My Dream

Childhood Dreams

We all have dreams. The most memorable ones are perhaps the childhood dream where everything seem magical. Sometimes, those are the best. It is uncomplicated and simple, yet conflicting in time. Example I used to fantasize about air planes, but when I looked at the interior of it, it is all metal and pipes, very much conflicting with what we had imagined when still a child. All that I could say, please enjoy your childhood. 

I have several childhood dreams. Some are simple. While others take time and persistence. Here is a list of some of my childhood dreams I had when I was a child.

Learn to play a Piano

Watch symphony concert

Visit Japan Disneyland and Kyoto

Visit Venice and Rome

Climb Paris Tower

Own a house

Read as much as books as I can

See a real water fall

See a cloud in front of me

Write a book

1) Learn to play a piano

This one actually took 26 years to achieve. Huh? So long? Well, here is the story to reach that small dream. I was only 5 years old. Below my HDB block there were many shops, one of the shops sell some stationary and books, they got a piano at their shop front. I used to stand there outside staring at the piano. Sometime, there will be an adult playing some music and I just stood there listening wondering how does it feel to play a piano. I kept that feeling and it lie buried in my memory for 26 years. In 2006 I accidentally came across an advertisement by Yamaha at Plaza Singapura on a short 4 session piano introduction course. It triggered my feeling and without thinking I signed up for it. A short 2 hours’ session on every Saturday morning. I was lucky to be landed with a Japanese instructor, she speaked funny English.   

When I entered the training room. I saw a real solid piano in front of me. The first song I learned was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars’, when I landed my fingers on its white key and start playing with it (Of course I must learn Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So). I got really excited. A flood of memories overcoming me. My Japanese instructor was rather surprised at my ability to pick up so fast. Well, I do have some talents in Arts but I ended up doing Engineering. Sigh, that’s life. I supposed we don’t need to go into the details of it. So, that’s how I fulfilled one of my childhood dreams.

2) Watch a Symphony concert

I have been watching some showcase of those Singapore Symphony Orchestra on TV conducted by Choo Hoey since young and wondered how to get there. It was during my third year in my Polytechnic where I came across an advertisement of a coming performance at Victoria Theatre. I travelled on my own via MRT to Victoria Theatre to purchase my first ticket at a bargain student rates. That was in 1995 and my first concert experience. But somehow I ended up there listening through the whole entire session. Thereafter, whenever they got some interesting programs lined up I would go. This went on until they shifted to Esplanade, the ticket price went up by a big jump. After a few sessions, I had to stop. Well, it had been a good experience.

4) See the real cloud in front of me

When I was young, I used to listen to one of my classmate who talks about how it feels to be like with the clouds around you in Genting Highland. It sounded magical, and I wondered how it feel. This wish was not fulfilled until much later I begin my first employment job. I just got posted a new unit and suddenly my colleagues had this sudden idea to visit Genting Highland over the weekend. So, off we go after hours of coach ride we arrived at Genting and I was ‘WHAT’, the clouds, they are just a bunch of cooling smoke. LOL. Alright! I was young!

5) Visit Japan 

This one been on my mind since school days. But it was only made possible when I was a few years into my first employment job where a bunch of colleagues organised a group trip to visit Japan in year 2000. It was in fact my first real oversea trip, and there was countless first time in that trip, my first plane ride, my first entry into Changi Airport, my first culture shock. I was 25 years old. There were a total of 5 trips between year 2000 – 2003, and all were budget tours. We lived in budget hotel and eat simple dishes, most of the destination were reached purely by public transport and on foot. There was an immerse experience of exploration and because I’m a fan of anime, it simply got the hell out of me. In 2003, on my 5^th trip I travelled to Hakone and finally saw with my own eyes the majestic view of Mount Fuji, which I missed it in all my previously 4 trips because of bad weather. In that moment, as I stared at Mount Fuji, I realised my time with Japan has ended, my childhood wish was fully fulfilled.  

Some might just wondered. 5 trips to Japan, that must have cost a lot. Well, it was a budget tour with all the programs planned on our own. My last trip was a week of tour around Tokyo prefecture for 8 days, it cost me around $1.3k and it included air ticket and accommodations. The beauty of bag pack tour is everything is within your control including your expenses. Through proper planning, the cost can be control to a certain amount.  The real buy is on the exploration, without the restriction imposed by a tour group, I can go anywhere I like and anytime I want. That is Freedom.

6) See a real waterfall

Sound weird? Well, mainly because we do not have any waterfall in Singapore. Oh please, do not talk about man-made waterfall at our Zoo. The first natural waterfall I saw was at Kota Tinggi in Malaysia but that wasn’t really the type of waterfall I was expecting. The first real waterfall I finally saw with my own eyes was in Japan, during my first tour at Nikko. Waters that fall and landed at full height from top to bottom. Now that’s the view I wanted to see. Case closed.

7) Visit Rome, Venice, Climb Paris Elfin Tower

This dream has been on my mind since Primary School, I saw all the nice beautiful picture of these places in library and TV. But it took me 30 years to fulfil that childhood dream in year 2009. While I was touring in Europe, I still found it hard to believe I am really in Rome, in Venice, in Paris. For this, I have to offer my thanks for the companies who had sponsored my trip. This trip was financed by the dividends collected in 2009. I even paid for my sister’s air ticket, lucky for her. LOL. 

 The Vatican City within the city of Rome

Having two streams of income does make a lot of difference. It opened up possibilities that may not have been possible before. 

But as usual, some might think: ‘wow, rich’. Well, it was a 9 days’ trip and we visited only 3 countries Italy, Switzerland and France. The whole trip cost us less than $5000, air tickets + accommodations + others amounted to $3800 for both my sister and I. We actually spend only a total of around $1000 there for both of us. 9 days in Europe and spend only $1000!!! Most of the meals are provided, we only spend on ad-hoc meals and some souvenirs. So while our tour mates went mad at the City of Milan inside the shops of Gucci and LV. My sister and I preferred to explore around the city. Our parents had taught us well indeed. We are too down-to-earth. 

Well, that’s one childhood dream fulfilled. Case closed.

8) Own a house

Well, this was achieved in 2011. I bought a HDB unit under the single scheme. Details of it can be found in ‘My journey - Fourth Exploration’.

9) Read as much books as I can

This sound simple. But yet this is the toughest. Because it requires one component to achieve it, ‘Financial Freedom’. 

With all the commitments and time constraints in life, it is almost impossible for me to sit through the days for weeks and months without worry to read books. This is one of my dreams. One day I will spend my days and weeks at Bugis National Library, read the whole entire reference sections that interest me.

10) Write a novel

A tough dream. Especially in Singapore where local artistic has long been commercialised. Basically if you are not in a recognised profession (Teacher, professor, doctor etc) or winners of some writing competition, very unlikely any publisher would be inclined to publish your works.  I have the creativity and the heart, but I do not have the above qualities. 

With the advance of technology however, this opened a platform of possibility in Self-publishing like an e-book in Amazon store for writers. I managed to self-publish a simple e-book at Amazon in 2016, although it did not fetch any sales but it was a good experience because I wrote for passion. At this time of writing, I am waiting for my F.I.R.E. to come where I could finally devote the rest of my life to write a novel. This is my last dream, and I had devoted half of my life to free myself from the ‘rat track’ for this. I pray that I still have enough time to finish what I had always wanted to do. 

Fulfil our dream and leave no regrets for this life.