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Archive for the ‘Relationship’ Category

While He Still Looks Up to Me

Posted in Daily Life, Health and wellness, Hobbies, Relationship, tagged , , , , , on July 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

This year, the school allowed parents to watch the primary inter-school basketball competition for the first time. According to his teacher, Link kept asking whether I had arrived because he was worried I wouldn’t make it in time. I think he had been looking forward to competing in front of his dad. Likewise, I was glad to watch him play.

Link scored 14 points and helped lead his team to a 20–2 victory. He has good individual skills for his age. His playing style reminds me of Rukawa from Slam Dunk, relying heavily on isolation plays. To reach the next level, he’ll need to bring out the best in his teammates, improve his basketball IQ, and better manage his emotions.

The primary school rims were lower than standard ones. After the games, I casually jumped up and hung on one with both hands. Some of Link’s teammates saw it, causing a small ruckus as the boys took turns trying to touch the backboard. Later that day, Link told me I had become popular among the boys because of it.

I usually don’t care much about how others perceive me and prefer to judge myself by my own standards. Still, it felt good to be seen as cool by my son’s peers. I suppose we all want to be someone our loved ones can be proud of.

I should cherish this period while he still looks up to me. In a few years, he’ll probably surpass me in basketball, be less impressed by what I know, and perhaps even find me old-fashioned or embarrassing. Until then, I’m grateful to have a place in this chapter of his life.

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My First Acrylic Painting: Hours on the Court

Posted in Art, Health and wellness, Hobbies, Relationship, tagged , , , , on July 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I received a free acrylic painting session after dining at an art-themed restaurant. The restaurant has an art room that provides canvases, paints, and brushes, but unfortunately, it does not offer instruction.

This was my first time trying acrylic painting. I did some quick research to get a sense of how best to proceed. Partly due to time constraints, and partly my lack of patience, the result was not as good as I had envisioned. But it was a good experience. It captures my first attempt at acrylic painting and the many hours I have spent with my boy on the basketball court.

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Maybe One Day on This Court

Posted in Daily Life, Happiness, Health and wellness, Relationship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Link and I went to the NBA Rising Stars Invitational, which featured top high school teams from across Asia. Tickets for the weekday games were affordable, even for courtside seats, and we managed to watch both the girls’ and boys’ semi-finals.

Although we didn’t get a chance to take a selfie with Jeremy Lin, we did win a Hornets cap by taking part in a free-throw game, and also grabbed a free towel and T-shirt during the halftime toss.

It was a good experience for Link to see players not much older than him competing with that level of skill, physicality, and effort. If Link continues to improve, maybe one day I’ll be watching him play at an event like this.

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Learning to Lose, Learning to Grow

Posted in Health and wellness, Hobbies, Relationship, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2026| 1 Comment »

My son has his first volleyball tournament recently. Even though his team didn’t win a match, making some nice plays still gave him a sense of satisfaction. He is competitive and doesn’t take losing well. The more he wants to win, the harder it is for him to control his temper and perform at his best. My hope is that as he matures, he will learn to see these moments as part of the process of improving and reaching his potential. Many people are competitive and want to win, but not everyone can manage their emotions, learn from setbacks, and bounce back stronger.

“Does losing prove that you are weak? Isn’t losing difficult for all of you? A challenge where, after ending up on your hands and knees, you must see if you can stand up again? If you stay on your hands and knees, that proves that you are weak.”
― Ittetsu Takeda

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Staying Active While Travelling

Posted in Daily Life, Happiness, Health and wellness, Hobbies, Relationship, Travel, tagged , , , on June 16, 2026| 2 Comments »

Our family went to Bangkok for a one week trip. Since I lived there when I was young, I still have many friends in the city, and my nephew is studying there. My aim was simply to have a relaxed trip catching up with friends and family.

One predictable challenge in Thailand is overeating. The cost of living is lower, the food is good, and most of our meals were at restaurants with people we wanted to see. To avoid gaining too much weight, we brought our badminton gear and a basketball with us. That allowed us to stay active by playing sports, both on our own and with friends. Bangkok turned out to be convenient for this. Badminton courts were easy to book, and we found several basketball courts near where we stayed.

These activities cost almost nothing, but for one of my boys, they were the highlights of the trip. This reminded me that travel does not have to revolve around sightseeing. Bringing some of our normal routines with us, especially sports, made the trip healthier and more memorable. It allowed us to enjoy good food without feeling too guilty, while also creating simple moments of bonding through activities. I think this is something we will do more often in future trips.

Hearty breakfast

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Cooking For Others

Posted in Daily Life, Hobbies, Relationship, tagged , , , , on May 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a while since I prepared a meal for others. Back in university, a few friends and I had an informal cooking club, where each of us took turns cooking for the others every month. We took notes and documented our dishes and comments afterward. It was a good opportunity to get together with friends, try something new, and enjoy good food.

Recently, I decided to cook a meal for my family. When my boys said they wished there had been more food and wanted to eat my cooking regularly, I knew the meal was a success. While it’s satisfying to cook a nice meal and see others enjoy it, the opportunity costs are high. It took about two hours to prepare and cook, plus another one to two hours to plan and buy the ingredients. Since I don’t plan to become a chef, I think it’s something I’ll only do occasionally.

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Piano and Violin: Cinema Paradiso

Posted in Hobbies, Movies, Music, piano, Relationship, tagged , , , on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A microcosm of life’s messiness: First love, fate, misunderstanding, sacrifices needed to fulfill one’s potential, nostalgia, regrets, and importance of timing.

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Courts, Trails, and Time Together

Posted in Happiness, Health and wellness, Hobbies, Reflection, Relationship, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on March 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I had my first overseas trip with my younger son. Since he’s athletic and into sports, we did a lot of outdoor activities together. We revisited several hiking trails we used to do when he was younger, but this time at a different pace and with a quiet awareness of how much he has grown.

Then and Now

We also played a lot of basketball. The streetball culture in Hong Kong gave us opportunities to play with many different people, ranging from high school and university students to working adults and retired ‘uncles’.

Thanks to our active lifestyle of walking nearly 30,000 steps per day, we could indulge in the rich and delicious local food and snacks without guilt.

Hong Kong remains a lively city, easy to navigate, and highly efficient. We easily fit VR gaming, a live show, and visits to anime and sports shops into our schedule. It’s the kind of place where variety compresses into convenience.

Overall, the trip felt simple yet meaningful, with shared activities, small moments, and a sense of progression for both of us.

P.S. This is my first trip in decades where I haven’t had to constantly check work emails or keep up with what’s happening around the world. It has significantly reduced my mental stress and helped me feel more mindful and less rushed.

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First Piano and Vocal Attempt

Posted in Hobbies, piano, Relationship, Song Lyric, tagged , , , , on December 23, 2025| 1 Comment »

I’ve wanted to play piano and sing at the same time. This year I finally gave it a shot with one of my favourite Frank Sinatra songs that has a relatively simple accompaniment. I also teamed up with my boys to make it less daunting. I think it’s a good start, and I hope to tackle a solo performance in the future.

My Way Lyrics:

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all, and I stood tall
And did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, oh, no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
Yes, it was my way

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Friendship

Posted in Happiness, Health and wellness, Links, Relationship, tagged , , on May 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Noah Smith has written a good article on making and having friends after age 30. For an introvert like myself, big groups and frequent socializing events are too draining. However, I do enjoy occasional small group gatherings with friends or interesting people. The challenge is consciously planning and seeking out opportunities to make these connections happen, even if only occasionally. Smith also touches on what constitutes close friendships.

There’s no hard-and-fast boundary between close friends and more casual friends; it’s a spectrum. Closeness tends to develop gradually over time, and it feels a little different in each case…

There are basically two things that define a really close friendship: understanding, and interdependence. Your close friend has to understand who you really are, and you also have to know that you can count on them if you need help. If a friendship has only one of those things and not the other, it’s not really a close one. 

Understanding gets built up over time, but it can’t reach a truly deep level without confessions. We all have certain things that we’re reluctant to tell other people about ourselves — not necessarily secrets, but core truths of our lives that we don’t like yelling at everyone we meet at a party. Occasionally these might be facts about your life, but usually they’re just vulnerabilities and desires and fears. 

In order to make a really close friend, you have to tell them at least some of those things, and they have to tell you theirs. You have to have moments when you open yourself to another person and make yourself vulnerable to them. And you also have to have moments where they do this for you. You don’t both have to do it at the same time, but it has to happen on both sides….

The other thing you need for a close friendship is interdependence — you need to know you can rely on your friend, and they need to know they can rely on you. There’s no way to prove this in an absolute sense, of course — you’ll almost certainly never know if your friend would really lay down their life for you, because that sort of situation almost never actually comes up…

And I agree with his conclusion:

So I think you have to work at it. Having friends is one of the most important components of a complete, fulfilled human life. It’s just too important to leave entirely to chance.

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