City of Lights

June 13, 2009

Wife and I went to Paris last week.

This morning, after going through all the photos we took during the trip, she made a remark.

"Oh no, we're going to be like prisoner with the baby after this"

I immediately stopped her from making further negative comments. I said we shouldn't feel that way. It all depends on our attitude. Having a baby shouldn't feel like being in prison. We should look at it as another pleasant experience, like owning a dream bike.

Sure, the bike leaks oil, refuse to start some mornings, the exhaust pipe sounds too loud or emits unpleasant smell, and it's not so fun riding in the tropical heat or rain. It's painful, embarrasing and heavy to lift when I drop the bike on the road. Sure, I constantly need to feed petrol to it, scrub and wash off dirts, generally spending lots of time, money and energy maintaining it, but it's all part of the wonderful experience of owning it. It's so cool to have so much power between the legs, out in the open enjoying the sceneries, the speed, the wind, the envy.

It's also a bit like owning a Louis Vuitton bag that was bought from the flagshop store at Champs-Elysées, Paris. You wouldn't mind having to adjust the straps constantly, having to wipe stains off it, polish its faded leather, endure the threat of snatch thieves, months of painful credit card bills payment, and horror of seeing someone carrying the same bag as you. The experience, thought and feeling of carrying your beloved Louis Vuitton bag strutting down some famous shopping street in a metropolitan city or on a night out with your BFF girlfriends more than make up for all the inconveniences.

"Okay", she said. "The next time when the baby poos or pukes, it's going to be 'Laugong! Code brown!' all the time".

"No dear", I said. "You're having the wrong attitude again".

Just like owning a bike, I wouldn't want someone else to scrub the dirt off its body panels , they might scratch it. I will personally polish its chrome parts to keep it shiny, instead of leaving it to someone else to do a sub-standard job. I'm very happy to fill up petrol myself all the time. Once warranty is over and they no longer require authorised personnel to do the work, I would want to change the engine oil myself too.

Just like owning a world-reknown Louis Vutton handbag, surely you would want to carry it yourself all the time, wouldn't YOU? :p

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