Mental escapism

Feeling like a dazed zombie under the strong dose of painkillers and antibiotics, I was knocked out most of the time. When I'm awake, the noises from the expressway next to my apartment filled the room... in the day time, the constant knocking and drilling from all the constructions in my neighbours drifts through the open windows while I snuggled in my air con master bedroom, trying to block out the distractions by using my noise cancellation headset all the time.

It was not that noisy when I bought my apartment 20 years ago... but as my country imported more people to work here, the population rises rapidly... Overall, Singapore's total population stood at 6.04 million as at June 2024, a 2.0% increase from June 2023. This increase was mainly due to the growth in the non-resident population in an area of just 734.3 km². So you can imagine how packed like a sardines we are in this tiny country.

Some days, I longed for the quietness I used to enjoy as a child with my late Dad who will bring me to do bushcraft in the jungle areas back in the 80s. Now there's barely much unused forestry areas here as land are used up for building more high rise apartments to cater to the rising population.

So I will love to watch cooking videos like this family from rural Azerbaijani village, nestled in the heart of the majestic Caucasus Mountains. I loved watching their clean cooking from the herbs and veggies they grows, the animals they reared in their farms... how to make butter and cheese from the cow milk, etc. It's a nice way of escapism from my buzzling noisy city life for a change. And interesting to see the way they cook in big portions to share with their neighbours and kids playing in the area in their other videos too. A lot of meaty meals prep that made me salivate away watching as well, especially when they cooked a whole lamb from 21:30 onwards. Yummy!

I think as I get older, with my eyesight fading... I find looking at nature than the city life of artificial bright lightings so much calming. I rather heed the cooing sounds of animals than the noise of vehicles roaring past my apartment every day.

But I also have to say, life is not easy in the countryside like this... a lot of manual work to prep for a meal, how to watch the weathers to get good yields from the farming, etc. So much knowledge from the nature. Yet people can be healthier due to the manual works they do, not like us city people that get sick so easily due to lack of exercises.

How about you? Do you like city life or the country life?