Wings

Behold,
Santa Clara street from the 18th (Mayor Chuck Reed's) floor of San Jose City Hall! Don't ask me how I got access; I just walked in armed with a phone. Without a word, snap snap. Okay, bye.

It's hard to believe this once was a small, sleepy farming community. In front of my eyes are buildings whose heights are just below the limit set by an ordinance, in the same area where twenty years ago was just a run-down slum neighborhood. Rewind that back to a century ago and it was nothing but trees and a few small houses. Honestly, I've lived a suburban lifestyle my whole life, and the last 12 months is the time where I've begun to take an interest in my birthplace.

I blame my parents for not taking me out as much, but that's okay. ;) Heck, I'm an American and a few weeks ago, I realized I didn't even know how to order or how etiquette is at a restaurant. I stood around innocently smiling and blinking at the waiter, expecting him to tell me where to sit, when to pay, and all the fancy things people do at restaurants. It's embarrassing, but on the contrary, it's rather stimulating. To me, the feeling of exploring a hidden realm or something unfamiliar gives me a rush of thrill, or perhaps a token, as one can say. A token of experience which, held forever, accumulates as time goes with increasing value. These minute events are one of the many types of things I highly treasure, which perhaps is the reason why I think I take so many darn photos, making memories. Darn me. I'm running out of hard drive space, too.

As for the time being, I can leave my city next year happy. (:
I'll come back every now and then, but can't wait to see how it'll be in twenty years. I still wonder whether I'll be in this country, though. I'm beginning to chase what I dream but have not yet dug up my roots until recently.