Checking off the bucket list

Been crazy busy house-hunting and trying not to die from heatstroke the past few days! Finally had a bit of spare time to write this post that has been on my mind for a while…

This year, Fu & I have been discussing and really thinking about what we want in life. In terms of job, daily life, and in general what we want to achieve in life before our time is up.

We all know that our time on earth is limited, yet we act as if we’ll live forever. We continue to squander away our time and energy, yet when death comes calling, most of us will cling on desperately for dear life.

Maybe it’s just our survival instincts kicking in to fight death, but I can’t help feel admiration for those who felt they have a long, fulfilling life and can smile in the face of death.

Dying with no regrets… I hope we will be like that when it’s our time to go!

If we assume we can live reasonably healthily till 70 years old, that would mean we have used up almost half our time!

That realization kind of triggered a bit of panic.

With just half our time left, how should we spend it???

And that’s assuming we even live till 70! What if we in fact have less time than that?!

Sidetrack: When talking about time, I always think back to the movie, “In Time“. It’s not the greatest plot ever, but I really like the ideas the movie try to bring across. Like, really like it.

I think I drove my then-colleagues insane bringing it up at every possible instance hahaha. Because I think it’s so true! I really think everyone should watch it and think about the points presented! *nods*
/sidetrack

Thus we set out to properly compile our bucket list.
(Google docs is super handy! We use it to keep track of everything – From our wedding planning to daily expenses tracking!)

The list is an ongoing project, but looking at what we’ve listed so far, they are 99% made up of experiences. Some examples from my list: Witnessing the Aurora Borealis, seeing the Niagara Falls, traveling to many different prefectures in Japan, attending a Final Fantasy concert (ideally in Japan!), etc.

So, less of material goods for me, more of experiences! I think essentially that’s what life is… experiences. Some may say that some experiences come from material goods (like… having a console to play games and thus experience fun), and I don’t disagree.

Maybe for someone, an item on their bucket list is to own a Chanel/LV/[insert brand name] bag because it brings them indescribable joy. I think that’s cool too, because they are pursuing what they believe will bring them happiness.

But who really cares about what I think, right? Lol.

Back to the title of the post… yes! We managed to check off one item on my list!

FOR FREE!

So what’s this bucket list item?

This!

It’s to see fireflies!!!

Incidentally, right after we decided to write our bucket lists, Fu went to search and saw that there was a firefly viewing in Tokyo for just 5 days, and that day was one of those days!

In fact, I haven’t wrote my list at that point and he was the one that remembered me saying in the past that I wanted to see fireflies. He put “bringing her to see fireflies” as an item on his list :’)

Normally he doesn’t even remember what I said 10 mins ago, but he actually remembered this!





So we headed to Shibuya to see them that same day. Yes, Shibuya! The same area as the famous Shibuya 109 that is the birthplace of gyaru fashion, haha.

It was a small place, but there was a rather long queue even though it was raining. Probably because it’s not common for city people to see fireflies.

That’s the city people’s way of life I suppose. You don’t have to travel to the countryside to see fireflies. The fireflies are brought to you!

There were almost no lights inside so you see these little balls of luminous green light floating around. Really amazing!

For a while we were saying that maybe they are actually not real, but just little motorized parts emitting light and flying around via remote control lol.

Cause it’s so dark and you can’t really see anyway!

But actually, it’s probably more expensive to implement tiny flying robots than to bring in the real fireflies lol. Plus it’s only for 5 days, and during these 5 days, entrance fee is waived!

So we decided they were real fireflies after all lol.

There were 2 areas, each with a different species of fireflies.

The first area was an indoor garden, and the fireflies were free to fly around. They were quite spread out and you have to look for them, although it was very dark so they were easy to spot with their butts on fire.

The second area had the fireflies in a net enclosure so there was a huge cluster of glowing lights! Very mesmerizing and it’s like seeing (green) stars twinkling in the dark sky. I think maybe that’s why I wanted to see fireflies… because I love looking at the starry sky endlessly too!

Although what I envisioned my fireflies’ experience was more like:

In a big, open field, with grass coming up to my knees. The place is undisturbed by man-made lights and with a twinkling starry sky overhead. There will be a cool breeze, and perhaps a small lake nearby. I’ll be surrounded by these floaty, dreamy lights and prancing around happily, chasing after them!

But hey, I’ll take what I can get! I’ll consider the item checked off the bucket list, but I still wouldn’t mind seeing it again (in the scene described above, ideally).

By the way, do you know how fireflies REALLY look like? I was quite er, shocked at their “real” face. I mean, to me, they are just cute balls of light, sparkling like a star in the dark!

I was shown the ugly reality, and I feel a pressing need to share it HAHAHA.

Second picture machiam the buddha kind of aura… SHIIINGGGG!

I guess I forgot that in the end, it’s still an insect, not just light floating around…

I hope I’ve forever ruined your impression of fireflies, and that every time you think of fireflies, you think of the images above first HAHAHA.

Ok la, I’m not so horrible.

Ending off with a nice photo!

Do you know what you want to do with the remainder of your life?

Remember, the clock is ticking away…