colour of seoul

days in this city were not packed with long hours of walking throughout the city, but i am content that this time i can spend a quality time with best friend of mine. the winter frost is exhilarating and yet there are still a lot to explore. my thought of seoul will linger, fly away across the northeast sky and then stored in the bigger narration of our universe.

interestingly, seoul is somehow beyond my expectation. i thought of a modern city with crowded alleys where people exhibit what the city has offered from the industrious gains. i was thinking of hong kong where tall buildings run to the sky and stand close to each other. i was thinking of those who dress up fashionably but end up the day in small shabby corner on beijing's alleys. the place where modernity and life still stand side by side in a considerably distant. however, my imagination was not the reality. i saw a hilly city by a river, and white skycrapers scattered evenly. each side of the river was full of markets, small cafes, offices and people commute in convenient means of transportation. there were people on streets walking in their winter fashion, cheer up in democratized political system. pop stars of top chart or tv series look so pretty in big posters or lcd. modernity is an inherent status here. for the young generation, it is embedded as they grow up. for older generation, it is an achievement from what they have been through.




modernity also equals to high technology. it is not a mere latest version of a cell phone, but it is showed through the quality of fabric for textiles, a choice of building design, sophisticate stationaries or a simple yet down to earth closet seater. so colorful.

it was only because time constraint, i should restrain myself to explore the city. ah ya, of course the extreme winter was also impeding. i came with unoccupied winter fashion. i got my legs freezing when we have to get of the car and run to our place. it has been awhile for a discomforting winter, though i still can find a fine adjustment in enjoying the cold air. if the sun shines brighter and longer, a promise of a changing season will come. and i could not wait for another opportunity to visit this city some time soon. looking for a color that stick in my mind and conquer a piece of corner in my memory land:

first glimpse of an impromptly morning.

my designtion was confusing and very impromptu. and after 6 hours of flying crossing the continent's eastern part,i am glad to enjoy the chance.

a morning still upon incheon and the vehicle carried us going through beginning of a day towards the bustling capital city. the sun looked pale in its winter cloak and misty winter frost disposed slowly with soft breeze from the north. i felt a bit sleepy but my body seemed to be fully awaken now. i observed this new place as far as i can see, with no high expectation. my eyes caught a dramatic scene when we passes a bridge. above the freezing river, factory's chimneys were lining up and hissing the smoky disposal into the air. it was all in silver. the reflection of pale's sun on the river stood still as the winter conquered. meanwhile on the land, those metal big tubes gave away its digestion toward the morning's sky, the air was so cold, minus 13 and it looked to me that the smoke was freezing in its bulb shape. what a morning. what an industry. it reflected a forgotten spirit to make self-sufficient to themselves.

coto and all the nostalgic memories

my understanding of makassar emerges from the frequent visit to the city since i was a child. that time it was still called ujung pandang. this city is an old trading city back to the colonial period. the seaport was famous of its seafaring ethnic that could reach the cape of good hope in southern tip of africa. aside from this romantic history, i like the city because of some particularities. they are the symbol of how i make friend with the city.

the experience of walking along the somba opu street is the classic one. there are a lot of jewelry stores, because saving gold is traditionally an important investment for the locals. most people consider it as a state of fashion and social status, of course. on the end of the road, there is an old shop that sells souvenirs. the funny thing is, i always feel obliged to visit the shop whenever i come to makassar. it seems to me that the shop is one of the elements that constructs the city. it would not feel like visiting makassar without having oneself visiting the shop. i really like the shop. the location and how it has been the statement of the city. here is the shop:



i often get a pack of traditional coffee from that shop. a personal glimpse from the place makes me recognise makassar closer.

another round of makassar is from coto, the traditional beef soup. although i can find a delicious coto in jakarta, but having coto in a particular food stall in makassar could make one's journey is complete. the green building is packed with many visitors all the time. they serve coto in small ceramic bowl with rice cakes, lemon and spices. the smell of cooked meat mixed with spicy is mouth watering. meanwhile coto is served in white and bigger bowl in jakarta. the similar type of bowl for chicken noddle soup or meat ball soup, or soto, or sayur asem. in metropolitan, they oversimplify things for the sake of efficiency. take a look at this:




the wonderful thing of visiting a place is that getting your personal insight of it. i am sure you have many different frames of makassar, despite all the typical land marks. but this special spot, be it the shop or the ceramic bowl, makes the city closer to you, a part of your memory.

a long journey

the long journey with dai wei has finally reached the epilogue. trapped in his memory for almost a year, i manage to understand that life should be taken seriously. every morning, i went through one or two pages before shower time, the narration sewed by dai wei's reminiscing vision of his past life really has inspired me. to face the day ahead.

yesterday, i closed the last page of beijing coma, with so much passion for life it has injected to my inner self. i really like the author, since i read his travelogue across china, he remains as one of the most adorable author on contemporary chinese literature. this bulky narration of dai wei was so intense that i could not imagine how detail and grandiose a human body could be. how complex the transformation of a society could be amid the generation gap and a missing lacuna in its history. how love could be an eternal realm which only can become another form through madness.

while the sunrise of the new millennium arises, it brings a new hope that to some point, modernization sometimes creates a fragile picture of reality. and only those who awake from the state of comatose will be those who are liberated, enlightened.

an immense detail that could speak with thousand words. thank you, ma jian.

rock the island

flying northward in a local airline in a fine monday morning. the wind blows smoothly. i enjoyed the trip with mix feeling. although my very morning was quite a drama, i am pleased the rest of the morning has greeted me in its glorious way.

we were flying northward, the northern islands dubbed themselves as the northern pearl. the third trip in early december after makassar. we were received in great hospitality. group of dancers in yellow and goldish dresses performed in local spirit and instrument as well. a malay ethnic, those who inhabit some northern part of sumatera island. it was exactly an hour we spent from hang nadim international airport to this air force airport.

this northern pearl isolates herself from the mainland. i was amazed with the remoteness and how it creates a beautiful escape. by looking at the south china sea before us, the water was sparkling in turquoise. with an abundant of sunshine, the busiest sea lanes in the world, in contrast, looked calm and yet proud to be a strategic place in security. despite its high political value, the place has another thing to offer, which is the scattered huge rocks in the beaches, so huge that they looked like the giant menhir coming from ancient ages.

december rain

time surely flies, and year end is coming to town. all december rains come by in the afternoon or morning, but i am still here.

it has been a year since my return to this homeland, and many things have happened and the changes linger. there are more people coming to tjikini street, mostly in early evening. during the weekends, people even has press conference or social gathering, and it makes the place so crowded. it is good though, that the market buys the place. however, in those moments, i miss the old tjikini's morning and afternoon, so silent and only the old man who pull the garbage bin across the street with his orange uniform. now that the visitors are more dress-up with old style glasses and tights, women in gala-dinner-make-up style sometimes are spotted in here. the gravity of this place is getting high profile. that not only the loners come for self contemplation, but also those who yearning for socializing in this cosmopolitan.

it is getting interesting. and despite all the controversy, i still can find a piece of corner in this place, with a little effort and squeezing, of course. the december look on the streets are emerging, an i am still here, going with the evolving time.