June 22nd, 2008 -- Posted in coffee thoughts |
Aaaahh… A quiet weekend morning at the balcony with my coffee and some cigs…
This is something I do for 20-30 mins on weekend mornings… some kind of ritual I’ve been following for the past year since we moved here to KL. While I’ve been accustomed to waking up early on work days, the habit persists on weekends.
It’s a moment I get for myself, to think (or not to think) and enjoy the peaceful bliss I seldom get. This morning, it brings to mind the hectic lifestyle most of us choose to live in Southeast Asia. Still a far cry from Jazz’s island life, this is the best I can get from a balcony view. Still too noisy and the air is bad too. I do wish for a quieter lifestyle, away from the highways and smog. Who doesn’t? It’s the ultimate dream for most of us wish for. Peace and quiet.
So why not?
It’s not just about the money, to be honest. As an urbanite, I live by the challenges of the cities, through business. My current challenge is to re-establish the processes and systems of Dad’s KL business so I can eventually run it anywhere, even when I get back to Singapore. Thanks to the new age of electronic communication, I think I’m not too far from this goal.
But the ultimate dream is to be living on an island or a beach. I would love more quiet moments instead of these mini weekend escapades… with the sun, the sea and the salty breeze in the air. However, I also know my urbanite ways will be hard to lose even in my search for the sun and sea. So my only hope is a urban/beach fusion lifestyle, something that is still possible in Southeast Asia, where beaches are often found within kilometers from the cities. A more realistic dream would then be an urban beach establishment like the resort/restaurant Weekend House Alley of Kamakura, Japan. (All thanks to Monocle for this idea!)
The Weekend House Alley in Kamakura, Japan.
Am I dreaming of the impossible? I think not. It’d be this dream, like the others, that drives my motivation in life.
March 10th, 2006 -- Posted in coffee thoughts, people |
Woke up as usual with an unusual dread for a Friday morning.
While having coffee before dressing up for work, I thought about what I’m doing for a living and what other aspiration not fulfilled.
Here’s my list:
- Get my driving license
- Write a book
- ...
...then I got mind-blocked. I have no idea what else I want (except being a dad, in time to come). All those things which I longed for, either (1) I already got, (2) I have yet to realize that I want, and (3) I have given up wanting.
Most of the things I’ve already gotten, through monetary means or achieved from hard work, are either taken for granted for or forgotten how much I wanted them. Take being an fully independent adult, for example. When I was younger, there was always this thought that I wanted to step out into the working world so as to earn the means to get or do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to.
No money + Lots of time = Nothing to do
However, now that I’m already here, work has become a part of me that I have hardly time to think about what I wanted to get or do.
Some money + No time = Can’t do anything
So it seems that I have gotten over and forgotten how it was like to have free time with nothing to do. So what’s the point of trying so hard to fulfill the anticipation in the first place?
I was told before that I should be working hard to prepare for a kid and the future retirement. I don’t disagree, but is that all there is for life? Is my life all about providing for somebody else who will one day end up like me, providing for my grandchild?
I sipped on my coffee.
To think that I will one day be watching my decendents pondering over the same quesiton of ‘Is this all worth it?’, I can hardly feel the justice to my duties.
But they are my duties… and duties are duties aren’t they?
Who defined these duties anyway? Culturally, we are brought up to think that it is our duties to breed and provide for our offsprings, so that they will be equipped to do just the same as we do. Turning the table around, we are the ones who decide if we accept these duties. Nobody can make us assume our fates against our will.
That’s easier said than done. To
October 3rd, 2005 -- Posted in coffee thoughts |
So what is ‘idealism’? I have been naming this site “Journey to Idealism” since I created it, but what does it mean?
According to The American Heritage
August 8th, 2005 -- Posted in coffee thoughts, indulgence, old blogs |
Nothing’s more satisfying than having coffee and ciggies while watching “Coffee And Cigarettes” first thing on a day off…
