I just finished a day’s work and right now, I need a breather.

What do you do to endure the daily stress?

In Cheers to Me (2015), Ra Yeo Joo goes for a meal and a drink.

I go for food, retail therapy, a good book, music, drama/film or travel, whichever option is readily available.

Right now though, I am writing to de-stress, which is strange because I write for a living already. But writing about mundane things relieves the stress of writing news.

There are days that can be frustrating and all I want to do is escape.

But adulting is not easy. You have responsibilities you cannot just turn your back to just because things are difficult.

Heck, if I could, I would travel and just wander the world.

Last year, after years of putting it off, scared of what lies ahead if I do, I quit my job and did just that. I felt if I stayed a moment longer, I would suffer a meltdown.

So I flew to Japan to recharge, rethink and review my life.

 

Then I went home afterwards.

Funny how 12 years in a foreign country was reduced to six boxes. These were my physical memories: books, CDs, DVDs, stuff I have collected through years of travelling. I even had to throw some away.

I did nothing for three months except fattening myself on my mother’s cooking, sleeping as much as I wanted, watching dramas as long as I wanted, played with my sister’s dog and just lived life day to day appreciating little things. In short, a bum.

But we get used to a certain level of comfort and independence, plus it doesn’t hurt to earn money on your own, so I went back to work.

Something has changed though.

I still work as hard as I could, but I am no longer arrogant to say I can do everything. I haven’t lost my edge but I am no longer competitive to the point I would die for work. I refuse to let it define me any longer.

I have learned to balance and to simplify life.

(Cheers to Me is based on the Japanese manga Wakakozake and has only 10 30-minute long episodes. It reminds me of the Japanese film Midnight Diner as it also focuses on food, but the drama revolves around the life of an editor at a publishing house and her colleagues. I watched it for the food and life insights even if Yoon Jin Seo was excruciating to watch most of the time as she only had one expression whether she was sad, angry or about to eat delicious food. I felt that was a huge disservice to the food she was about to partake. Once I was done with it, I felt I needed a drink myself.)

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