To enjoy a night of a blackout, or to be angry about it. Humans are funny.

I woke up several times in the middle of the night sweating. I would wipe off with a bath towel and go back to sleep, drink some water. I hadn't had solid sleep for days, so in the end I slept until noon.

After I woke up I did a little work and had khao man gai delivered. A single room is very comfortable, but it's so comfortable that I slack off. Before I knew it, it was 6 p.m. Time mercilessly doesn't wait.

Back to the restaurant from yesterday

I ran out of facial cleanser so I decided to go to the shopping mall. I also wanted to buy underwear at Uniqlo. But first, I went back to the restaurant I really liked yesterday. Today I ordered a vegetable dish full of broccoli, carrots, scallions, and snow peas. It was really delicious.

While eating, I kept thinking about what kind of person I am. If it were the real me, I'd go up to the person next to me and ask, “Hi, how are you?” over and over. Yet the solitary me is in introvert mode. Maybe this is a period when I'm deeply thinking about what the self is. It's okay to have that kind of period, and I actually think it's important for living life.

At the mall I bought underwear from Uniqlo, a Muji pen, and facial cleanser. I thought about watching a movie, but Jurassic World was already finished, so I bought oatmeal, soy milk, and chicken in the basement. I have to take antibiotics twice a day, so that was breakfast for that purpose.

A sudden power outage

While I was showering, the breaker suddenly went off. Apparently the people in the room next door and across the way were all the same. If the breaker goes off, I figured I'd just enjoy it—it's not often you get to experience a night without electricity.

I was calmly thinking it was kind of fun, like being back in prehistoric times, but the people across from me, who were Filipino, were extremely angry, calling the owner and the tourist police. Then the owner called and apparently said, “Sorry, but it's really far, so I'll come at 9 tomorrow,” which really set them off and made the Filipinos very angry.

They even called Airbnb headquarters and requested to be moved somewhere else immediately. After a few hours, they left. But for me, doing all that seemed bothersome: calling each time, explaining the situation.

From my perspective, it's more troublesome to keep calling and explaining the situation. I couldn't help but think they'd be better off enjoying this 'no electricity' situation that you don't usually get to experience.

The part of me that steps back and observes

I fiddled with my laptop and relaxed for a while. Watching the people in the hallway frantically dealing with things, I couldn't help but laugh. Humans are interesting, so lovable. I asked ChatGPT and apparently I'm an "ultra bird's-eye-view" type who immediately wants to turn situations into stories. I thought that was an interesting talent.

But I could hear the owner over the phone saying, “The person who took a shower is at fault!” Oh—it's me. Shit. What should I do?

I was a little scared, but I decided to go out of my room. Wearing a mask, I spoke as if I didn't know, sympathizing with something like, “Oh, your breaker went down too? Seriously?” In the end, their anger was directed at the owner who didn't come despite the breaker going down, so they didn't blame my shower for causing it. I felt relieved.

A night without electricity

The angry people left for another place arranged by Airbnb. The room's air conditioner stopped and it kept getting hotter. I opened the window; it was 1 a.m. My sweat wouldn't stop. I ran out of Pocari Sweat, so I put oral rehydration salt powder into water and drank it.

I got used to the heat and finally closed my eyes. Thinking that life in the Taisho or Edo periods must have been like this, I felt how amazing people from the past were.

A trip full of troubles. But this was exactly a good experience—actually, it was interesting.