Paul Graham once said in his essay, great cities attract ambitious people. We may sense it when we walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city could send us a message: we could do more or we should try harder. Some other cities may attract different types of people too. It depends on how ambitious or how laid back we are or the aspirations that we all have in life. In contrast to great cities like New York, Cambridge and other big cities Graham mentioned in that essay, cities with less complexity will tell us: we should let loose, or we should chill out more often.
Living in Jakarta for about 5 years long now has taught me a lot about what message a city like Jakarta sends, especially to someone from outside the city like me. The message seems to be; at the end of the day, you can only count on yourself.
This message is so contrast compared to a message Malang—a city not as great as Jakarta, sent to me when I lived there: be smart and be right, yet be kinder. The cities in Bali, as everyone’s favorite destination for holiday, the message seems to be; forget all the things that weigh you down for awhile and have fun! Meanwhile, in Manado, no matter the time of day, the message will always be: live like there’s no tomorrow.
These kind of messages would always be something that I try to capture and understand every time I travel to somewhere new. Even though there might be a huge difference between traveling and living in a city for a lot longer period of time.
Yet, somehow I believe, we can always be able to capture the message a city tries to tell us, by actually being present. As Graham later explained, a city speaks to us mostly by accident. In things we see through a car window, in conversations we overhear on our way from one touristy spot to another. It’s not something we have to seek out, but it’s definitely something we can’t turn off.
Tokyo, Japan’s largest and busiest metropolitan area, tells us, above all: we should really have to work twice as hard, and even if you are just traveling to the city; we should really have to work harder than we did back home. But, when you move 502+ km to the west, the message there is: be funky, be friendly, enjoy life more than the Tokyoites.
The Osakans, unlike the people of Tokyo who are usually cold and obedient, they are a lot more loosen up, funny and chatty, some are crude and uncouth. I noticed all this just by the time I arrived at Osaka Station from Kanazawa. A bunch of friends can be easily found making fun of each other in a public space, while at restaurants, people would talk to each other more and laugh even louder and the way the people dress that is way more eccentric and expressive. Not to mention the flashy signboard of Glico Running Man in Dotonbori, the Shinsekai area with all the neon lights overlooking the weird-looking Tsutenkaku tower, in which I found very… uhm, perplexing.
Moving to Kyoto, 55.6 km to the northeast from Osaka, my most favorite part of the Japan trip. I would describe the city as peculiar and endearing, where most of its people are seen as sophisticated and mysterious. The beautiful landscape with all the centuries-old temples, shrines, and palaces, the bizzare Gion at night, all the way to the scenic bamboo grove of Arashiyama. When you finished exploring the wonderful city of Kyoto, try to refresh your memory with its past history, how the city had evolved from being the center of Japanese political power to becoming Japanese most prominent cultural center, the amazing story about the US Secretary of War and his connection with the city that made him fought to spare the former capital of Japan from wartime bombing during the WWII era. Also, try to learn something new like the story behind the famous Maiko and figure out tons of silly questions that may follow; Why do they look like that? What do they do in their spare time? Do they have family? Is it a desired job? Is it even a job?
It wasn’t until me and my friends had to go back to Tokyo for our flight back home later that time that I realized I still couldn’t decode the message Kyoto tried to tell us. Even until the moment I’m writing this blog, I still can hardly capture the message it sends. Maybe, there are cities in this world that don’t send any messages at all. These cities, including Kyoto, casts a magic spell instead.
Cipta, di mana? 