11 out of 49

#11: walking tours and people watching

One of the many reasons why I enjoy being in Europe is the countless walking tours that I can take on my own. When I am tired from all the walking, I can then sit down at a cafe, in front of a fountain, or in the park and watch people hurry down the streets. You notice so much about people's way of life and their culture by just watching them at times. I like their way of life, of taking things at a slow pace and not see everything as an arms race. Though I get quite frustrated at times with the lack of efficiency, I have come to be more accepting of it. In fact, I am loving it more than the efficiency that I get back in my own country. Everything is put up for competition back home - jobs, income, places in university, houses, cars. Name one thing that is not subjected to competition and meritocracy? It is really hard to find one. With all the competition, people who are endowed with the resources naturally survive better. I kind of hate it not because I am less endowed than others but I find it tiring to have to compete all the time. After all, everyone has the liberty to live the life that they want. You just need to find the courage to do so and not be caught in this lifetime race for a better future, as they call it.

I used to walk around Singapore a lot when I was younger and had the time of the world. My time had very low opportunity cost. So I will walk from the Merlion Park to Esplanade then to Boat Quay or sometimes all the way to Orchard Road with my best friend. The things that we used to talk about were full of naivety as I reminisce now. With the passage of time, I no longer do such things in my city because of the heat and the crowd and my high opportunity cost of time. Likewise, I no longer see the shadow of the friend who used to walk around my city so much with me. The dreams of our future that we walk about, the places we endeavour to visit together, the things that we imagine doing together with each other when we have the income and ability to do so, etc. At times, I do wonder how she is doing these days and though I have the urge to reconnect with her, a part of me has always been very hesitant. It is not because of my pride that I refuse to call her and if you were to ask me what then is holding me back, I do not know the answer either. I just hope that she is living the life that she has always wanted to and I am quite confident that she will achieve the things that she set out to do.