Time makes fools of us all.
We take risks, we flounder and we fail, we fall and wonder if it’s worth trying to get up again.
Life can be a series of bad decisions, each new one adding fresh salt to old wounds, and every turn of the screw compounding the hurt, the shame, the embarrassment we feel we won’t be able to outrun or outlive, even. But we will, we survive, not at the end of it all, but along the way, while we have our breath still in us, while we still have life to live.
The Appetizers
Floggers.
It’s a term that will strike wholesome fear into the hearts of competent criminals and invoke lusty desire in the loins of the more sexually adventurous among us. For those unsure of what floggers are, allow me to summarize a couple of definitions, via Wikipedia:
A disciplinarian who flogs, i.e. administers a flogging as a …
“Clouds” by Bjorn de Leeuw
Road trips are a sign of restlessness sometimes in itself. I remember when I was still living in Germany — how I would take the SchönesWochenende train ticket on a random weekend free from any plans or promises and just carry myself across different paths, across the Continent, with no clear aim …
Sundays used to mean getting up at the break of dawn, for running up the steps at Batu Caves or hiking in the green-canopied hills of Bukit Gasing, and then the wonderfully greasy roti pisang and a cup or two of the most fragrant teh halia tarik in the world, which we lucky fellows can …
I. Arrivals
I love airports.
They are the nexus between worlds, the centres where ley-lines of travel and commerce meet. (Whyfore then do we have ‘business’ class and ‘economy’ class if not for this? Money travels exceptionally well.)
Airports are also a waiting place, for us to renew friendships and family ties. Remember the airport scenes that bookend the …
“Afternoon Tea” by Lao Kuang (remixed by Kenny M.)
I.
I am terrible at remembering lines of poetry. They are like rays of light on a winter’s day. Here one moment, gone the next. You can’t ever capture them, not for long. They escape, always. But beautiful nonetheless.
(I have experienced Beauty even if I am unable to hold …
Kenny Mah is a writer, designer and blogger. He posts regularly on Life for Beginners, a collection of stories about LIFE — love, family, food, fitness, magic, sex, travel, culture and everything else in between. His books include Broken Mornings, 27 Love Songs and Lady (which can be downloaded as e-books from his website).
