Return to Rink

Welcome to “Baldi’s Podcast”, a podcast hosted by survivor, internationally renowned lifelong Musician, Educator, Keynote Motivational Speaker, Podcaster, Writer and International Double

Gold Medallist “Baldi”, AKA Amonn AL-Mahrouq encouraging you all to reach your full potential, pursue your dreams and inspire others along your journey.

How have your last two weeks treated you?

I’ve been quietly productive working towards achieving the goals I’ve set for myself this month, including completing “Think and Grow Rich” written by Napoleon Hill, a book I can highly

recommend to you all.

In Figure Skating news, after a two and a half year covid related gap, l finally returned to the ice. Getting up at 5am seemed alien after so long, however, I quickly remembered how inspiring it

feels to see our sun rise ushering in a new day full of countless opportunities. Arriving at my local station for my train at 06.15am felt a little like afternoon, however, after catching up with crew

and station staff I quickly felt old times had returned. Remembering roughly the same carriage as I always sat in pre-covid times proved quite a challenge, however, walking through the train I

quickly recognised and smiled at people with familiar faces whilst sipping Coffee, thankfully they not only smiled back, but also seemed to recognise my face, greeting me with phrases like “Good

morning Stranger” and “Long time no see” which thankfully alerted me to when I was roughly in the right seating area.

After an enjoyable catch up, punctuated by bits of reading, I arrived, stopping off at “FCB Coffee” on the platform to say “Hello!”, introduced myself to the inevitable new staff, and recounted the last two or so years worth of news with older staff, all the while being sure to keep an eye on the station clock so as not to miss my onward connection. This time a far shorter journey followed by a leisurely, and inspiring stop start walk across the beautiful “Stoke Park” enjoying more catch ups with both humans and dog acquaintances alike until I arrived at the rink to find an entirely new set of reception staff who informed me lessons were now 30 minutes each, instead of 15, which suits me even better - well….why carry around more sheets of paper than necessary, which begs my question, do you like paper receipts and tickets or are you like me, wanting everything E? Do let me know.

Descending to the rink, brought back floods of many happy memories of my achievements and “Rink Family” which only made me even more eager to boot up and get back on ice, after even more catching up, of course. Having forgotten just how long “Booting Up” actually takes, I tentatively ventured ice side with the assistance of my coaches and throughly enjoyed my session, although felt a little unsure of just what my legs were up to some of the time! Thankfully no falls, always a great start, don’t you think and not too bad considering so much time away. Even more catch up ice side presented itself as well as a few comments from me like, “Wow, this really is slippery!”, which admittedly could have be due to my blunt figure skating blades and, cool so many new faces! Overall, my first experience back felt joyous especially as I was doing something I love. Onwards and upwards…..here’s to my future ice time and achievements! Which leads me to ask, what have you achieved these last few weeks to inspire yourself, your nearest and dearest and others? Do comment by sending an email by taping the mail icon located towards the bottom of the page, thanks!

In other news, these last few weeks has seen lots of progress compiling, writing, and editing my new “Media Pack” which replaces my current static website and C.V from 1 June, 2022. Incidentally, this is the very same date I will be closing my “Twitter” account, therefore, do bookmark, this, my podcasting site (https://www.amonnalmahrouq.com) to hear all my latest news and forthcoming inspiring activities. Which reminds me, everything being equal, I will be attending my old school “Sibford School” reunion as “Reunion Secretary” on Saturday June 18, which I’m very much looking forward to. If you are an old scholar, thinking of attending, would be lovely to meet and catch up with you all, especially now I’m on your committee.

Aside from the bare structure, this last week, I have begun populating my forthcoming “Media Pack” with essential information and will of course continue to develop this crucial document over time eventually merging all websites and documents into this one easy to consume version. I will of course be keeping this, my Podcasting site moving forwards as I am aiming for it to become the centre piece of my web presence.

Finding myself again in our Capital City, London last week, I enjoyed a productive day despite the increasingly heavy traffic, very dirty fumes and many interesting road closures. Visiting my old University, located just off “Bond Street” and hospital buildings, taking photos for my forthcoming book series amongst other interesting ongoing projects, which I will expand on in future casts. I felt pleased to see both buildings intact and to see London slowly regaining people, however, sad learning these once inspiring buildings are now being used for entirely different purposes. How do you feel about re-purposing buildings?

A long overdue upgraded audio Interface to replace my ageing “Focusrite Scarlett 2i4” has arrived meaning I am able to better streamline my production workflow and produce higher quality Audio content. I will let you know how I’m progressing in a future cast, however my initial impressions of “Audient” studio equipment is encouraging, impressive and very positive.

Last Saturday saw my Cousin and “Poppy" arrive for our adventure to “Petersfield”. Just a quick few words on “Poppy”, she’s an adorable Golden Retriever cross and a joy to be around. Lunch was set to be in a Pizza restaurant, because Baldi here won a voucher a few months back, however upon enquiring we found they were not dog friendly, so I politely explained, if Poppy wasn’t allowed in, then her humans we also not going in. Eventually we found a quaint, out of the way hotel which had a lovely courtyard outside restaurant attached where we all enjoyed a light lunch before heading off for more adventures. Passing “Petersfield Town Square” where each Saturday they hold a “Farmers Market” we were lured in by the smell combined with vibrant colours and felt obliged to sample then purchase locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables. Personally, I would love to see more farmers markets selling locally grown produce, wouldn’t you?

Onwards by foot we progressed towards Poppy’s favourite place, a pond just outside Petersfield, Hampshire, U.K which once in, Poppy will do everything she knows never to get out. However, after a cool off, super massive swim, oh and the promise of return combined with an inspirational walk in nature we returned to our car via a local ice cream vendor, which was enjoyed by all. In total, we, Poppy’s humans racked up around 6 miles this fine day, however, I’m sure Poppy must have walked at least 10, perhaps more.

In Piano news, currently I am very much enjoying practicing for my Grade 8 and Advanced Certificate Exams in amongst learning new works for performance later this year and on into next. At the moment, I have no concrete concert plans, however, am in constant communication with a few venues for potential recitals later this year, do continue to watch this space for updates.

Finally, to Pod news, I have heard from my friend who will be making an appearance on a forthcoming Pod. Unfortunately he’s been a little under the weather recently hence plans have stalled a little, however, I wish him all the very best for a speedy recovery and look forward to meeting up soon to finalise details and begin recording our forthcoming cast. In the meantime, I have been in touch with other friends who have asked if they could make an appearance and we are in the process of sorting through plans. Do stay tuned for further updates!

Thanks for listening to today’s episode of “Baldi’s Podcast”, a podcast hosted by survivor, internationally renowned lifelong Musician, Educator, Keynote Motivational Speaker, Writer, Podcaster and International Double Gold Medallist “Baldi”, A.K.A Amonn AL-Mahrouq.