growing up, i remember my dad, who emigrated from indonesia soon after finishing upper school, periodically introducing me to his old childhood friends from indonesia or college friends from taiwan and saying "this guy, i've known him for 40 years now...i haven't seen him in 35 years"...These introductions always seemed bizarre to me as i grew up in the sanctum suburbs of the 'american dream'. Growing up confined to the comforts of first world superpower accommodations of one tri-state region, i couldn't understand how one could proclaim validity of kinetic friendships when there has been zero communication between them for scores of time. However, as i've made a conscious decision to swim out of the subprime states of america, and even with the world shrunken by communication and travel, i am starting to fully understand my dads "childhood friendship clause". i received an IM from frank a few days ago, "i feel like i haven't heard anything from you in forever"...I re-iterate even with my online prowess and penchant for drunken overseas calls, and now that i've matched my longest stint away 10 months, even i feel detached from all those that used to be involved in my daily "rant/promiscuity/bullsh*t/stupor/fervor/tantra".
i spent the weekend in jakarta (planes are taxi's to me). if i didn't know any better, the quiet weekend getaway in jakarta catching up with family eating, watchimg movies and eating might have me convinced that jakarta equals "quick getaway destination". of course i know better than that. however once in a while, a leisurely weekend for more curvacious eye-candy, nicer malls, higher quality movie theaters and good cuisine is always comforting. the family on the other hand, being the world's biggest dry-humored, fiscally saavy skeptics didn't believe or want to believe that i, the prodigal one, came with the only intention of re-bonding with my indo roots.
weekend in a nutshell:: cloverfield, gone baby gone, lions for lambs, bank mandiri and it's aggressive marketing (half off pizza, half off blitz megaplex), akang kueh teow goreng, ikan goreng, private jets/indo girls/indo interests/pink diamonds...
(and for the relatives reading this, y'all in the states havent' met marvin (nor even knew he existed)....my nephew)
i had a conversation with my uncle over cookies, chips, pork floss crumbles, and fruit over fate. "yuan fen". he stated that my fate is in asia. just one of those weird cycles that has me ending up here. and along the same lines of fate...as constantly described as "weird" by "the love of my life" who used to live in dix hills and befriended my sister on the bus, while my mom on her own occurrence went to flower arrangement classes introduced by mutual gardeners....whereas a few years later, the eldest sister "had me at hello", the coolest chick i knew. baggy jeans, beater, butterfly knives, zippos, and oh she looked so cool smokin' that marlboro red.
4 comments:
interestingly enough - you used to tell me that i use fate as a crutch. ha.
@vixstar - im not using it as a crutch...it was just something my uncle said to me.
omg wat a cute kid!!
im booking ticket to other countries once in VN, so we'll see. but it'd be badass to unite again!
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