I Miss..

I miss waking up in the morning not knowing where I will be going or what I'll be doing today.

I missing walking to the public bath in my yugata where beyond the door lie many naked men of all ages who seem to make nothing of the nudity that brings only awkwardness to the unaquainted foreigner.

I miss receiving that message from my best friend from halfway across the world just asking "if everything's ok over there".

I miss speaking in a language I'm unfamiliar with and yet love so much.

I miss getting excited over seeing mundane and uninteresting things like dustbins and the seats on the subway.

I miss the realization that I got everyday that wherever I went, no one knew or cared who I was.

I miss finding out that even though Japan is a small country, people are different everywhere.

I miss thinking back and remembering that Jurong and Bedok were 2 very different places with very different people so what's surprising about Nagasaki and Tokyo's contrast?

I miss resisting the temptation to go where the road takes me, remembering that I wasted hours just trying to find my way out of a certain wretched neighbourhood.

I miss the fear inside of me when I faced the prospect of sleeping out in the streets that day.

I miss knowing the fact that the people I loved and cared about were a 7 hour plane ride away.

I miss the luxury that I had of seeing the blossoming of the sakura at its different stages throughout that beautiful country.

I miss the feeling that overwhelmed me when I saw Leon's face at Yokosuka station.

I miss how my English sentence structure was messed up for the first 30 min we were together.

I miss the snow up in Hakone. It snowed for 2 friends on an unbelievable trip together and stopped the moment we left the mountains.

I miss the club we almost got lucky at before kind-hearted friends pulled us off and treated us to a mexican feast.

I miss walking into the mirror despite a warning from Leon that same night.

I miss that Sunday morning when my best friend called from halfway across the world saying that we were both going to be back home soon.

It really was soon.

I made the trip.

We made the trip.

I missed home.

Now we're back and I still miss home whenever I think of leaving.

But people always leave. It's only a matter of time before that someone leaves.

What will you do then?

Will you run away as well, or will you settle down and wait?

Only you can tell which is the easier way out.

Then, you've the awful option of following your heart.