Avalon

@valon The Big "M"

Monday, August 16, 2010

Map
They come in different scales, different complexities, different colour combinations, different sizes... But without one you will forever roam the built up world like a lost soul. While I admit I might not be as good a navigator as my contemporaries, I guess maps are the first thing I instinctively ask for whenever I get to a new place, and it is strange but I actually come to form this emotional bond with these maps. Relationships never work on trust more than ever with maps. You got to trust the directions that they are giving you, and trust yourself to make the decision to interpret what they have to tell carefully.

Museums
Where could the average country flaunt its exhibitionist self more flambouyantly than the mere creation of a place or in most cases, places, to house its priced possessions, be it collected, amassed, excavated, or plundered. Half of my time was spent pouring over tonnes of historical relics, statues, artwork, whatever you have there. And I can't help wondering, sometimes it is true that less is more. If the average person puts just one of those numerous paintings from say, the Musuem of Fine Arts in Vienna, in his house, every visitor probably will go awestruck and spend at least 5 minutes admiring and gawking at it. (or most of the time, try to act like they are) But when they are all clamoured together in one place, there's just a massive overload of sensory information that one's attention cannot be directed to, or don't want to be. The end result is you probably start to jump paintings, then the halls displaying the paintings, then the whole museum all together. (There are just too many, and everyone of them is bigger than any museum we have..) Or maybe I am really just a philistine attempting at self-defense.

Moon
They say the moon hanging above the foreign land is probably rounder, but I did not bring my compass or protractor.

Music
I came to the conclusion that there are many forms of great music out there, but none as universal as classical.

Maestro
A good thing about this trip is I got reacquainted with the maestros, like Mozart, Dvorak and Strauss. I normally listen to Beethoven and a little of Pachelbel, Bach, Chopin and everyone else, most of the time recognising the tune and not the title, but I only just found out that I have been missing out on life without listening (enough) to Mozart. And although there is no such solid evidence pointing to the existence of the Mozart effect, I can safely say that I don't need any effect to listen to a genius masterpiece.

Mcdon*lds
I use the world-wide synonym for fast food as a gauge of the country's cost of living, and although I realised that its hamburgers are more or less equally priced around the world, the difference is whether I walk right into the shop with big letter M 3 times in 2 days, or 0 in 5.

Money
If a problem can be settled with money, it ain't that big a problem. Unless money is the problem.

Masturbation
Every traveller prowling through unknown territory, seeking joy and leaving nothing behind is, at the most basic level, just undertaking a form of emotional masturbation.

Move
Travelling is part of one's travels. In fact, it is actually the greatest part of it. An English man once had a conversation with an Indian man. "Oh, now that we have a plane, we can get to destination A in one day instead of five, if we were to use the horse carriage." The English man proudly announced. "Ok, that's good. But what are we going to do with the 4 other days?" The Indian man asked.

Reaching a place can feel like a major accomplishment, but like all accomplishments, they fizz out very soon.You reach a destination, good job. Then? What comes after? While we like to say that conclusion is not as important as the process, it is a shame but a well-known fact that we rarely keep to our words. Hence, I made it a point to prove it through my actions. And my constant movement has left me a tired shell but a stronger heart and resolve to continue living the way I live.

Envoy of the Stars @ 5:58 AM
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