Steemfest 4 adventures

Times have been dark, but let me tell you about the spark I saw recently.

I went to this gathering called Steemfest. What an odd bunch I thought at first. This must be the misfits of misfits someone else said and somehow it made sense. Shyest ones even relied on a scanning app by @arcange (smart, that was really smart indeed and very needed, also appreciated) to begin conversations with others only known in typing or similar before, all of a sudden standing right there, in front of them staring into their souls and smiling back. Except, my scanning device was broken, so here I was with my potato phone awkwardly granny typing a few names manually while gently guided around by the grand wizard himself @gtg until the battery also gave out.

By that time, however, some quite interesting discussions and stories had warmed up, such as the one @blocktrades told to @lemony-cricket about how once upon a time at his basement some pretty smart people gathered and created Steem. Fascinating!

The evening went by unnoticed. I was surprised to see so many familiar faces and even more surprised when some of them recognized me too. It was lovely to meet new people as well. @gamer00 was one of them. But then I made him spill beer all over his bag after I told him about the scanning app and he was reaching for the iPad. Sorry again!

_{Conference day 1, Siam Society. Yep! That’s @roelandp in his cool, authentic Thai suit on the background of my first Steemfest, the one in Lisbon!}
Despite the troubles with the venues this year, @roelandp and the team did an amazing job with their choices and selections of the locations for the event. Not just the locations, but the whole vibe with the bright pink colored lighting, and other decorative elements, delicious Thai catering, entertainment, lovely goodie bags featuring Steemfest fans, the wonderful purple Steemfest shirt, incense and more. They are getting better and better each year! Thanks to them again and also to all of the sponsors for making this experience possible!

“We are Steem survivors!” Yes, we are! Times might be tough, but we just keep marching forward, working away building infrastructure, projects, and the future! If you need any more evidence, it is just to look at these amazing people, the spark, the things they have been working on and tirelessly continue to do so. Take a look at the talks here and here from the conference day 1 if you haven’t already. You don’t have to miss out on that! ^^

_{We had a ball!}
Bowling at Steemfest now appears to be a tradition and a great one to have. So much fun for everybody! @daabi2006, @gamer00, @lemony-cricket and I teamed up and formed the team “Meow” with a slogan “Meow, meow, I’m a cow!” ^^ Even though I had never bowled, team “Meow” went up against the team “Steemit Inc” and after a bloody fight and special granny throw extravaganza, we won! We lost to the champions, team “Germany” later though. Their confidence got under my skin and all my balls went straight to the gutter xD Rest of the evening @lemony-cricket taught me proper bowling techniques, since I even held the ball wrong as it turned out. I can see why people love this game, I shall practice for the next year! Perhaps Meow will strike again!

_{Riverboat rides!}
One of the recommended transportation from place to place and the fastest one was the riverboats. While I appreciated their speed and convenience, they also terrified me a little. Not as much the boats themselves as the water in the river. It was so dirty. So far in my life, I had never seen water pollution at this level with my own eyes. I remember looking at a website that had a simulation of how much plastic is floating from rivers into oceans every second, it was hard to grasp it then. Here, however, not just plastic was floating around. It appeared that sewage is going straight into the river. 

_{Conference day 2, Grand Postal Building}
There were many exciting talks on conference day 2 as well on the record here and here, but a couple stood out to me. The first one was @buttcoins talk about his journey of finding Steem, trying to figure out this strange crypto world, how Steem is for all kinds of people, how it is about stories, authenticity, creativity, and interaction between humans besides the technology and financial gain. So much enthusiasm and positivity in that guy! And the second shout out goes to @roadscape for his talks both days were refreshing, thoughtful, rising some good points and asking some important questions as well as the cool demo of communities!

_{My strange fascination with old, time-worn buildings wrapped in wires}

_{Steemians have a superior sense of direction in the busy streets of Bangkok}

_{We found the bull on our way to the Steemy night. Could that be a sign?}

_{Bangkok street art, this one seemed to be carved or burned into the wall}

_{Ha ha ha!}

_{@celestal ready to take over the Steemy night by the Chao Praya River}
Pink lights, cheerful laughter of Steemians enjoying the moment, boats passing by on the river, chill music in the background mixed with sounds of Bangkok, delicious Thai noms prepared and served right there on the spot, serious discussions about blockchain technologies, successes and failures, surprise birthday song, loudest Yum Seng cheers ever and bunch silly GIFies - sounds about right, that’s Steemy night!

_{Closing dinner on the White Orchid River cruise}
While bittersweet, closing dinner on the White Orchid was a celebration of what Steem is all about. The wonderful community of people coming together from all around the globe, trying to find solutions and alternatives for the future. We all might have different cultural backgrounds, we might not speak the same language and sometimes we don’t, but at the end of the day we are not so different, we all want the same thing, for Steem to succeed. Perhaps, we have already succeeded, when it comes to all the positivity, love, and drive Steemians embody even at the hardest times. With all we got going on, the good times are not so far away!

_{Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or Temple of Dawn}

_{The Grand Palace of Bangkok}

_{Closing drinks at  Prince Palace Hotel rooftop}
It was hard to say goodbye to the lovely people of Steem, but it is hardly a goodbye and more like we will meet again if not so soon in person, then here on Steem for sure. Yet some hugs almost broke an elevator! The best times, hopefully until next year!