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kozhikode feeling and some random thoughts about Tuesday

@Topiclo Admin3/20/2026blog

i woke up to the sound of my coffee machine hissing like it was trying to make a decision. probably not a great analogy but hey. the weather here is doing that thing where it’s not cold enough to warrant a sweater but still cool enough to make you question every life choice. i just checked and it’s...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. i’m not sure if the neighbors are judging me for sleeping in or if they’re just too tired from whatever they do at 3 am. if you’re done with the chaos here, mundu or kozhikode beach are just a short drive away.

someone told me the street food market is a vibe, but don’t believe everything you hear. i heard that the station master has a secret stash of mangoes that’s rumored to taste like nostalgia. maybe true? maybe not. who knows. i’m not one to test the rumor mill while it’s hot.

i spent the day wandering past places i half-remember from travel guides. the map i saw online was way too clean. this place feels like it’s trying to forget itself. near the old bridge, i saw a guy selling paper fans with tiny flowers. i don’t know if that’s art or desperation. probably both.

yesterday, i tried this café everyone keeps raving about. the yelp review said it’s ‘a hidden gem,’ but the barista kept spilling espresso on my shoes. i left with a fraction of my favorite shoe and a new respect for baristas. i checked the tripadvisor page though, and most people seem okay with the mishap. life’s messy like that.

i hung around a spot near the station where the street artist was doing that mural with neon dots. the colors were weird. like someone dipped a straw in a rainbow and threw it at a wall. the locals said it’s a protest against tourist prices. i don’t know if that’s true. but the colors? yes. real.

i overheard two people arguing about whether the beach at sunrise is worth the 30-minute drive. someone claimed it’s a scam. another person swore by the screaming crabs. i didn’t ask for details. screaming crabs sound like a waste of time. maybe a hoax. but the waves? they’re loud. like they’re trying to tell you something. i just checked and it’s…there right now. hope you like that kind of thing.

the temp is stuck at 23.96°c. feels like 23.64. whatever that means. humidity is at 47%, which is probably why the air tastes like old paper and regret. pressure is 1010. i don’t know what that means. maybe it’s a coding error.

someone told me once that the best way to find locals is to ask about the weather. turns out, the right question is ‘what time do the crabs start screaming?’. i asked that and got three different answers. one person said 4am. another said never. the third said only when the moon is full. i didn’t know which to believe.

i took a walk to the beach anyway. the sun was low and the water was weird. not blue enough. looked more like a glass of neon lemonade that someone forgot to stir. i tried to eat a banana but it fell into the grass. katchup. no worries.

if you want to avoid this place, forget it. it’s always somewhere. if you want to stay, embrace the chaos. the internet says one thing, the guidebooks say another, and the old woman selling cough candy says something entirely different. i think she was just trying to make money. or maybe she’s a prophet. who knows?

i found this place that’s not on any map. a little bungalow with a radio playing old Hindi songs. the owner said he’s a historian. i didn’t ask. he just handed me a cup of tea and started talking about how the British used to throw things in the ocean here. probably true. probably not. but the tea? good.

i’m not sure what i learned today. maybe that 23.96°c is a bad number to remember. maybe that skepticism is a survival tool. or maybe that the best stories come from places no one wants to talk about.

if you’re planning a trip, check the unsplash page for kozhikode. there’s a photo of a purple wall. i think it’s real. probably. also, if you want to avoid the screaming crabs, maybe don’t go to the beach at dawn. link to the tripadvisor page here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g61128-d1177733-Reviews-Kozhikode_Kerala.html. link to yelp here: https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Kozhikode&find_loc=Kozhikode+Kerala. link to a local forum here: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-visit-Kozhikode.

the end. or is it?

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About the author: Topiclo Admin

Writing code, prose, and occasionally poetry.

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