A Tale of Two Cities

By Christina Kim - April 28, 2014


One person, with deep sentiments for Two cities, weaving the stories of her life together.
There are just no end to her connections to these two cities, and like many others in the country, everyone belongs to more than one cities, or call more than one place home.

These are not the only two cities I am attached to, but they are definitely anchored in the heart as the dearest with all the memories I have in both of them. I have gotten to know a few more other cities/places over the years, and even spent some time there but yet I am always drawn back to the above cities. Perhaps it was the fact that I was more drawn towards cities, or the sights of skyscrapers?
I was told that I am definitely a city person, and that is not something I would deny, as I grew up in a city; a big city and it is a part of my life which I just could not be apart from. The hectic lifestyle, the crazy crowds, the annoying traffic, the massive population all sounded like big words to others who grew outside the city but it was just part of the normal picture for someone who hailed from the city.
Back then, it was funny how we did not realize it; or it's always like that, you will never realize things around you until you have left them.
People around me; say cousins, would often ask me about the big city and imagined how it would really look like, yet to me, there was really nothing to talk about because they have all come to look so ordinary that I could find nothing extravagant to describe about.

Massive traffic awaits us when we step out of our homes and getting from one place to another means joining the queues of thousands of other cars on the same road, and we are driving on highways all the time. It felt like normal roads though, and big roundabouts, traffic lights, yellow boxes, multiple intersections and skyscrapers are all just so familiar to us that it was surprising when others seem impressed with the types of facilities we have in our home city.

Then going away from the city, to another city, but a less hectic one makes me realized that it was definitely different back home. The things that we see back in the city are no longer the same in the new city. I start to look for those familiar sights, those familiar places in the new city and realized, with a sinking feeling that they are just not there.
While there is still quite a population in this new city, the lifestyle was less hectic and traffic jams, which were annoying the locals seemed like chickpeas compared to the kilometers long traffic where we can be stuck for hours in the big city. Somehow, the lifestyle felt relatively, slower.

It was as if I could breathe a little better, and follow the ode to "take some time, and smell a flower everyday". Getting around was a lot easier too, without massive traffic jams or multiple flyovers created to confuse you on the different directions they are headed to, and you found that you learn the roads really quickly and without much effort. It was a pleasant change which left me feeling pleased, and yeah, a little smarter too =)
Slowly and confidently, I started to settle into the comfortable zone and the city also started to boom with development and soon familiar brands from my original big hometown city are making their way into this place (*squeals with delight*)
It was like the sense of familiarity is starting to creep back into my life, and the assimilation into the new homey zone was all starting to make sense.

The advantages of the new home city was that it was also an island, and a world famous one; no less which offered more options compared to the concrete jungle in the big city. For instance, I could hike up a hill in the morning, then sit in the botanical gardens for a quiet moment, or waddle by the shallow parts of the shores while enjoying the soft beating of the waves and the view of the wide and infinite borders of the sea out there, or head back to the back alleys for a feel of nostalgia, or stand in the middle of the city centre snapping photographs of the iconic landmarks, then jog on the quay or sea drives or take a stroll in the evening to the trees swaying in unison with the wind.
It is no longer about seas of cars or skyscrapers flooding my view when I look out the window of yet another skyscraper, or surrounded by mass of people in the busy districts. There is actually another option; nature when it comes to island city home.

There are just so many stories and perspectives I could share on my time which are coming to equate each other following the years I have spent in both cities, and they are not comparable in my humble opinion as they both have their unique features and specialties. It would not be fair to say one surpass another; and the childhood years will always anchor the importance in the heart.
It will be inevitable to see me share on both of these cities; over all my blogs, well, it does makes sense to be sharing on them since I am actually spending so much time in both of these cities, and along with other cities that I visit for travel or work.
In fact, most of my posts will probably include a huge part of both these two cities, as I share my own tale or tales of two cities on my site.

It is definitely, A Tale of Two Cities, alongside other cities/places and stories...

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