Teh-O

"It's just like this cup of Teh-O, you see.
At the beginning before you start drinking,
you have thoughts and questions about this cup of Teh-O-
its sweetness, fragrance, temperature, or perhaps, bitterness"

It's a clear sunny afternoon whereby I was at a coffeeshop for lunch,
together with Oliver, a platoon mate of mine.
I've always felt that this gentleman is much unique from everyone else-
he seems to be able to understand in a more profound perspective.

"Halfway through, you get a rough idea of things.
You taste the Teh-O, you know it yourself;
its sweetness, its fragrance, its temperature, or perhaps, bitterness...
You get an experience of it, and is starting to make a conclusion.
You know what is going on by this time."

After a hearty meal of chicken rice,
Oliver tried explaining his perception of life,
using the Teh-O that he is sipping slowly.
He feels that the way you see life, at certain extents,
is inter-related to how you do things in life.

"Then later, with half of the volume of Teh-O gone, you start having a perception.
You can treat, and see this half cup of Teh-O differently.
Some says it's half-filled, others half-emptied.
Through the tasting of the previous half,
whatever you taste, whatever you experience, whatever you felt...
you evaluate differently- half-filled or half-emptied."

I concur;
sometimes, life is just so simple that it can be represented by such layman stuff.

"Then as soon as you realised,
you drank the remaining half away.
There's nothing left of the Teh-O, the cup is emptied;
you finished your tea, it's the end of it."

Isn't life, all filled with different feelings,
just like this cup of tea?

"Life is just like this cup of Teh-O.
At the start of everything, you have certain views of thoughts.
How is it going to be like? What will happen? What awaits me?
Little questions trigger your curiosity to find out more.
And hence, without hesitation, you plunge directly into it- life."

And as you begin to experience things-
an event, a situation, an incident, a series of activities, a saga...
You have an experience, you have some after-thoughts.
You went through part of it, you gain some knowledge of it;
you know it better, you understand it deeper.
Some things might be beyond your expectations,
while some, not up to what that was expected.
Maybe at times, things seem to be hitting the target.

"And after savouring half a cup of Teh-O...
You know how it taste like, how it feels like.
Life, for you have went through much and discover, understand, enlightened;
you may choose to stick to the old plan, or maybe, developed a new perception.
At this point of time, you begin to evaluate this life;
how you evaluate it, depends on the previous tasting."

So, some choose to gulp down the last half,
while some decided to sip it slowly.
But a handful of them, finding the tea so nice that they stick to the old way.
There might be a change right now-
the tea at the bottom is thicker, or maybe, sweeter;
the drop it temperature may also result in a more soothing feeling.
But because of the previous half-cup, you might not feel and taste so.

"Without knowing, you're seeing the base of the cup.
The tea, is finished; life, has come to its end point.
And that's it! You've finished this long lap, or should I say, teas session?"

Life, have always been so, isn't it?

"Schoolmates, subjects, teachers...
At the start, you wonder what is it going to be like.
When it's halfway through, experience led you to make a judgement-
half finished, or half left.
Then, without knowing it, you have come to an end.
That's it, after all!"

As Oliver compared life to a cup of Teh-O,
a thousand memories begin to playback in my mind.
The taste of the various cups of tea I ever tasted,
as well as the cups of tea I'm savouring right now;
not to forget about the cups of tea awaiting me to try out.

I thought of whatever that came and went in life;
but what that first came to mind was you.
You were a great friend, one friendly person, one memorable classmate.
The tea session then had been tough and unpleasant-
yet, the tea was fragrant, the temperature was all right, and, it's sweet!
Since then, I have went through various situations, and met several people;
though tasted a dozen cups of tea, but that little volume of earl grey...
It's fragrant, it's soothing feel, it still lingers...

And all the other cups of tea I've tasted.
Some I have regretted; regret for trying to taste unpleasant tea,
regret for not trying to appreciate a good cup of tea.
Some I have enjoyed; a soothing cup of green tea that really refreshed me,
a chilly cup of iced lemon tea that cools everything down in hot summer.

Been it, tasted it;
what's drank, is gone.
All I could do now, is to really go learn to appreciate every cup of tea.
And perhaps, add some sugar to make it sweeter.

But then, that was the summer of '69;
you have always been the most wonderful cup of iced lemon tea.

"And so, you finished it.
But, the taste, the fragrance, it lingers...
leaving an impression in your mind."