Dreams of Distant Lands

Hello, friend. You know, I miss dreaming about distant, faraway lands. In our journey across the wide, wide sea, I've grown quite lonesome and detached from my "original destination." I boarded this boat, this path, because I thought that it'd get me closer to my destination. I never thought that this path would eventually cause me to lose sight of the places I wanted to go.

As you know by now, I'm more of a city boy. I love the central urban areas. Places with high-rise buildings. Technology and innovation in the streets. Neon and LCD signs everywhere. A city powered by technology. I miss dreaming of all those.

In my life, I've only ever loved 2 major cities—Seoul and Tokyo. Sure, other cities have an attractive infrastructure, too, don't get me wrong, but there's just something about those two cities that makes me see them in a different light.

This has nothing to do with my own liking toward their cultures, though. I'm not a "Koreaboo" nor a "weeaboo," and I try to distance myself from people like those whenever I can. What I'm getting at is that there's something... distinct or odd about them that I just can't put my finger on.

I guess, for Tokyo, I seem to love it for its nightlife. I'm much of a night owl and I would love it if I can go outside, explore the various streets and wander around. Just a walk in the middle of a night, all by myself, exploring the different parts of the city.

That whole "wandering at night and exploring the city freely" can't be said in the place where I live in. If I ever do try that here, nothing good will come out of it, I can 100% guarantee that. The most likely things that will happen is that I will get shot, killed, mugged, kidnapped, raped (...jeez), or drugged—whether by the hands of police, crazy people, or criminals. You're extremely likely to get mugged here, and you literally can't trust anyone at night.

The low crime rate in Tokyo is what surprises me the most. The city is usually ranked as one of, if not, the safest city in the world. Plus, most of Japan has a good crime rate and a really good government.

I guess those are the reasons why I dream of it so much back then. I've always dreamt of boarding the Shinkansen at night, wandering around the neon-filled streets, and going to places I can't even pronounce. And the view at night is what gets me the most. A view from a high-rise condo unit in Tokyo would be breathtaking, and I'd love to see the city light up from my window every night.

On the other hand, Seoul isn't such a bad place. It has almost the exact crime rate as Tokyo, and it's as clean (or so I've heard) as Tokyo.

While I didn't really say anything about Japan's culture, I might want to visit Seoul only for the daytime culture. When I got into my whole "addiction to SNSD" phase, I was constantly looking up articles of Seoul and I watched so many stuff about it.

I still remember the dreams I had of Seoul. I imagined a perfect morning to go like this: doing yoga or some light stretching at some rooftop or open ground with people, running/biking along the Han River, and visiting various shops and art galleries around the city (and visiting Lotte World, too!). Yeah, it sounds almost exactly like SNSD's "S.E.O.U.L." song.

I've always dreamt of going to those places, ever since I was young. And it's just sad to see myself grown apathetic toward those dreams and just lose sight of them altogether. Usually, dreaming of myself in those cities meant that I had hope for the future, that everything's going to sort itself out through time, that dreams can be attained someday.

Dreaming about those cities didn't just mean a wild fantasy of exploring Asian countries that I love, but rather as a pursuit of happiness. I don't think my pursuit of happiness has changed, as I'm currently pursuing nothing now, and I seem to be aiming to just work, live, and stay here in the Philippines forever.

Quite frankly, I just miss of going to airports and starting anew in a land far, far away. I guess the goal of this post was to make me realize that I shouldn't let my dreams get bogged down by apathy, lethargy, or whatever obstacle may come in my way. I just wish I won't let my younger self down and I hope I may be able to reach those lands in 10 or so years.

It's a stretch, I know. I guess I have to stop being a stowaway on this ship and start steering it towards there.

Oh well, I guess that's not happening today. Tomorrow's a new day, maybe I might try tomorrow. Until then, see you, friend.