Avalon

Evan in Budapest

Monday, August 16, 2010

Budapest was an unexpected gem. The minute I got off from my overnight bus I was aching all over, from the poor sleep I had while trying to find the most comfortable posture on my seat. And as I was trying to get my bearings having alighted from the bus and greeted by a swarm of Hungarian words and reunited strangers hugging each other, I realised that I need to get some Hungarian Frontis as well.

That was the kind of feeling of having plunged headfirst into a foreign world, without foretell or preconceptions, except for my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook, apparently the Bible of every traveller. But I found in Budapest a raw beauty that was really delightful, even though it meant having to wade through the throngs of tourists to enjoy the sights and whatever the place has to provide.

It is weird that I felt hungry in Hungary, but the food was pretty much to my preference, and I pretty much enjoyed my solitary stay there. Had a good chat with an Italian who is a hair stylist that cannot wait to leave the town of Bologna where he is currently staying. We talked about cities, about things people want in life, about belonging. He reckons he is a world citizen, and doesn't want to be too serious with life, having been left to himself at a young age. The kind of person one would start profiling after hearing certain things he says, but there are some thoughts there that I really agreed on. Like his philosophy that one is earning money to do what he wants, although the good thing about his job is it's something he wants, but not everything. This he emphasised, with good reason. For one I wouldn't think of a job as everything in my life. I wouldn't want to. It is just too painful.

Like many other Europeans I met along the way, he was going out with his friends for some drinks (although he was actually holding a beer bottle when we first shook hands) and asked if I would like to join. I was too tired. Ok maybe I was not, but I was not in the mood to drink either, so it more or less ended on that note, two strangers come together, exchanged some casual ideas, had a good laugh, and went on with their lives. Soon this episode will probably decay with time, but those talk, some of it may materalise, some of it may just be residing within the mind, some probably repressed when certain priorities change. The key thing is: I realise that many people are actually hedonists at heart: a few of them will make it big, get access to loads of resources and networks such that they can engage in pleasure-seeking of such opulence and exclusivity; the majority will quietly pursue those little chances of scraping out whatever pleasures in daily life within preset limits; and a few will turn into raving renegades, uncompromising regardless of fear or favour.

I sure as hell wasn't thinking of all these when I was in Budapest..

Envoy of the Stars @ 5:04 AM
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