Ryu's Blog

Psychologists found that people tend to get more satisfaction from experiential consumption than materialistic one. So dining out, travel, or going to a movie or concert might provide more lasting satisfaction than buying new clothes or gadgets. I find this sensible and have been shifting more of my consumption toward experience. Just as important is to know one’s own preference, and this is what I set out to do this week: expanding my experience to discover what I find satisfying.

Jazz Bar

Friday night after a quick dinner at nine, I went to a Jazz bar that’s famous for its live jazz. The music was good, and drinking alone in a bar brought the usual ‘feel good’ factor (Was it the ‘I’m special’ aristocratic feel? Or the MV/anime character identification?). But for my preference, the time would be better spend elsewhere, and drinking beer/cocktails don’t give me enough pleasure to counter its adverse effect. For me it’s basically drinking calories without nutrition, so foods and even desserts seem like a much better option.

Pop Concert

On Saturday night, I went to a concert by a Malay singer 梁静茹. This is the first time I go to a pop concert. Interestingly, expectation of the event seemed to be the most exciting part. It’s like going to a field trip for the first time. After coming out of the underground station and not sure how to go to the stadium, I just follow a bunch of red shirts wearing people (the concert theme is Valentine), most also have no idea where the stadium is and just following the crowd. The concert lasted for around 3 hours. Overall I found it a satisfying experience, but maybe a large part of it is because it’s my first time to this type of concert.

Food

Eating is a major Sinaporean pastime (mine as well). My daily meal revolves around quick take-out in food court or hawker center (basically a food court outside the mall without air-con). In a hawker center, one can get authentic local foods at less than 5 S$ (about 2 US$ or 100 baht). Every weekend I’ll venture to a Japanese restaurant (7 different one so far). At this pace, I’ll try most Japanese restaurants in a few months time. But relative to Japanese food, Singapore probably has more good Non-Japan Asian foods that are at better price. Nevertheless, Japanese food tends to be my optimal choice if I were to dine out alone in places other than food court or hawker center. Perhaps I should expand my experience to try more different food as well.