautiful and amazing people in my life. Peace.

Cuz In The End All You Really Have Is Memories

I remember 4 am conversations on the phone with you...and I hate talking on the phone.

I remember you being the Shaq to my Kobe, we were Westside and you were my first genuine ride or die. I remember you teaching me how to slow dance LOOOL.

I remember late night walks and talks at the park, sitting on the swings at like 12 am...super scared of random creepers at the park sitting on benches.

I remember road hockey with a bunch of the boys, shoot outs and trying to do fancy tricks.

I remember football at lunch, playing tackle whenever we got the chance...I remember injuries, wedgies, dog piles, hard hits, bloody noses...LOL

I remember being able to spend a whole day with you just playing video games.

I remember arguing with you non stop throughout high school, being crazy mad at you, but not being able to stop thinking about you.

I remember sleepovers with the boys...gaming till late into the night...getting a few hours of sleep, waking up and playing some more video games.

I remember pot lucks and cooking together with friends, sharing laughs, memories and good times.

I remember when I used to be a paper boy LOL...I remember throwing a newspaper one time and it exploding all onto the street and I just ran away.

I remember looking into your eyes and knowing immediately that something was wrong. I remember you looking at my face and automatically knowing something was up,

Man, all these memories take me back...to a different time, a simpler time...a younger me. I remember all of it...and all of you. To quote Drizzy:

You think I'm so caught up in where I am right now...but believe I remember it all.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

I had a dream a couple of weeks ago, I was walking in a desert...bored, complaining...constantly asking the question to myself "am I there yet?" Things felt hella slow...that's when I woke up...opened up the notes app on my phone and started furiously writing to make sure I didn't forget what I wanted to talk about. When I was a kid, I always wanted to get to my destination...as soon and as fast as possible...cuz that's the goal right...going on vacation, running a race, taking a walk...there's always a destination...and when I was a kid, I always wanted to get there as soon and as fast as possible. On family vacations...I hated walking, hated stopping to take pictures and so such...it would piss me off LOL, I was wanted to get to my destination...and any time that was not spent going to the destination in my eyes was wasted time. Even now...I find myself rushing...I'm a very fast eater lol...that's just me, I can't help it...but sometimes, on the rare occasions when I take my time to eat or am distracted by conversations, it's a nice switch of pace. Sometimes. I know it feels like things...like life...is moving slow. You wanna rush and hurry up to get to your destination...because that's your goal, that's what you've planned for and thought about, the end goal, the finish line, the final destination. As I've grown older, I've learned to take my time...except for the eating part lol. I've learned to take my time, to enjoy the journey...including any detours, setbacks or failures you met endure on the road to your destination. Yeah, sometimes life feels like it's moving slow...but hey, change your mindset, take that time to appreciate the things, the people and everything around you. Life isn't always a race...realistically, where are you in such a hurry to go...to make a lot of money, to marry a pretty girl, to have kids, to have grand kids, to grow old, to die. Ultimately, you gotta ask yourself the question, is/are all those things things that you really want to rush and skip...just to get to the next step or next stage. I've learned to take my time...yeah I see the finish line, the goal in sight...but it isn't going anywhere...I'm gonna take my time...smell the flowers, maybe take the long way around, endure some setbacks, bring along some strays...and overall enjoy the journey, cuz isn't that what makes the destination so much more satisfying...knowing the crazy journey you went on to arrive at that destination.

The Goodness

It\s funny how plans can change within seconds  Wasn't planning on posting today...had a bad day, but I was clearing my phone and going through old texts and came across a bunch of encouraging messages. It makes me really believe in the genuine goodness of people. One example would be last year, 2 girls on the softball team I coached sent me long, encouraging messages telling me to keep my head up and that I was doing a good job. They didn't have to send that, I'm not that close with them, but they did, and I appreciated it with all my heart. There's also the numerous messages from random people, like people I know from school, but aren't close with...telling me how encouraging my blog is.Me saying that isn't meant to be boastful...it's an eye opener...it's hope for me...that everyone has that goodness in their heart, they just need opportunities to express it. It makes me super happy...seeing people go out of their way to pick someone up physically or emotionally...it's something that I definitely push myself to do because I would want it done to me if I were feeling down in the dumps. Man...people can be so good and thoughtful and kind sometimes...and that's what the world should strive for...helping one another, making one another smile, picking each other up.

That Time I Almost Got Arrested

LOL caught your attention huh, so def gonna try to post everyday like when I did so in December...true story, of a fun day at the beach, gone wrong. A bunch of the guys wanted to go to the beach, but didn't wanna go somewhere close, they wanted to go a bit further and to a nicer beach. So we went to Cobourg beach, which was pretty far away and let's just we it was majority white people...so let's just say our group of like 3-4 asian guys and 5-6 black/brown guys stuck out quite a bit LOL. Any ways, we're having a nice time and stuff like that, playing frisbee, football, just sitting around and like chilling. We had like burgers, water, orange juice and such...then outta nowhere I see like beer and other alcoholic items come out of the cooler and I'm just like okay cool, cuz I saw other people at the beach with alcohol, but apparently we had A LOT. So like security of beach patrol came and made us pour out every single bit right in front of them, started opening all the water bottles and orange juice containers to make sure it wasn't alcohol, as if that wasn't embarrassing enough. The security is like okay, I smell weed, where is it guys, don't make me go through your stuff...I'm like great...talk about things going bad to worse. So he makes us sit to the side of all our stuff, take out our id's and they slowly check our bags and such one by one and they find one small box of cigarettes but inside was joints and I'm like geez...they're like who's stuff is this and one of my friend's boys admits it's his and they hand him like a $200 or so fine. Everyone on the beach was like staring and knew what had happened, he was pretty pissed cuz IRONICALLY, this dude wanted to be like a security guard or a police officer and can't have something like this on his record. Someone pitches the idea hey, don't worry, we'll all split the fine...in my head I lost it...I told my other friend, UH NO....I ain't paying jack...cuz I didn't do jack. We could've got in more serious trouble but they let us off with just a fine cuz we weren't from there. Everyone's trying to console him like his dog just died, but bro, you did something stupid, own up to it...dang. It was def hard to enjoy the rest of the day after that...I remember a bunch of random dudes coming up to us like yo we saw what they did man, throwing away your booze and confiscating your weed, that wasn't cool...like shut up idiots, geez. Man, what an experience tho...just sitting there to the side, watching them go through everyone's stuff...legit made me feel helpless, guilty, like a criminal. I guess you can consider me kinda a goody two shoes....I mean, I don't like to drink, don't and never have smoked, don't like to club or party much...heck, I don't even like coffee...unless you wanna count iced coffees...lol I guess I'm an old fashioned kinda guy...but any ways...that was an...interesting experience to say the least.

I Miss My Dawgs

Part 2

This is something close to my heart, dedicated to the close friends, that...well, aren't so close anymore. I've missed writing, specifically writing like this...and it's going to be something I hopefully wanna do more often on this blog cuz I get lazy to write in my journal. And it's also funny to mention with all this ghostwriting beef and controversy about writing your own lyrics. Also funny cuz I was semi inspired by a Meek Mill songs called Miss My Dawgs. Another thing is I feel a lot of you young up and coming rappers write about some straight up garbage...that's also one of my motivations for doing this more often.

We used to be close friends do you miss it
If we could turn back time would you wish it
My heart really hurts when I think about you
I never thought I'd be okay living my life without you
I guess I've just become numb to the pain
I don't feel too much when I hear your name
Memories in my head of a person I adored
But that's the past so the chambers of my heart are where it's stored
I didn't forget you I've just learned to think about it less
Cuz it would bring my sleepless nights and really large amounts of stress
It hurts to accept that we're going down separate paths
Cuz you were once the best friend that I ever thought i had
But when I see you, I can't help but smile deep inside
Cuz we'll always have those memories as we live our separate lives