after being surrounded by wonders both artificial and natural, im back at the guesthouse.
but you see, i'm a restless soul.
i like moving around and doing stuff. i like going out, exploring everything and taking in as much as i humanly can, especially when i'm in a foreign land. it absolutely makes no sense to me to stay inside, snuggled underneath cosy blankets when i leave my comfort zone back home when there's a world of intriguing discoveries just waiting to be unmasked at a moment's notice.
yea, that sounds like me.
so was i gonna waste spending the evening in the guesthouse watching the idiot box?
hell no ... its time to go out!
and this time, i had company. i had met this german guy eating noodles at the dining hall and we got to talking. he was planning to drink the night away at some of the local hotspots in town, and he invited me to join him. i wasn't too keen actually, cause liquor ain't my poison, but i decided to follow him anyway.
at times like this, when i don't feel like doing something, i usually recall the movie 'Yes Man' and how the character jim carrey plays decides to say yes to everything simply because he was pushed into it, but eventually discovered all the wonderful possibilities that tend to occur when you actively decide to live your life to the fullest. it maybe simply be a premise for a movie, but it rings truth, and it rings that truth loud and clear.
and so i decided to go and thought, "what have i got to lose anyway?"
we walked, first through insadong and then straight to the middle of town, which was just a surprising fifteen minute walk away and when we arrived, that's when i realised my decision to leave that night paid off handsomely. as we continued walking through the countless alleys and paths zig - zagging all over the city from insadong, we eventually arrived at a huge field.
and i couldn't believe my eyes at what i saw. we had stumbled upon a full blown, open - air music and dance performance concert!
i had later found out that these concerts happened almost every night at this spot and was open to the public completely free of charge. the local city council provides all the necessary expenses in getting cultural events like this showcased to the world as part of their efforts to encourage the emergence and propagation of local talent, either to highlight traditional or modern performances. and as you can see, it enjoys widespread support, from every corner of society.
i was envious.
the only thought that crossed my mind, was wouldn't it be absolutely fantastic if something like this happens every night at our very own Dataran Merdeka back home?
can you imagine the impact it would make if we could get the wealth of local talent here in KL to occasionally perform like this for the worlds' eyes?
wouldn't that make a splendid gathering of people from all walks of life, celebrating our cultures with vigour and joy, all in the name of rejoicing in our own passions?
well, lets hope one day we do.
in the meantime however, it was time to move it, baby. and what a night it was.
beats and tunes were shaking in the dark of the night!
jumping and thumping clearly rocked the stages!
strangely though while this was happening on stage, loads of people were sitting comfortably on strips of carpets on wet grass in this relatively large field, with their eyes firmly gazing the performances on stage about a hundred feet away, beneath a myriad of spotlights, changing intensity and colour at the drop of a hat.
but make no mistake, they were clearly enjoying themselves ... they were smiling after all.
rambunctious cheers and claps resounded in the chilly night air, and the performances, ranging from solo singing acts, to modern group dances to traditional acts and musicals were mesmerizing, to say the least.
with so much energy and passion on stage, i could see how the crowd gets easily infected with the excitement all around them, despite them being so orderly and obedient.
an opera queen taking the stage, melodramatic and utterly expressive in how she sings and carries herself!
a chaotic modern dance i presume with wild animals as characters from some jungle scene!
the night goes on!
and that's the german guy i went with. pity i cant remember his name though, and after tonite i never got the chance to see him again. he had planned to leave the country tomorrow, so we met only once, and it seems that was all we were fated to meet. but i gotta thank him for suggesting this. it was well worth the effort. undoubtedly.
these were the final scenes that night from the concert, before it ended about 11 pm, and i was told that another one would take place tomorrow as well. i might just drop by.
the german guy wanted to still drink the night away, and i decided to follow him anyway, cause i thought the night had already shown so much promise, i've got to continue walking. it started drizzling again but we pressed on. we had trouble finding some nice place to hang around where chilled beers would be served, but eventually we did arrive at what seemed to be like a row of hip bars and cool pubs that seemed pretty happening. in every sense of the word.
and that's when the second surprise of the night landed on my lap.
you see, one of the most interesting things about traveling, are chance encounters with people from all walks of life. people who have a zest for life, who travel incessantly, who take risks by dropping everything in search of adventure, and people who just couldn't care less about what the future brings.
these are the people who live in the moment, who care only for the present, who have forgotten the past and who don't think too much about the future. these people are called fun people.
yes, fun people.
as we were walking we meet three people like this. and the night just took on a whole new level of ... yup, you guessed it .. fun. i met three yankees who were in seoul on a teaching stint and they were in town that night to blow off some steam and have a good time. and they invited us to join them.
and it was fabulous.
because english obviously isn't a problem here, we spoke and laughed about everything, unhindered. they had regaled me about stories from the states and i reciprocated of course. they told me how they ended up in seoul, how their students absolutely adored them, how they wanted to just drop everything in search of a new life and how they've enjoyed their stay in korea so far, for about a year now. it was the Cheseok holiday that weekend and they were enjoying an extended stay in the city, cause they had been stationed about three hours away all this while.
it was the perfect evening.
i had connected with them so easily, listening to all their humorous stories about life here in the east and i was loving every second, even as i was slowly being drenched in the midnight drizzle. they had actually invited me to join them for the holidays at where they teach, in some town north of seoul. i was flattered of course that they would ask me to join them, but unfortunately i had to decline, simply because this was my last night in seoul before i left for shanghai tomorrow morning.
i did tell them how enjoyable their company was and how much i loved spending time with them because of how instantly i felt connected to them simply cause we spoke english and shared similar international dispositions ( hollywood and mtv being the most obvious )
we were talking about stuff like that brilliant comedy, That 70's show, and that was all it took to make us close to each other in burst of laughter and fond recollections. we even sang the theme song ... hanging out, down the street, the same old things, we did last week...!
again ... it was the perfect night. i had given them my card and told them that if they ever decided to come to malaysia, id just be a phone call away. hopefully that happens, but in the meantime, it was time to kick back and party. it was only midnight, and the night was ours.
about a few hours later, after several drinks and walkabouts and with this one last photo, with more people in the picture coming and going, giggling at every moment without any rhyme or reason, i think at about 5am ( i was kinda blurr at the time .. after all, being awake at 5am can do that to you ) it seemed that they were gonna call it a night.
it had kept on drizzling, and it seemed to be getting heavier and the night was kinda late. i decided i had to leave and i told them that i loved spending the evening with all of them, and i had hoped sincerely i would meet them and hopefully our paths would cross again and we get to party till wee hours of the night for a second time. i bid them goodbye with smiles all around, and wished them well, and headed back to the guesthouse.
it truly was an unforgettably perfect evening.
the first part of my holidays had come to a resplendent end, and next on the agenda ... shanghai.
shanghai, baby! shanghai!
but you see, i'm a restless soul.
i like moving around and doing stuff. i like going out, exploring everything and taking in as much as i humanly can, especially when i'm in a foreign land. it absolutely makes no sense to me to stay inside, snuggled underneath cosy blankets when i leave my comfort zone back home when there's a world of intriguing discoveries just waiting to be unmasked at a moment's notice.
yea, that sounds like me.
so was i gonna waste spending the evening in the guesthouse watching the idiot box?
hell no ... its time to go out!
and this time, i had company. i had met this german guy eating noodles at the dining hall and we got to talking. he was planning to drink the night away at some of the local hotspots in town, and he invited me to join him. i wasn't too keen actually, cause liquor ain't my poison, but i decided to follow him anyway.
at times like this, when i don't feel like doing something, i usually recall the movie 'Yes Man' and how the character jim carrey plays decides to say yes to everything simply because he was pushed into it, but eventually discovered all the wonderful possibilities that tend to occur when you actively decide to live your life to the fullest. it maybe simply be a premise for a movie, but it rings truth, and it rings that truth loud and clear.
and so i decided to go and thought, "what have i got to lose anyway?"
we walked, first through insadong and then straight to the middle of town, which was just a surprising fifteen minute walk away and when we arrived, that's when i realised my decision to leave that night paid off handsomely. as we continued walking through the countless alleys and paths zig - zagging all over the city from insadong, we eventually arrived at a huge field.
and i couldn't believe my eyes at what i saw. we had stumbled upon a full blown, open - air music and dance performance concert!
i had later found out that these concerts happened almost every night at this spot and was open to the public completely free of charge. the local city council provides all the necessary expenses in getting cultural events like this showcased to the world as part of their efforts to encourage the emergence and propagation of local talent, either to highlight traditional or modern performances. and as you can see, it enjoys widespread support, from every corner of society.
i was envious.
the only thought that crossed my mind, was wouldn't it be absolutely fantastic if something like this happens every night at our very own Dataran Merdeka back home?
can you imagine the impact it would make if we could get the wealth of local talent here in KL to occasionally perform like this for the worlds' eyes?
wouldn't that make a splendid gathering of people from all walks of life, celebrating our cultures with vigour and joy, all in the name of rejoicing in our own passions?
well, lets hope one day we do.
in the meantime however, it was time to move it, baby. and what a night it was.
beats and tunes were shaking in the dark of the night!
jumping and thumping clearly rocked the stages!
strangely though while this was happening on stage, loads of people were sitting comfortably on strips of carpets on wet grass in this relatively large field, with their eyes firmly gazing the performances on stage about a hundred feet away, beneath a myriad of spotlights, changing intensity and colour at the drop of a hat.
but make no mistake, they were clearly enjoying themselves ... they were smiling after all.
rambunctious cheers and claps resounded in the chilly night air, and the performances, ranging from solo singing acts, to modern group dances to traditional acts and musicals were mesmerizing, to say the least.
with so much energy and passion on stage, i could see how the crowd gets easily infected with the excitement all around them, despite them being so orderly and obedient.
an opera queen taking the stage, melodramatic and utterly expressive in how she sings and carries herself!
a chaotic modern dance i presume with wild animals as characters from some jungle scene!
the night goes on!
and that's the german guy i went with. pity i cant remember his name though, and after tonite i never got the chance to see him again. he had planned to leave the country tomorrow, so we met only once, and it seems that was all we were fated to meet. but i gotta thank him for suggesting this. it was well worth the effort. undoubtedly.
these were the final scenes that night from the concert, before it ended about 11 pm, and i was told that another one would take place tomorrow as well. i might just drop by.
the german guy wanted to still drink the night away, and i decided to follow him anyway, cause i thought the night had already shown so much promise, i've got to continue walking. it started drizzling again but we pressed on. we had trouble finding some nice place to hang around where chilled beers would be served, but eventually we did arrive at what seemed to be like a row of hip bars and cool pubs that seemed pretty happening. in every sense of the word.
and that's when the second surprise of the night landed on my lap.
you see, one of the most interesting things about traveling, are chance encounters with people from all walks of life. people who have a zest for life, who travel incessantly, who take risks by dropping everything in search of adventure, and people who just couldn't care less about what the future brings.
these are the people who live in the moment, who care only for the present, who have forgotten the past and who don't think too much about the future. these people are called fun people.
yes, fun people.
as we were walking we meet three people like this. and the night just took on a whole new level of ... yup, you guessed it .. fun. i met three yankees who were in seoul on a teaching stint and they were in town that night to blow off some steam and have a good time. and they invited us to join them.
and it was fabulous.
because english obviously isn't a problem here, we spoke and laughed about everything, unhindered. they had regaled me about stories from the states and i reciprocated of course. they told me how they ended up in seoul, how their students absolutely adored them, how they wanted to just drop everything in search of a new life and how they've enjoyed their stay in korea so far, for about a year now. it was the Cheseok holiday that weekend and they were enjoying an extended stay in the city, cause they had been stationed about three hours away all this while.
it was the perfect evening.
i had connected with them so easily, listening to all their humorous stories about life here in the east and i was loving every second, even as i was slowly being drenched in the midnight drizzle. they had actually invited me to join them for the holidays at where they teach, in some town north of seoul. i was flattered of course that they would ask me to join them, but unfortunately i had to decline, simply because this was my last night in seoul before i left for shanghai tomorrow morning.
i did tell them how enjoyable their company was and how much i loved spending time with them because of how instantly i felt connected to them simply cause we spoke english and shared similar international dispositions ( hollywood and mtv being the most obvious )
we were talking about stuff like that brilliant comedy, That 70's show, and that was all it took to make us close to each other in burst of laughter and fond recollections. we even sang the theme song ... hanging out, down the street, the same old things, we did last week...!
again ... it was the perfect night. i had given them my card and told them that if they ever decided to come to malaysia, id just be a phone call away. hopefully that happens, but in the meantime, it was time to kick back and party. it was only midnight, and the night was ours.
about a few hours later, after several drinks and walkabouts and with this one last photo, with more people in the picture coming and going, giggling at every moment without any rhyme or reason, i think at about 5am ( i was kinda blurr at the time .. after all, being awake at 5am can do that to you ) it seemed that they were gonna call it a night.
it had kept on drizzling, and it seemed to be getting heavier and the night was kinda late. i decided i had to leave and i told them that i loved spending the evening with all of them, and i had hoped sincerely i would meet them and hopefully our paths would cross again and we get to party till wee hours of the night for a second time. i bid them goodbye with smiles all around, and wished them well, and headed back to the guesthouse.
it truly was an unforgettably perfect evening.
the first part of my holidays had come to a resplendent end, and next on the agenda ... shanghai.
shanghai, baby! shanghai!
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