Opinion

Why the last 2 festivals felt so bad to me as a blogger

By GilaChess - August 26, 2025




 I know most people will see this as a lame excuse and unacceptable reason(s), but I am going with it anyway.

The last two Malaysian chess festivals left me feeling very disappointed. This is from the perspective of a content creator and as a blogger. This does not reflect in any way upon the running of the festival, which was excellently run, like always. It just wasn't the same for me in comparison to the previous chess festivals that were before and after the pandemic. Generally, I deduced it was access to a computer for me to post my content from. 



Previously, the playing hall and the hotel room (where my computer was) were in the same building - Cititel. I really was spoiled with that ideal setup.



It was incredibly convenient to go up and down by lift from the playing hall to my computers in the room to make updates to the website and social media (and also to steal a nap!)

However, at the last 2 festivals, the hotel room was 3.8 km away and accessible by10-minute drive by Grab car ride or a 30-minute LRT ride.  

Last year, my solution was to have my main PC in the playing hall. I even brought along a 50" TV as my monitor.      


It seemed like problems were solved, but it still wasn't ideal. Live posts from the playing hall were good, but summary posts at night meant I had to carry my computer (minus that big TV, of course) with my keyboard and other accessories back to the hotel. I have to decide what to ferry back to the hotel room and what to keep at the playing hall. I've lost a decent number of things, including my camera pole, action camera clamps, etc, last year.

In the end, it just felt depressing. I couldn't even come out with a minimal amount of content I wanted.
For me, personally, I failed in doing my job as the "media person".

Then, just 2 months ago, I had the chance to cover the ASEAN+ Age Group - a similarly long 10-day event just like the festival. The same conditions as my main computer was in the hotel room. In fact, I had no computer at the playing hall except for a notebook, which lasted only 1 hour on battery. However, my mental state was vastly different. I was happier and felt even more productive compared to my last 2 chess festivals.

I attribute it to this:

.  

All 3 meals were provided by the hotel, and I took the opportunity to eat like I was at Cititel (pre-COVID). Salads, fruits, porridge, and corn flakes were the norm. Almost zero meat or anything fatty or starchy. Even rice was minimal. This was the exact same menu choice I had @ Cititel pre-COVID.




I have to admit everything was almost meatless, if it was not for my daily biking trips for breakfast, Dim Sum. That wasn't vegetarian for sure. Besides biking there was also swimming, almost daily!



This coming Malaysian Chess Festival, amazingly, I will have access to a swimming pool and have the room where I stay in the same building as the playing hall. Ok, I won't have that nice daily free buffet style meals from the hotel, but it's Airbnb, meaning I have a kitchen, and Village Grocer is just downstairs!!

So no excuses for feeling bad or depressed and not doing my job this time. Also, I have a feeling this will be my last festival, so I want to go out with a bang. (or at least do more than a half decent job as so-called  chess blogger)

To summarise, the ideal factors I want/need as a blogger:

- Exercise: Access to a swimming pool or bike.
- Good food: Breakfast buffet that has lots of salads, fruits, and corn flakes.
- Close proximity:  hotel room to playing hall.

That's just me as a blogger. I am curious, as a chess player, would these 3 factors be of any benefit or importance?


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