A Quick Trip Around Africa, the Middle East, and Asia - Sit and Talk, Nairobi

Speaker A: What's up? And welcome to Sweathead with Mark Pollard. I am in Kenya and I'm alive, relaxed. I know it's been a while since I've dropped a podcast. Today I'm going to take you on a world tour with me. I'm going to talk about some of the places that I have visited over the past four months. I've been in 15 to 20 cities this year. Overall, it'll probably be close to 35, 40. Last year it was around that as well. Just trying to work out how to live, how to thrive, how to keep this business going, and how to stay stimulated. It's been a really interesting time. I have basically been on the road since June of 2025. So that's coming up, uh, on. What's that, seven plus three in a bit, about 10 months. And even before that, I was traveling quite a bit, doing conferences and events, but definitely stepped it up over the past two years. Part of that is just trying to explore what a different kind of life would be. A, uh, happier life, uh, life without the New York or Washington, D.C. stress and loneliness. I found those places lonely. I've talked about it extensively. Very transactional. Uh, I was back briefly last year, just for a few days in between the events that I was doing. And honestly, I was really disappointed with a lot of the interactions that I was having and acted out a little bit because I was so disappointed in being like, uh, having people treat me like we're having a business meeting when I haven't seen them in years and I'm in their city and they knew they were coming, that I was coming, and, you know, we could have had a proper hang. Like the sorts of hangs that I have with people in Colombia, uh, well, all over Latin America, Brazil, Mexico, Georgia and Turkey. And then, you know, I just got really frustrated. I had people say, oh, you want to catch up for a coffee on Sunday? Like, no, just send me a text message. I don't want to do that. I don't have proper hangings with people who actually want to be in my life and who want me in their life. I don't want to do that shit anymore. So it's been interesting, um, on that front, uh, lots of pressure, like all of you are facing, with wars happening and just layoffs and the effect of artificial intelligence in this industry. And it's just, um, it's intense. It's intense. But I've also had some pretty good moments as well. So that's what we're going to do today. I do have Master classes coming up actually over the next few weeks. I've got Nairobi in a few hours. It'll be tomorrow in M. Kenya, uh, dublin, april 23rd, london april 30th, amsterdam may 4th, brussels may 5th, vienna may 21st. And I'm actually going to be at a couple of conferences as well. One is DK 2026 in Croatia, that's in May. And then towards the end of May I'll be in Sydney for my umbrella 360. I want to rock something a little bit different. You know, I'm sort of been circling a similar topic for a very long time and I've been doing some interviews lately and sometimes I catch myself wanting to push into new, new territory, new terrain, which is what a few weeks in Africa has allowed me to do. I'm m going to tell you about that. All right, so December 3rd last year I flew into Johannesburg and did, uh, about eight to ten cities in Africa and the Middle East. Super, super interesting. Like I didn't think about coming to Africa seriously until a few months before I came and didn't have much data or data on whether it would be or could be successful When I launched these events, when me and the team launched these events, we don't usually know ahead of time what the interest is going to be. So yes, we do an early bird phase. We try to gauge the interest. Sometimes we have issues with Meta, uh, if you use the Meta Ads manager, it's super frustrating. Obviously a lot of us are really frustrated with LinkedIn right now. We used to be able to reach hundreds of thousands of people on LinkedIn and these days really have to fight to get a few people to pay attention. But luckily I've had some mini viral moments on TikTok and Instagram, which I'll talk about a little bit later as well. So flew into Johannesburg, didn't see much of it. Arrived a few days before the event. Just wanted to adjust from a time point of view, I think. I flew from DC to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, hearing quite a lot of stuff about a lot of these African cities by the way. You know, I travel a lot and uh, when I come to a lot of countries I feel super naive. I'm like, oh my God, I didn't know all this stuff was happening here. And by the way, I'm in a cafe, there'll be a little bit of background noise, but I've tested the sound and hopefully it'll be okay. And so there's a lot of chatter about Ethiopia, a lot of chatter About Kenya. All these countries have their own problems. Uh, and there's also divisions within Africa, not just tribal divisions within a country. For example, in Kenya there are about 47 tribes. And then some of you might have paid attention to the, uh, to afcon, the African Football Championship. And there was a lot of controversy between Morocco and I believe Senegal. And then you start to see this split between the northern parts of Africa, which are more Arabic and Muslim. And forgive me if I misspeak, I'm not a student, I'm trying to learn as I travel, and the black parts, you know, basically racism. And it's interesting to see. But until you're here, you spend time, you don't understand these nuances. And I'm, uh, very early on in trying to understand any nuance. Anyway, went into Johannesburg. We had about 100 people there. What I hear about Johannesburg is because everyone talks about Cape Town. Have you come to Cape Town? Have you gone to Cape Town? Should go to Cape Town. You should go to Cape Town. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to go to Cape Town hopefully this year to do an event. Johannesburg seems to be one of the main, possibly the main, but definitely one of the main business hubs in Africa. And uh, a lot of, uh, international headquarters have moved there. Obviously has a reputation for violence. I didn't see any. I didn't cause any. One of the best things for me in Johannesburg is that I started. Well, I, I guess I fell in love with. I fell in love with, fell in like with this music genre called ama piano, which is a little bit like a three step that's very South African. And being in Kenya and listening to a lot of music from different African countries. Nigeria seems really freaking big. They seem really big and bombastic with music and fashion. South Africa as well. And then all the other countries seem to just be a little bit smaller, uh, with production values or even mentality, to be honest. That's not a judgment. So Johannesburg, main thing I got out of that, other than meeting uh, about 100 people, uh, in the venue, was a taste, a taste for armor piano, which is one of my top, top music genres really. Like this song called Mali and song called Big Flexa. Then I came up to Nairobi and by the way, my itinerary, sometimes I just book things like I get stressed about logistics. I can be on stage in front of a lot of people and I probably won't stress out but, uh, ask me to book an air like a flight or something or several flights. So I came from D.C. through Ethiopia, down To South Africa. Then I went to East Africa. Nairobi, capital of Kenya. A lot of people here in Kenya call Kenya the capital of at least of east Africa. Uh, 55 million people. I think the median age is around 19. Big youth population. When ishowspeed came through, I think he got the most subs from Kenya is something that I heard. A lot of unemployment, though. Lots of different countries coming in and doing work. There's still a big echo shadow cast by British colonialism. Some really disturbing documentaries and stories about what the British did here. To be honest, uh, now you have the Chinese here. There's been, uh, Indian migration here for, I think, three generations. I believe a lot of Indians came through to help with the railway. Uh, and also in Nairobi's in size. It's away from the coast. The main coastal city is Mombasa. I think there's more of an Arabic influence there. Obviously. Swahili is one of the main languages. People tend to speak a tribal language. So some of the main. There are 47 tribes, as I mentioned. Some of the main ones are like the Kikuyu and Luo and Calanchi. Most people tend to speak their own language. Then they'll speak Swahili, uh, and then. And English. And the English. There's little quirks to it that you might have to pay attention to as well. Not, not just with the accent, but little words disappear or get used in different ways, which is really interesting. And I don't know if it's just the people that, um, I've met, but I find them really, really vigorous storytellers in. In Kenya, I guess Africa. But in Kenya, uh, in a way that a lot of us would think about the Irish and maybe the English, but the Irish being very vivid storytellers. And it's interesting hearing the approach to storytelling just with friends. A lot of hyperbole, A lot of interesting metaphors and references and borrowing, obviously from their own history. But then it'll come through in English. I'm like, wow, that's super, super interesting. I wish I had that much flavor when I spoke. So originally I was in Nairobi, I think for three years nights. Didn't get to explore a lot of it. There's a nightclub that if you come here, you'll probably go to, called the Alchemist. It's. It's a bit of a. Not a beginner spot, but at Central. A lot of people go there and not a lot of observations, I think on that first night. I've posted a lot of video. First few nights, post a lot of Videos about Kenyan culture and uh, I'll talk about the nightlife here towards the end. End of it actually. So then went from Kenya to the west coast of Africa, Went to Abuja, uh, which is the capital of Nigeria. Um, about an hour flight from Lagos, although I went through is it Lomo Tome, which is one of the worst airport experiences of my life. And so I flew in, did, did a uh, couple of date. I was, I think I spent one night there and it felt like a week because it was so intense and amazing. Uh, with Rage Media, which is run by a friend, George, probably the best produced event ever. I flew in on Saturday. They took me to dinner, they promised me dancing. We were dancing in this restaurant and they took me out to a club. It was bottle service, which I don't usually do by the way. I felt a little bit embarrassed because my name was on the screen too. And a lot of these places, I don't know if you really want your name on the screen and then for a line of ladies to come out with a bottle. I just covered my eyes. I covered my eyes. It's not that I'm modest, it's not that I'm trying to be m. More moral than anyone. I'm not used to those environments. And then the next day we had a session at George's uh, compound. Rage Media. In Africa, a lot of businesses are set up in compounds, uh, sometimes with armed security, with at least rifles I guess. It was a really beautiful experience. Like I said, probably one of the best produced events I've ever been a part of. And I was the event they merch with, I think. Yeah, with my name on it. They had massive posters, covering walls with my face. And it's just so well produced. They took me on a tour of their building and in each room everyone was really well dressed. That's definitely a thing in Nigeria, at the very least. Really well dressed. And they introduced, they introduced themselves to me. And I don't know how many rooms I was in.10 to 12. I think some of them sang songs and danced as well. I was like, oh my God. I did not feel worthy. But an amazingly produced event. Uh, it was a private event as well for George's company. Must have spent hundreds of hours. So big shout outs, especially to the strategy team who made a lot of that stuff happen. And they made me an album, an AI generated album. It was funny. It was so cute. And then I went from Abuja into Lagos. Abuja Airport, also not great. But I didn't get shaken down as Much as I did in Lagos, in the international airport in Abuja. I arrived. It was a weird experience. I had to fill in these forms. It wasn't very clear they had to fill in these forms. And then I was like, the last person to go through migration. The guy checked the forms that I'd filled in and said, now you give me money. And on the way out of Lagos, a couple of nights, a couple of days later, I think I was in lagos for maybe three nights. Uh, I was asked, I think, seven times out of 13. So seven times for money by people with power, you know, people asking to see your passport, etc. And I posted about this and it went viral. And then a few weeks later, or a week later, I can't remember. Well, hang on. I posted about that about five weeks ago, so there's a bit of a delay. It went viral, and then I was on, like, national news. They did an interview with me. I was in Mombasa at the time, in Kenya. But they interviewed me on Breakfast Central to talking about it because the. What a lot of. What a lot of local people get frustrated with is what they call the begging culture. So Nigeria has its nickname of a beggar stand because everyone's asking for money all the time. And it. It didn't feel safe there. And the whole provocation that I put into this video was, is Nigeria or is all of Nigeria just set up for shakedowns, security checkpoints on the road? My friends were like, dad, got to be careful there. So they put me in a car when I was in Lagos, put me in a Range Rover. We didn't get shaken down, I guess, because it's. It looks like we have connections, etcetera, but, uh, yeah, Nigeria is intense. The energy is 220 million people. I know there's a lot of complicated, complicated stuff happening there because you've got massively rich people. A lot of diaspora. A lot of people go back in December for what they call deti d e t t y December, which is you just party every night. Party every night. Uh, I'd love to go back for that, actually. But you need people. I think you really do need people on the ground who can keep you safe and make sure that you don't become too much of a target. A lot of places where I travel, I know I'm a target. Uh, sometimes I get benefits, obviously, by looking the way I look, sounding the way I sound. Uh, but also I can be a target in a lot of these places. And I would say I became a little Bit more paranoid last year. And that paranoia has come out in ways that I haven't always wanted it to. To be honest, I might mistrust people when maybe I should not mistrust people. So at Lagos we had an event about 180 to 200 people. Everyone was amazingly dressed. People would come into the venue and I'm like, is this a fashion Runway? What on earth is this? There was a quirk of the venue in that the communication from people helping with food. The session was terrible. And then I'm on this stage in front of 180 people and they put these two small television screens or screens, and the screens would turn off every few minutes. It was so, uh, distracting. And if you're talking in a foreign country and you're already a little bit stressed because you don't understand the full dynamics of what's going on. And maybe you've been asked for money and you don't know if you're supposed to give them money in case they kill you or bash you or if they're just begging or whatever. Whatever, right? And then you got these screens going on and off every few minutes and you're trying to deliver a slightly professional event. It's like being tasered. Uh, one of the most amazing. I've got this beautiful video, thankfully from this event because at the end everybody swarmed the stage and I'm just surrounded by like a mountain of Nigerian people. And um, yeah, I'd love to go back. I'm a little bit nervous now that I've spoken out and been on national television talking about the airport. But, but that was Lagos. After that went to Dubai. Look, uh, I've got a couple of really old friends or I have a very old friend in Dubai who runs a Michelin star restaurant and a couple of other things there. So I love catching up with him. I love catching up with some of the locals. I caught up with Chirag, who's there, and I went to his wedding in Thailand a couple of months later. Um, Dubai. I don't know if it, uh. Is it unfair for me to say that Dubai is a nothing burger? Maybe I'm just not rich enough. Uh, maybe I'm. I just don't connect with people. I don't know. And it's. I have friends there and I appreciate everyone who comes to my events, but I don't find it the most stimulating city. Sometimes I'll pop up to Abu Dhabi to hang out with my friend and his family and it's cool, but it doesn't really grab, Grab me. Um, that's probably the most common and obvious way to talk about Dubai. I don't mean it as anything negative. I, uh, do want to return soon. And if you are there, by the way, way in the Middle east at all, I hope you're doing okay. I know it must be pretty stressful. I'm checking in with friends every now and then. From Dubai, I went to Doha and Qatar. Uh, we had the Mandarin Hotel give us, uh, space. Really, really interesting vibe there because the locals are more conservative. There's obviously, even in the room there was a divide between local Qataris and the foreigners. Foreigners are, they're obviously often earning pretty good money. Everyone was a little bit careful about what they were saying. It was harder work to teach in that situation. So when people are conservative, they're not used to speaking up. It makes teaching much harder. It really does. Uh, didn't see a lot of Doha. Uh, I think I'm better in cultures where there's music and dancing everywhere, where I don't have to second guess if I'm saying something wrong, which is not a criticism. It's about where I feel in, um, I might actually be back there at some point soon. Then I hopped over to Saudi Arabia to Riyadh and Jeddah. Jeddah is on the coast. People have been telling me to go there because it's known for having like creative hub. It's not that far from Mukka. I think that's how you say it. Uh, Riyadh is cool. We've got some long term M students there and I've got a couple of friends now from there, there. And the behavior that is, uh, happens when I go there, which has been twice, is people will say, can you start a business here? And the two people that I'm, well, two of the people I'm closest to in Saudi, they would sit down, we go for coffee, right? Or whatever it is. There's no drinking, go for coffee. And they're like, you should set up a business here. Do you want to set up a business here? Do you want to set up a joint venture? And they're kind of connected. So one would say, I can call the government right now. And I'm like, oh, slow down, slow down, slow down. Like, it's really cute. And I, I think the thing that a lot of you, um, look, and I'm not naive. I'm aware of things that countries do and that leaders do in history, right? But I think the thing that if you have, excuse me, that you haven't necessarily understood about Saudi Arabia unless you go there. Very young population, 70 to 80% under the age of 30. Quite optimistic, Mystic. They have these plans like Vision 2030, and I think there's Vision 2045. Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a kingdom, right? It's like top down and it's strict. Um, it has loosened. I've seen the behaviors, like, including at this festival called Middle Beast, uh, where certain things happen there that you would never have seen five years ago, let alone 10 years ago. I spent time in one of the main libraries there full of women. Keep hearing about a lot of, yeah, women are driving okay, but also doing really, really well in medicine and engineering and all these serious things. And they want people to like their country. They're really serious about wanting to like their country. And I, you know, uh, have all your opinions about. You can have all the opinions that you need to have about power and how the powerful behave. But I can tell you on the streets, super kind. Super kind. The first time I was there was two Decembers ago and I wore some of the local dress. And so many people came up to me sometimes in the bathroom in the washroom and saying, I appreciate you wearing the Thorb. It shows respect to our culture. And, you know, had people change my outfit so I don't have the language for it, but, you know, move my headwear around because they wanted me to not look like, like a Yemeni. And that's not a disrespect to Yemeni, but someone put me in a Yemeni head situation. They, uh, wanted me to look like a Saudi and just really gentle behaviors like that. So, uh, yeah, it's worth visiting some of these countries just so you can get a feel for the people on the ground because it's going to be different to what you're seeing on the news. Uh, where else did we get? Um, Riyadh. I've been there a few times. I often leave just. I've been there twice. A few times with the construction there and the dust and the dirt and maybe sometimes the cold in December. Is that right? Anyway, it always messes with my lungs and my voice. Jeddah. I had a quick, uh, walk around. Didn't see too much there. A lot of the time in December, I was in hotels, to be honest, or traveling. Pretty intense. I know for some of you who might follow along, I don't know how many of you do, it can look a little bit glamorous and it is fun. It stimulates me, but it can Also be intense and dangerous and tiring. I was probably jet lagged for three to four months of the 12 months of last year. That's not great for mental health. It's not great for your body. Struggle to go to the gym. I could have days where I can't get healthy food and I'm just sadly eating crap bread with cheese and some processed meat on it. Happy to be eating food. Yep. But it's, it's, it's intense. So Jed, I walked around the old town. It was pretty cool. I uh, don't have any big reflections about my time in Saudi this time to be honest. In Cairo we had maybe about 100, I think it was 110. We're in this old university area and we, I can't talk about it but we had uh, a relative of very important person. There was some undercover security and it went really, really well that event. I discovered that my book is being pirated in Egypt because somebody came with a book. I went to the pyramids for about an hour. If you do that, I don't know, maybe organize or prepare yourself a little bit better than I did because it's not very well run. There's a lot of, you know, a lot of people who are trying to get money out of you and it's just sort of just followed by guys everywhere and it'd be nice to see that experience tidied up. The pyramids themselves are really, really cool. Got a photo there and uh, you know I think I had two nights in a hotel there. But not, didn't again, not, not huge reflections, not huge reflections there. Uh, then I went over to Istanbul which is one of my favorite cities. And you know I've had this set of criteria that I'm thinking through. It's not strict but set of criteria that I'm thinking through to help me determine where I want to spend more time in the world. And they are, maybe they're silly things for you, but they're not for me. They are things like where I like the music. So I like Brazil funk, I like Dembo from um, Dominican Republic. I like reggaeton, I like Genghetan which is from Kenya. I like Afrobeats, like Afro house, like I'm a piano, you know, like souls from bachata etc as well but. And hip hop and some edm. But they're the main music, music things that I like and I want to be in places where I can hear that music in the cafes, on the streets because I know that when I go to places and there's just no music, or it's just crappy music from, like the 1980s on replay and repeat. It. It affects me. It really affects me. I used to publish a hip hop magazine. I did hip hop radio. I used to sing. I used to write raps. Like, music is really, really important. I turned that off for a while. And now I want to be in places where music is a really, really big thing and where dancing is a big thing. Uh, I want to be. I think I increasingly want to be in places where there's a vibrant young population, which is all over Africa. When I do events and they finish and people, like, rush the stage to take photos and they're excited. This is not really from a vanity, narcissistic point of view. View. I'm like, oh, my God, what is this? It takes me back. I've had similar moments, not exact moments, but similar moments like that in Indonesia and in the Philippines. Um, I'd say in Georgia. Georgia as well. The one northeast of Turkey, a little bit in. In South America. Um, I don't have that. I don't get that same energy in Australia and the UK and the USA and Canada and Western Europe and Western and Northern Europe. The crowds can be really quiet, similar to Japan and South Korea and Northeast Asia. Right. And so I want to be in places where there's energy, where there's excitement, because I can't live a cold life anymore. I'm super done with it. So, having said that, great time in Istanbul. My favorite people in the world. Toygen Gilmiser, uh, has been a head of strategy for tbwa. He's always cheeky with me because I was there twice last year, and he would just phone me or send me a message the day before or as I arrive, and he'll just go, what are you doing right now? Or what are you doing tonight? Or what are you doing tomorrow night? Six, seven months ago, he took me to a 50th birthday of a friend's wife as well, Ishmael, who's also a strategist. This time he took me to the TBWA Christmas party. The thing that has been on my mind with Turkey, because I do love Istanbul, the food. It's beautiful to walk around if you're in a place like Moda, where there are tourists. But it's. I feel like it's mostly local. And so on the Asian side versus the European side, you know, there's thousands of people on a Saturday afternoon in bars, in restaurants and cafes, place playing games with their pets with friends. And I love that. Does that exist in the U.S. yeah, maybe, maybe. But the majority of U.S. life like that happens in malls. It happens in Applebee's. Does that happen in New York? Maybe in some populations. You know, I'm sure if you're hanging out with Dominicans in certain parts of New York, you're going to get that fire. But if you're not, there's the cost of things and the formality of things. Things. I don't know. I want to be in places where there's life pouring out onto the streets. It, it feels like death to me. In places that are not like that, I, I can't handle them. My body is allergic to them. My mind, my emotions are allergic to them. Having said that, and again, having been in Turkey, maybe it was three times within the year, actually I did, did a few events there. There is a conservativeness in Turkey that I don't know if I could live in. Uh, there's a lot of, in group dynamics. You know, obviously if you don't speak Turkish as well, it's harder to integrate. But that's every. That's anyway, right. And I think if you do spend time in a country, you should try to study. I was going to study swahi healing in Kenya, but just had a lot of other stuff happening. But I've been trying to pick up words and I've had some friends teach me some stuff. But, uh, I think with Istanbul, maybe it's a place that I would visit, but I'm not sure, having been there a few times now, whether, uh, I'd be like, yeah, I really want to live there. Like, I'm not sure there's something, there's something distant about it that's happened, happened to me several nights when I've gone out with people where it just, I don't know, something just doesn't click. Uh, even though I love it and I love my people, I hope that makes sense. If you're Turkish, you probably know what I'm talking about and you'd probably have better language to describe what I'm talking about. So after Istanbul, I actually came back to Kenya for Christmas and funniers. Had a couple of friends here, met, ah, a bunch of people. Unfortunately, I decided to stay in Nairobi rather than travel. And a lot of the people I knew left Nairobi. Right. Because they obviously work here. So they'll go to the coast. It could be Mombasa. There are beautiful places like Diani and Watamu and Melindi and Lamu. The places that I Do want to visit? I have visited Diani. There's not a lot going on there, but they're nice. Uh, or they might go west to Naguru or Kisumu, probably. Probably less. Or people return home and see family in the villages. So that was a little bit of a weird time because there was definitely stuff to do in Nairobi. But a lot of people that I knew were also way after Nairobi, did I go to Manila. Anyway, I somehow ended up in Manila around January 20th. Yeah, in the Philippines. And it was super cool. I think I've mentioned Sharon Penelo a couple of times, but Sharon's a strategist. Some of you listening to this will know her. If you don't, you should Google her. She's writing a lot of. Writing a lot of good stuff and doing a lot of good presentations on artificial intelligence. She visited me in Colombia last year, and we had a really good time, and we made a song together using this AI Tool that I like to use called Suno. It was a reggaeton song for her, and she took the way that we worked. And now the way that we worked has been documented, and it gets taught at, uh. Is it Parsons? Is there another school with a P in it? Anyway, um, there's a little experiment that we did in this picture become something that's being taught in New York City to students. So that's. That's really, really cool. Sharon happened to be in the Philippines making some. Is it documentary. She's documenting a lot of a family story, and it was interesting to hear people talk about Filipino futurism and. And whatnot. I stayed in bgc, which is a little bit of a generic mall area. And again, not a lot of reflections about my time in Manila, but we had. We had some fun there and got to catch up with one of the sweathead team members, Dot. And if you've come to our events, you would have received an email from her. So Manila was cool. Uh, we had a really big turnout, too. I think we hit 220 people. Really big turnout. Pretty good interaction as well. Find the Filipino. Uh, interaction in my classes is usually it can be quiet at first, but then it can get cheeky as well. I mean, the brand we workshopped is a, uh, condom brand called Trust Trist. Ah. Uh, I forgot. Uh, then when I went to Hong Kong, and, man, Hong Kong is really important in my mind because I did Wing Chun kung fu when I was young. A lot of Australian. A lot of my friends in Australia came from Hong Kong. I studied Wing Chun with this, uh, Guy called Rick Spain. His master was a guy called Sifu or Sigong. William Chung. William Chung is my. Was one of my very close friends, one of my best friends, uncles and love Chinatown in Sydney. Went there a lot, lived 10, 15 minutes walk away from it for a very long time. Cantonese. Watched a lot of kung fu movies, Cantonese and Hong Kong movies growing up. I also say the drive from the airport in Hong Kong to um, Hong Kong island or wherever you are, it's really beautiful. I don't know, maybe it was just because it was January and I guess it was cold from memory too, but just didn't click with me. It felt a little bit distant again like Singapore can and ah, uh, maybe I'm just not connecting with the right people, with any people. Maybe it was my mood, maybe I was jet lagged. But uh, you know, it does make me think sometimes. This is not an original observation, but a lot of the major cities I go to, they kind of feel like the same city. That's not fair on all of the cities. Okay. You can obviously find interesting things to do, but for me, uh, I want to see like really interesting life and music and celebration and maybe that's an unfair to thing or a set of. It's an unfair set of things to expect from different places. But yeah, felt a little bit about Hong Kong. Then I went to Bangkok. Been there a few times, was there to do an event and then also to attend the wedding of Chiragu's a strategist, uh, and Sarah. Biggest event I've ever been to. The strategy event went well. Being in Bangkok, I think I was there for about a week. I stayed a few extra days. It was okay. I don't do the sex worker stuff or strip clubs or I wouldn't even go to like a ping pong ball thing. Right. It's just not, it's not my world. But uh, the food there is great. Uh, right on some motorcycles on the highways, which is kind of scary actually without a helmet. And it was cool. Parts of Bangkok do feel a little bit generic in that international multinational mall way. But food is good. I'd say the locals are quite conservative and a bit standoffish. Unless, um, you're operating in the, in the world where they're going to do a transaction with you. So that was that. And then, oh my God, this wedding. I guess I'm allowed to talk about it. I won't go too much into too much detail. I think it was over three nights and I've never been to an Indian wedding. Before, how many people were there? 500. I don't know. A lot of people had flown in and they had multiple events a day. And each event. So let's say there are three events in a day. Each event was bigger than any wedding I've been to. I. It was crazy. And it. It ended with this super famous singer from India. I was just blown away. Uh, one of the funny. It was slightly frustrating, but it's all good. I was so appreciative to be there. But one of the funny things that happens at Indian weddings is the people organizing it don't trust Indian guests to turn up on time. And so they'll send out information such as, come to this venue at 5 o'. Clock. And it's just me. It's just me. And, uh, Amy was there too, though. Actually, there was how many other strategists? There's one other sort of strategy training person, Amy Dukakis. And I was like, going to these events on time, and sometimes they would start three hours later, but an hour after the starting time, there's a message saying the bride and groom is supposed to be entering right now, but they would still enter like two hours later. Like, oh, my God. So how do you know when to appear? Because I don't know. It's a lot of sitting around. But it was an amazing, uh, amazing celebration. Got to meet quite a lot of people. I'd say that's probably the. Let me think, probably the first event or special event like that that I've been to by myself. Uh, it's not easy. It's not easy because. Because everyone has their cliques, they have their families, they have their school friends. And, you know, if it's like a fancy situation, if it's formal, everyone's watching. And so I got to meet some people. Met, uh, I think his name's Nunzi from Nigeria. He's a chef. He's got a Thai restaurant in Abuja, and he also makes Afrobeats. So it was cool to meet him and his partner. It's all of Shirak's family as well. I got to hear some stories about what the families do, but, like, people tend to feel like they're stuck in their groups and their clans. And I wasn't always sure how to get involved, if you know what I mean. So there's something that I'm thinking about. If I get to go to more events like that. What a random reflection. Okay, so from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City and oh, my God, with some of these events last year, so these. The events were this year, but we started to promote them last year. And I don't know what happened if I was just on really slow Internet in Nigeria or South Africa, but I was running ads on Meta Ads Manager, and I would set the desk, set the location to, say, Hong Kong and Ho chi Minh City, etc. And then I would log back in. I'm like, why is Hong Kong pointing at Singapore? And I was like, what the hell's happening here? So frustrating. I thought I fixed it three times, and I still don't understand what the problem was. So the issue. So Hong Kong, we had a smaller crowd. And Ho Chi Minh City, we had a smaller crowd too. A really cool thing about Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City and then Singapore is I had an old university friend, Ivan, shout out to Ivan, if you're listening. He lives in Singapore now, and he happened to be in Bangkok for work at the time. And we had a nice night out. And then he was in Ho Chi Minh City, coincidentally. And I was catching up with another old, uh, university friend, Celine, who's involved with hospital tourism there. And so we got to have a few drinks, and then Ivan and I went out. And, you know, I've been thinking a bit about. I do have some avoidant personality traits, which I've written a bit about in the. My newsletter. Um, wrote a song about it, actually, called Stuck in Between. And, you know, I've had a couple of nights out with friends where if I don't really don't like the music or I'm on alert, or I don't like the crowd or I'm bored, or I'm, um. With a dominant personality, I can just shut down. I hate it. Or I really hate it. And I did that with Ivan. I was just. I wasn't into the crowd, wasn't into the music. It was kind of a weird. I don't like the word expat. It was like a weird expat crowd and sex workers in everywhere we went. I was like, um. And I didn't like the music. So I'm like, I'm not feeling this, man. And then the next day I sent him a message, said, sorry that my mood dropped like that. And he sent me this lovely message back. I'll misquote it. It was something like, you know, we'll know. We'll have, like, a really. A real or really good friendship when we don't have to apologize for ourselves. And, uh, it made me think, because I try to hold. I try to hold a lot of People. Not all my boundaries are probably better defined than ever, but I do try to hold a lot of especially creative and thoughtful and intuitive and empathetic people. I try to hold them in safety at my events or even if they're on my team, if I'm working, when I was working in agencies, uh, to enjoy the quirks, to enjoy the eccentricities. Uh, but I've not felt that from a lot of people over the years. In the past year or two, I'm increasingly feeling it. I was back in Australia, back in Sydney in June, and man, I feel like I received a lot of unconditional love from friends and family members. Maybe in a way that we just weren't communicating before or that I wasn't able to receive, or my energy was off and putting. I don't know. Uh, maybe I've just sort of grown up as a bit of an independent, lone wolf, solo person, just trying to be hyper independent, not rely on people. Maybe I was giving off the vibes, but just didn't need that. Uh, but I do. And luckily a lot of the, uh, especially the male friendships that I have, a lot of them have grown to be able to accommodate difficult moments, difficult things happening in life, difficult things that we might say to each other. So anyway, that was Ho Chi Minh City. Curious about Vietnam, would like to visit it more. Not a lot of. Not, uh, a lot of big reflections out of that one. Then I was in Singapore a couple of nights, met some people, had a quiet night out with Ivan. What else happened there? Yeah, the music's really bad in Singapore. Everywhere I went in public and bars and cafes, it was just like this really bad music. And I posted about it and people like, yeah, that's because of the government and the licensing and this, this and that. And I was like, oh, my God. Because when I. When I travel, Singapore's a little bit different. But when I travel, I want to hear local music. And often I'll go to places and they are catering to just generic white tourists. They'll, um, drop some Alba, let's play this crap from the 1970s and 1980s. I'm like, man, what is this? Who are you playing music for? So, yeah, I caught up with, uh, Lee Sienna as well, strategist in Singapore. It was good. We had. We had a good little event there. Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong were, I think, the three cities that I had weird issues with. Meta Ads manager that I stood on on the side, then headed over to Jakarta. Jakarta's interesting. Is. It's interesting Is the traffic's crazy. I believe there's 40 to 50 million people in Jakarta every single day. It's sinking at something like, is it 6 centimeters or 6 inches? That's a big difference, uh, per year. They're saying they're gonna have to relocate half of the population in the next decade or two. They're trying to build another capital. I think there's some issues with that. The traffic is crazy. Everywhere I go, everyone complains about their own traffic. But I would say Jakarta and Manila, the traffic is really, really bad. Kuala Lumpur is increasingly bad too. And I think some of these countries have picked up a bit of extra tourism because of this, is what I heard. Issues between Cambodia and Thailand and, you know, obviously issues in Europe, etc. As well. So that might also be hurting or affecting some of the traffic there. Uh, stayed in a really cool hotel in Jakarta, caught up with an old DJ friend from Sydney. Doent Sang, who is, I believe an architect and now makes children's playgrounds, has a factory with 50 people working there. So it was really lovely to catch up with him, spend a bit of time with him. In my 20s again, not a lot of reflections other than I, uh, think we had about 120, or was it more 2150 people at the event. We did it in a cinema. Yeah. Jakarta feels a little bit. I would call it a hidden gem. I know a lot of people go to Bali and other parts of Indonesia, but it's interesting, like to be that big food's good. People I met are really cool, a little bit concerned, like it's a bit conservative. And I did a, uh, day of training with a government owned organization too. So that was also interesting. And, uh, in a government owned organization, I think it happened twice. I don't know if there's call to prayer within the meeting, but I think you have to sing the anthem, maybe say a pledge. I can't fully remember. So it was interesting because it just comes on as I'm talking and I'm like, what do I do now? And people will quietly tell me what to do. But also, uh, I had to guess a little bit. Uh, Kuala Lumpur is, is interesting. Bit conservative for me too. Although I've hung out with people there who know how to have crazy fun. So I'd say KL Jakarta, uh, uh, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila. Yeah, I'm just looking at the list of these places. I'd say, uh, after Latin America and Africa, it's. It's hard, you know, especially based on My music tastes and my love of dance. But dancing to particular kinds of music, Uh, I love the energy of Southeast Asia. Some of these countries are growing. Wow. Isn't that amazing? Uh, but also, there's a conservatism that I am probably too impatient for in this part of my life. Uh, so I guess they're the main cities that I'm going to talk about. Published this thing just now about Kenya, and just caught myself in a few interviews and discussions lately, or even after I do an event, someone will want to ask a question that's like an intellectual strategy question where I have to think a little bit too much. I'm like, surely there's a simpler question. And then I'm like, oh, you know what I really want to talk about? I want to talk about what I've seen in the nightclubs in Nairobi, or I want to talk about what I saw on the airplane flying to Nigeria. Or what it was like going through the airport in Lagos in Nigeria. Uh, I love talking about the theory and structure. But briefly, what really interests me is people and the behavior and what's going on in that behavior. And it's really funny. So final part of what I'll talk about today is just some of the nightlife behaviors that I've seen in Kenya. Kenyans party. Uh, I was confused by this because my first times here, the Kenyans would sit down and they were quiet and they looked stoic. And, uh, not everybody, but often stoic and maybe not super expressive. And then a few hours later, they might be. But you don't necessarily know. I mean, the first. The second time I was here, around Christmas, uh, Ben Imbru, who's a strategist, his sister was kind enough to take me out, and we went to three clubs. And in three clubs, hardly anybody was dancing. And if you've been following along, I've made a commitment that if I like the music and I want to dance, I'm going to dance. And that is after going to my friend Miles 40th birthday in Sao Paulo last year. I watched the TikTok and me, uh, and Ian Beecroft, who talks a lot about AI. Some of you know him. We nearly got into a fight the night before because Ian was saying we should take up space in this club. And the 10 guys around us didn't like that idea very much. And so we had a big night out. Nearly got into a fight. I had to fly on the Saturday night just after or during Ma's birthday because. Because I had misunderstood dates. So I was Just on edge. And I went to her house party. It was super fun. There was a guy dressed up in a rabbit, I guess like a bad bunny party. And I just didn't dance. And she knew that I wanted to dance, and I just didn't dance because I didn't understand the dynamics. I didn't want to offend anyone. I think I was the only gringo there. And I was like. So there's literally a video, which I've talked about, where I'm just hanging against the wall. And so since then, I've determined that, uh, if I like the music and I want to dance, I have freaking dance and I'll do it in a place where there's 10 people just have to boogie, have to do it. So, yeah, the nightlife in Nairobi is. It's big, it's intense. It's largely built around. There's a lot of R B here. Uh, and obviously you've got younger groups of people, older groups of people, richer groups of people, poorer groups of people. I've spent time largely, I'd say, with people in their 20s to 40s in wealthier areas, definitely. And so there's different energy there because in a lot of these places, you could be sitting next to a politician or a celebrity or an actor or something, and maybe they all went to school together, or someone went to school together, or someone's got a side chick. And so it can feel like there's a tentativeness in some of these environments. Uh, but it's really interesting. And so some of the behaviors that I've seen, which are largely new to me, is like, first of all, Nairobi loves liquor. We were in a bar, uh, with some friends the other day, and they had a few. A bunch of tables were reserved, but next to the reserve sign, they had bottles of liquor on the tables out. I don't think anyone would do that in Australia, probably for fear of theft, I'd say. And, uh, also in this place, if you ordered a beer, they would bring you two. The second would not be open, but they're essentially trying to pre sell you. I'd never seen. Seen that before. Uh, be careful. If you do shots with Kenyans, Uh, they have some local alcohol called Kenya Cane, which I've done viral talking about, actually. Uh, but if people are bringing out the liquor and they get you to do shots, and often it's really early in the night. So I didn't do shots growing up, didn't really drink liquor. I still remember one of the. Some of the first few times in New York, where someone at the end of the night, or, I don't know, deep, deep into the night goes, let's do a round of shots, shots, shots, shots, and all that sort of stuff here. They'll do it early and it won't be one shot. I've, uh, been with people where they're doing five shots, five people doing five shots within 30 minutes, or there's just a whole bunch of shots there. And you're like, what is this? And I'm not used to that. And so that's. I've definitely been messed up quickly. Not messed up a leg. Yeah, I messed up actually early and quickly. And, uh, yeah, trying not to touch the liquor like that from now on. Trying not to. Uh, you'll also see in a lot of these venues, and, you know, there's obviously clubs which are designed more for dancing, and then there are clubs which are, you know, bottle service, DJs, maybe a little bit of dancing. But there's furniture everywhere in a lot of these places. And what was explained to me is they want people to sit down to order their bottles. And I would never order a bottle in the U.S. i mean, I never did. It's hundreds of dollars here. It could be $40, $50. Like, if you have USD, it can be quite affordable. Um, and so a lot of these venues, they all have DJs there, but they really want people ordering bottles. It could be some shisha involved as well. And there's just so much furniture in a lot of these places that it's hard to move around them. Waiters will move chairs and tables, carrying them on their heads and shoulders as the room shape changes with the arrival and departure of guests. Uh, and it's really important for a lot of people to get a table, even if there's 60 of them. There's something where people really want to get a table. If you've got a smaller group of three or four people, but the table could fit eight, the waiters want to put extra people on that table. It's funny, not a lot of dancing. Often early. And then what can happen is what I have heard is called swatching. Swatch in sheng, which is a Kenyan language, means sleep. So not on every table, but on quite a few tables on a night out, uh, you will just see people with their head down and they're reloading, they're sleeping, and it's really, really normal. So there's been some interesting behavior to see as well. There's this other. There's this drink called Jabba Juice. So there are some local drinks here. Gotta be careful with them. They're not all regulated. And some of them can mess you up. And I was told that 60% of alcohol in Kenya is counterfeit, actually. But there's a drink called Jabba Juice. First time I had that was on New Year's Day, where people were like, hey, do you want to try some of this? It's a naturally occurring stimulant. I think it's fermented as well. And I was awake for two days. Yep, I was. I've done it once more. It's not a thing that I would try to do many times. Uh, and then also, you see a lot of Kenyans, they joke about which there was. There should be a day between Sunday and Monday, like, what's that called? And people joke about Kenyans not really doing Mondays, uh, that they're definitely quitting alcohol because a lot of. I don't know what the numbers are, obviously, but a lot of Kenyans will just party all weekend through. Through the weekend. They might have Jabba Juice, candy cane, multiple bottles, really strong alcohol, and they just keep going. And where m. Have I seen that before? I don't know where I've seen that before. Obviously, a lot of people listening to this have had a party phase, and there are countries where that happens a lot. It seems super, super mainstream here, so. Been really, really interesting. So I'm gonna end there. Went a little bit longer than I expected to. I hope you're doing okay out there. Check me out, out on Instagram, Arp Pollard and on TikTok arPollard. Yeah, just. I think I've had maybe 6 million views of my content from. From Africa over the past five or so weeks, and it's been really, really refreshing. I love talking about strategy. I feel really, uh, privileged. I do feel privileged to have been able to build a big part of my life and career around writing about it and talking about it. Uh, but it's been really nice to get a bit of traction with content that's quite different. It's livened me up. If you're going through difficult times right now, sending you hugs and, uh, yeah, might see you in the face in the flesh sometime soon. Peace. Make the most of your mind make the most of your mind make the most of your mind make the most of your mind make the most of your mind.