Twelve years ago, I ascended Mount Fuji on National Day. I was attached (but still felt single) and carefree, and Japan felt like a pit stop in the globe of countries I wanted to conquer.

Today, as I scramble to move the entire family’s barang barang* out of the condominium before the lease runs out, I am frightfully aware that my once-awe-inspiring, globe-trotting dreams are a thing of the past. THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY THINGS.

But I guess I have much to be grateful for. Teaching pays the bills and affords me street cred. Sure, I mayn’t be laughing all the way to the bank, but those well-heeled ones may not get free Thursday afternoons either. (Yea, the white space that is brandished about as an antidote to the stresses of work. It actually exists in teaching.)

Being a teacher sounds decidedly more mundane than world traveller-cum-English sensei. But the conditions in my country have made it favourable to do what I like. What more can I then ask for?

Happy birthday, Singapore.

barang barang: Malay term for personal belongings