Traveling is as much about "seeing" as it is about "tasting", "smelling", "touching", and ultimately, experiencing.
Lately, I have found myself drowning in a sea of work. Yes, work. That is a four letter word which many people dread, in the same way some dread taxes, Mondays, traffic, and angry ex-wives screaming for their share of the king's fortune.
I think that I've established that I love to travel. I love to dream, to create, and to ponder, to philosophize. Whenever I am down, I tend to turn to these things to try and perk myself up. People say that they think "Happy Thoughts" whenever they feel bogged down by the daily grind.
Some people attribute their "happy places" to a new Porsche, a new house, a new iPhone, or, having the girl of their dreams with them, arm in arm. Those things appeal to me- no doubt. For today though, as I rummage through the stacks upon stacks of "deliverables" (that isn't even a word...it is a term the corporate gods thought up) I have pending, allow me to gush about Hainanese Chicken Rice from Tian Tian Chicken Rice Hawker Stand at the Maxwell Road Food Center in Singapore. What's the fuss about boiled chicken and white rice, say you? Was Anthony Bourdain mad for declaring this spartan dish a "must eat" before you kick the bucket?
Last November, I hauled ass to Maxwell Road, and experienced what all the fuss was about.
There existed, on a green plastic plate, a perfect orchestration of flavor and texture, meat and sauce, rice, and stock. Flawlessly done. Add chili sauce to the mix (I am a sucker for anything spicy) and what you get is even more sensory pleasure. Insane stuff. Perfect stuff.
So that, that kind of satisfaction which comes attached to something so austere, so unassuming, is my happy object for the day- or longer.
The "Rat Race" makes us chase for so many things which tend to reside "in the clouds"- wealth, fame, influence.
Sometimes, all it takes is a plate of good home cooking (and a Heineken) to remind us that all it takes to give our souls a smile is something closer to the ground than your parents, teachers, or bosses will ever teach you.
Yum. :)
MC
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