When was the last time you visited a place you disliked in the past and, turned out liking it?

I guess this is me, as I visited my grandma's place after 2 years of not returning for Chinese New Year.



This place is a city girl's nightmare. Not only is it run down, with no cable television nor wifi, and used to even lack proper shower facilities, there are also lots of insects all day long, all year round. This was a place I dreaded coming back to when I was younger.


Revisiting this place once I hit the 20s came with a new perception and realization about this place. Possibly because I've been since thrown way out of my comfort zone for quite awhile now, this place seemed to be a good respite from the buzz and chaos the urban life offered.

I actually enjoyed the peace and simplicity that came with living in a kampung. Although still run down, I was no longer picky about what it lacked, or what I thought it lacked in fact. It was never lacking in anything right from the start, it was just me failing to appreciate the beauty that otherwise would have never existed if I didn't change my own perception of the way it is.

It was here that I got to spend quality family time together and did not have to worry about all the stress from work. This is the beauty of staying in a kampung, that life could still be rich even when you aren't necessarily earning your keep.

This year, I gave ah-ma an angbao to mark the start of me as a working adult. We can't communicate due to language differences but I saw the big wide smile on her face and was truly contented. I seldom see her smile so widely because we barely talk. I wished I picked up her dialect when I was younger.


With every modern ware that was slowly introduced to the house, reality sink in a little harder than before. That time is ticking and exactly how many more years would I get to visit the house and my grandma like we do every year?


Transitions, how subtle they are yet so impactful are they.