Back to Reality

It's hard for me to believe that a mere few days ago I was wandering up and down the streets of the Far East's city of lights... Dazzled, stressed but most of all bemused.

The humid heat hit me as soon as I stepped out of the airport - like the heat of an oven wrapping itself around me at once. I stumbled forward, dazed and confused, looking around me with blinking eyes. A few moments later I could feel droplets of sweat rolling down my back, but already my whole being was embracing the uncanny climate. I swapped the shoes for a pair of cheap flip flops bought in one of those massive stores that never seem to close for the night. And from then on began my express trip into the unknown.

Though days are only made of 24 hours, this past week turned out so packed with events and unexpected turns that it left me feeling as though I've somehow spent a lifetime there. As I rushed from one meeting to the next, hailing one cab after another to get me places faster, my mind was overwhelmed by the incredible weight of sensory overload. Sounds, smells, sights... all of it hitting me like unrelenting waves, leaving me dazzled and at loss for words.

And it was during that trip that I fully realised the beauty of meeting strangers. Strangers in the night, unexpected helping hands, conversations born out of the unknown... I thought: "So long as I don't need to create deeper bonds with others, I can actually manage it well..." I am a 'good' stranger, but no one should ever try and get to know me better. Like the brightest of flames, I would burn the curious moth.

Strangers... they appeared in my wake just at the right time, each time. As I ran up and down the streets in search of my hotel to grab my suitcase and dash back to the airport for my next flight, the intense heat and lack of water in my body hit me like a rock on the head... Panting and feeling like a ball of fire about to implode, I pushed my way through the midday crowds invading the streets like a rising human tide, unable to find my way back to that darn hotel. Panic seeped further into me as I looked at the time - I had less than 2 hours left to get to the airport and check in. I remember stopping in my tracks, feeling as though I was suddenly stuck in some sort of fast-forwarded movie... the crowds, the intense heat weighing on me, the glare of the sun in my eyes, the fuming cars all around in the midst of tall skyscrapers... I blinked and saw that a cab was waiting, idle, on the side of the street. I dashed in its direction, and without even asking whether I could or not, I slipped in the back of the car and said: "To that hotel, as fast as you can, please."

A few moments later, I had finally arrived at the main station to take the express train back to the airport, and that was when I realised that I didn't even know which terminal my flight was on. I got up from my seat inside the train, looking around as yet another wave of panic crashed against me. I meekly asked a group of Asian travellers if they knew which terminal my flight was on... they shrugged, uncertain. And then a young man waved a hand and said: "That's my flight too. We need to go to Terminal 1." I stared at him for a moment in silent relief and before I knew it we were making our way inside the terminal together, with him as my unexpected white knight in shinning armour.

As I followed him around and he took care to lead me to all the right places, the panic waned, leaving in its wake an intense wave of relief. We still had some time before the flight, and so we decided to have something to eat and as we sat there eating our pork burgers, we started chatting away like old friends. After another moment, I realised we didn't even know each other's names. We laughed as I held out a hand to shake his. "I'm Aliska, by the way," I said with a light giggle. "You can call me Koh," he replied, smiling.

"I am so glad to have met you... you have no idea how much you've helped me," I said.
"Yeah, I could see you looked really panicked."
"You have no idea..."
"Don't worry, it's all good now."
"But really... thank you for helping me."
He shrugged.
"When unexpected things like that happen, you should always help. And by the way, welcome to Asia," he added with a chuckle.

Soon enough, it was time to board the plane, and we last saw each other at the baggage collection. He showed me the way to the taxi line waiting outside the airport, and then we parted ways. Two strangers whose paths had crossed for only a mere moment in time, and as the purpose of our unexpected meeting came to an end, so did our association.

On my last day before returning home, I was again dazzled by the beauty of meeting strangers. This time it was a girl who, upon learning that I was leaving in the evening, decided she should take me to the top of a tower to enjoy a few cocktails in the sunset. And there we sat, seemingly on top of the world, chatting away like two old friends. As we parted ways, we hugged and I said: "I feel as though I'm going to see you tomorrow..." and she laughed, nodding. "Yes, it's hard to believe you're actually leaving."

But then the girl also left me with more food for thought. We had been talking about work, the corporate universe and the likes. At some point she said: "You know, I'm a crazy girl, I'm not normal... just saying because you shouldn't expect other people around here to behave the way I do."

"Well," I replied, beaming, "I'm mighty glad I met you on the way. And don't ever think you're not normal. Nobody is."

"Hmm... I also don't think I'm cut out for the corporate world," she went on, pensive and then waved a hand around us. "All this... That's not me."

I pondered her words silently for a moment. What about me? Was this me? This role I had been sucked into, that of suddenly being turned into the jet-setting girl rushing from place to place, meeting bosses and playing the part of the knowledgeable business woman... was that me? My head was swimming with way too much information to be able to formulate even the start of an answer. But I knew how it felt within me... like a web tightening its hold around me... and that impression within scared me because deep down I know I am like the little lamb playing it tough among the big, big wolves. And whenever I think about that fact, I feel like running back into my mother's arms.

Lana Del Ray, Born to Die

Beyond all this, though... this trip proved a powerful eye-opener. One that left me feeling as though some part of me had always been from that side of the world, as strange as that may sound. Or perhaps a better way to describe how it felt to be there would be to say: "I feel as though I've already been there in a past life."