here but not here

was at a japanese restaurant last evening and noted one very interesting but very sad thing - there were people who were there physically but not there emotionally, psychologically, mentally, and so on. and it was extra sad when this happened to everone in a family. read on.

from what we observed, a lot of the dining guests were regular customers. one family came in and it was obvious the chef knew them for he shouted out to them by name when they stepped into the restaurant. and as soon as they took their seat by the sushi/ sashimi counter, the chef started chatted happily with them. this family had 2 kids (probably about 8-9 years old). these kids, however, were not too particularly interested in talking uncle chef. instead, they whipped out their ipad and started playing their online games. they ignored the chef and soon enough, got lost into a world of their own. singaporean kids, i thought. sometime down, i was sure they would have issues with socialising with people. then again, it was none of my business right? i carried on eating.

soon enough, another family walked in.

hallow... dr ong! (surname has been changed) shouted out the restaurant staff and quickly ushered the family to their seats. another restaurant staff rushed forward and started talking to the mrs ong. hmmm, very familiar indeed. well, dr and mrs ong had a son and a daugther. the son should be about 12 yrs old and the daughter about 10 yrs old. both bespectacled and omg, the son's spectacles were super thick, close to a 1000 degrees myopic i was sure. the family took their seat beside bee and i and mrs ong spared no time and started rattling off what they wanted. bowl of cherry tomatoes for the daughter, a plate of gyoza for the son, chawanmushi all round, a big serving of ebi tempura, etc etc etc... and even before mrs ong was done ordering, dr ong, son ong and daughter ong whipped out their own electronic toys - dr ong with his smart phone, son and daughter ong with their nintendos (looks like it) - and started playing with them. mrs ong joined in with her own smart phone immediately after she finished ordering the food. and very soon, the whole family settled comfortably into their dinner table. it was a case of family ong was physically there, but mentally, emotionally, psychologically, all of them were in their own worlds... it was not long later when dr ong realized what was happening and asked everyone to not play games. the kids ignored him. as for him and the wife, despite not playing, they went into this silent, "i eat my food, you eat yours" state of affairs. as for the kids, they carried on playing. when the food arrive, once a while, the kids would stretch out their hands to take a piece or two, stuffed them into their mouths and carried on playing, oblivious seemingly to what they were eating.

superbly sad!!! i thought the first family was bad, but this one was much much much worst. a "dr" title for the dad, a lot of earnings i supposed given that they seemed to be able to splurge on such dinners rather often, but really, the quality of life is really doubtful if you ask me lor...

sighs sighs sighs...

just imagine - sometime in the near future, people would all be living in a matrix world. everyone alive, breathing and kicking but not interacting physically. rather, everyone is plugged into their own devices and existing in their own make believe world - a world that each and everyone think is real. to them, that is.

argh!