Life is not about looking for more

One of the things that people always say to me when they found out that I'm retired is "... but you are still so young!"

I have always been ambivalent about how "ambitious" one should be, not withstanding one's talents and limitations. So choosing when to retire is really up to individuals. Some people wouldn't think of retiring even if they can afford to.

And there's no right or wrong I suppose.

I freely admit that I had not found my career to be particularly "happy" or "fulfilling". I'm not that kind of guy that found his passion in life and do that one thing for his entire life.

My life had been about putting one foot forward after another, marching. Sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, sometimes rough, and sometimes smooth. Luckily I was born with a decent brain and had good work ethics (although I wasn't easy to get along with), so I did well earning a living.

When it came the time to retire, I looked at my finances carefully and knew that I could do it. It was also precipitated by my fight with my Japanese HQ at the time.

With not much hesitation, I threw in my towel. In fact, one of my customers immediately asked me to go work for him. But I wasn't going to battle the KJE highway another morning to get to Tuas.

After working for donkey years, the first thought was to figure out what kind of life I want to have, within the kind of financial resources that I have.

There were two overriding conditions:

1) No deadlines, no obligations, no commitments.
2) Slow down drastically the pace of my life.

The one thing that's apparent immediately when you slow down the pace of your life is you start to notice little details in your life and you get to pause for a minute and think about it. For example, how perfectly beautiful those half-boiled eggs that are sitting in front of you waiting for your to take the first sip.

A few years ago, I bought a little house in the old part of Seremban. I went to the area today and found this little coffeeshop.

They have pork brisket noodles Hainanese style. This kind of noodles are not commonly found.

It tasted really good.

Check out the peanuts they added to the noodles. It's a nice touch because of the crunchiness mixed with the texture of the briskets.

You can tell this coffeeshop is very old school judging but the containers that they use to hold chopsticks and spoons.

There's even a little section to hold tooth picks.

This is one of the reasons why I chose Seremban to live after I retire.

You can't find this kind of coffeeshop in KL/PJ anymore. And there weren't a crowd and you can really take you own sweet time to enjoy your breakfast.

See how beautiful these eggs are?

So my wife and I sat there with our breakfast, chit chatted and ate. It was such a wonderful morning and it lifted our spirit.

The teh peng I ordered was perfect. Light and fluffy with the right amount of sweetness.

They serve Chinese version of Nasi Lemak as well. I tapao some home for lunch and it was really good.

We are going to be regulars at this coffeeshop. I like the good food and the unhurried atmosphere.

琼南园茶餐店 Kheng Nam Yuen Coffee Shop
Jalan Seroja 21, Taman Seremban, 70450 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan