Dear readers, today is Saturday and it was rare that I managed to wake up around 7am today, after a hectic and busy week of work.
I am Thankful to wake up early on a Saturday since it means starting my weekend early! I treasure my weekends and I believe many do too, as these are one of the only times for many of us in our lives that we can do what we want with our time, go where we want to go, rather than simply work and work! As a caveat, I am Grateful to be working and I believe in the benefits of working but life is simply bigger than work.
As I age, I appreciate more and more notion of life being much more than work! Hence, apart from working hard, I always remind myself to lead a balanced life as I try my best to work on in the different aspects of my life.
Today, I found myself in Bugis as I had to run an errand there. Being a weekend, there were many people out in town and I feel that it is heartening to see many donning masks in view of the increasing incidences of Covid-19 infections here in Singapore.
Before running my errand, I would have to satiate my hunger first. It was mid-morning when I was in Bugis and so I told myself to have a meal that will settle both breakfast and lunch. There is a name for these meals, called Brunch. In these times where costs of meals just go higher and higher, a brunch will also save me some monies (rather than two meals), no matter how humble the savings can be. I also reminded myself to have a heavier brunch else I might just get hungry in the afternoon. And where possible, a value-for-money brunch.
In Bugis, it is not difficult to get a meal that is affordable and perhaps also healthier: I went to the hawker centre there and got myself a soupy bowl of Teochew Bak Chor Mee (Minced Meat noodles)! Not only were the noodles nice and value-for-money ($4.50), the meal was a healthier one for me, deviating from the many fried and unhealthy stuffs that I have been consuming recently, especially during the few year-end gatherings.
For beverages (I could have skipped one, but I consider this to be a humble treat for myself), I went to a quieter coffeeshop in Bugis and order Kopi-Gao (thick coffee). I sat at a table there, simply relaxing myself, pondering on some thoughts and people-watch. It was relaxing though I feel that the coffee, which costs $1.40 is a little higher than usual than the $1.20 that I usually pay at some hawker centres. Nevertheless, the coffee is thick and strong, which makes the $1.40 value for money.
$5.70 for a hearty, healthy soupy meal and a strong coffee (a Great meal) to start a Saturday and my errands in town! I feel Grateful for still having had the options to have a simple, nice and affordable meal despites the higher costs of daily living.
I always believe that all of us have to make efforts to slow down the pace of life, and appreciate the many good things in life: these could be missed easily in our hectic everyday lives.