Wasted Time

“Crap, I wasted the entire day,” I thought to myself as I wandered down the strip in front of Pantai Cenang beach. I’d anticipated getting to Lankgawi around 5pm but I didn't reach my hotel until almost 7. I watched the sun settle into the horizon from the back seat of my Grab.

Langkawi bakso

Still, it wasn’t a wasted day. I have to retrain my brain and stop thinking about my time transactionally.

Back in my working life the transactional approach made sense. Most of my days were spent doing wanted to do. It was a zero sum game...two hours of this meant I didn’t have two hours for that. Talking to a stranger meant less time to talk to friends.

things I was required to do; so the bit of free time I had I was intent on doing the things I

That isn’t my life at the moment. My life at the moment isn’t compressed into the hours between 5pm and 8am. My time is just...mine.

So the “wasted” day my brain initially registered was actually a day that introduced me to Sonia- a woman who a few years ago sold her house, quit her job, and traveled for two years. We talked about politics, shared travel suggestions, and commented on our observations from our time in Malaysia. We even shared a Grab.

I hardly call that a waste of time.

“I wasted the day,” was a fleeting thought. I excised it almost immediately after it slipped into my brain. And just like that I felt lighter. Instead of lamenting the time “lost” I reflected on the experience gained. I smiled as I walked down the busy street, the odor of durian drowning out the scent of coals burning the fat of satay filled my nostrils as I searched out dinner.

An order of bakso (a soup I know from Indonesia) allowed me to have a conversation with a family from Shanghai (they always eat the papaya in Malaysia because it is sweeter than the ones in China), they encouraged me to visit the Bund in Shanghai when I visit.

a plain rotiboy

A leisurely walk in the other direction led me into a Rotiboy- something I’d never heard of. A fancier shop than the usual hawker centers I frequent. I was met with a smile and an urging to try a rotiboy and for 75 cents, why not? It is a sweet bread, about the size of my hand, with a thin cavern of melted butter inside. It was at once new and familiar.

More interesting than the food was the man who offered me a seat at his table- not unusual but quite unnecessary as the shop was nearly empty. Still I sat down and we began to chat. DiDi was most delightful company. He asked me about America and my travels, he told me about his work and favorite foods. Inspired by my curiosity, he insisted he buy me a teh tarik (a sweet tea concoction made frothier by pouring it at a distance from one container into another).

DiDi at Rotiboy in Langkawi

We exchanged Instagram information before he had to leave.

DiDi was not a waste of time either.

I am retraining myself to be leisurely.

I want to bask in the reality that I have no particular place to be and no particular time to be there. This allows met the greatest of appointments, the ones I don’t have yet.