76- The Trouble with Love, 3

                             A Photo from Matchbox 20 Live in Singapore
                                                  (November 2013)

Serenade. There's nothing like a soothing serenade.

I love the music of Matchbox 20. I love the work of their front man Rob Thomas. The guy's a musical genius. Think Bach in blue jeans and a leather jacket.

Are you guys familiar with Thomas' song "Ever The Same"? Now that's a song. That's a tearjerker. A heart crusher. Post the feeling on the wall. That's my song. That's your song. Does anyone care? I know I do.

So there you are. Smiling in your seat. Why I can't forget you- like I can't get enough of a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza- I have no idea. Or maybe I do. Maybe I have some inkling but I'm not all too sure.

We've had a lot of conversations about life over time. I am not sure what it was. Was it the way you would giggle whenever you'd talk about inane things? Could the culprit be your careful musings about how a carefree attitude can get you through life? 

Perhaps the total package is what it is. Perhaps it's all about the innocence you exude when you float through the halls of this flawed kingdom. 

You remind me of times when life was a whole lot simpler, when complexity was an ocassional surprise rather than a daily "given". You are akin to a rose that stays in bloom through the winter. 

At this point, I find myself looking like the wildest of cliches. Rose in bloom through winter? Give me a break. I sound like a Michael Learns to Rock song. 

Despite all that, the fact remains that, like an imperfect impression on food made right by that one breakthrough restaurant, captained by that one "amazeballs" chef, you tend to make me want to "sing" a bit better. I think it's because the simplicity behind it all relaxes me. 

Lest I forget that in the end, it is still all about be cautious as opposed to being a reckless wanderer, the trouble with love, as with a cab driver that hoodwinks you on the typical price of a taxi fare from airport to hotel, is that it can, and often does, things to curb your enthusiasm. 

At the same time, the hope for a brighter day one feels is enough to give one a momentary high that sometimes lasts a whole lot longer than a day, and goes a whole lot deeper than your soul. 

And so it goes.

MC

75- The Trouble With Love, 2

Troublesome, this woman.

So you enter a coffee shop at Hong Kong International Airport. Vietnamese coffee. The nectar of the gods, this stuff. You take black, she takes on a cream-laced brew. She's all smiles behind the caffeine-induced foam. You're all nerves. Nerves, nerves, nerves everywhere. You know full well that she may smile but that is no guarantee of an actual future between the two of you.

"Fall into my loving arms." you think to yourself. Just like a romantic Roman holiday.

Crush my spirit with a wave of denial.

You say that you would love to spend more time together because your heart skips a beat whenever you see her. Think Capri Island on a bright summer's day. Absolutely enchanting.

At the end of the day, the trouble with love is that it is traitorous. The impact of how difficult it can be is nearly impossible to quantify. It is of utmost importance to be prepared to traverse the many roads love has strewn on its map. Never assume. Never be afraid to compromise.

As touristy as a Singapore Sling can be, love too can be advertised as one thing, but actually be something completely different.

Especially when one gives and never receives. Never.

The trouble with love continues to persist despite one's best efforts to quell its impact.

MC

74- The Trouble With Love

There are many ways wherein travelling the world parallels journeying through the labyrinth of love.

Imagine the highs, and the lows. Embrace the blissful, carefree, colors one sees when the scenery of the mind and tapestry of the heart, roll by.

So you see the breathtaking views the Lord's land offers the senses. You see her face and you are mesmerized. The shape of her. The scent of her. The softness, the suppleness, of her voice.

Just when you think that the sun couldn't shine any brighter, an epitaph is written. Silence is sewn. How could this all happen, you ask?

It just does. How you handle the fall is up to you.

And her, in some cases.

More to be told later.

MC