Saturday, October 10, 2015

Hanoi

Oh by the way: 

The entire family went to Hanoi, Vietnam in January this year.  This is my and Marvin's first time to visit a country twice in a period of 7 months. Must be love.

Well, perhaps not exactly love.  If I'm being totally honest, I'd say we picked Hanoi because it's a perfect destination for budget-constrained travellers who want to tick off another UNESCO World Heritage Site in their bucket list.   Hanoi is of course the jump off point for Ha Long Bay. 

Hanoi didn't disappoint, and not only because of the majestic sceneries of Ha Long Bay and Tam Coc.  The city is a destination in itself - charming and cool. I loved how their lakes are well cared for and prettified.  Baguio's Burnham Park and San Pablo, Laguna can take a lesson or two from Hanoi when it comes to making lakes a buffer against the city's noise and chaos, a place where tired commuters and workers can wind down and breathe in nature in the midst of urban clutter.  

Unfortunately, our cities here have a particular talent for ruining what's naturally beautiful with tackiness. I think we're uncomfortable with negative space. We want to fill a perfectly good spot for quiet with stalls and noise and all the things that we think make a space fun. You'd probably say, but that's who we are as a people; we love to have fun, boisterous fun. And we should just embrace it.  We're just being authentic. 

No, we're not. We're being shallow. We can't see what makes Manila beautiful and so we don't hold those things sacred. We reclaimed a huge portion of Manila Bay only to fill it with buildings that lack imagination. Look at that hideous tower at Star City. Look at those buffet restaurants at SM By the Bay that don't even afford its patrons a view of the bay. Look at the decay around the old Film Center. Look at Intramuros now brimming with illegal settlers. Look at the condos that have grown out of marshlands. 

Hanoi is by no means the most beautiful city but it doesn't take whatever magic it has for granted. It knows what makes it beautiful and flaunts them. It crowns its lakes with flower beds and benches.  Beautiful old French buildings are maintained and updated. 

It does have its share of what other cities may consider 'nuisance' like makeshift kitchens and food stalls right along pedestrian lanes. But in Hanoi this nuisance kind of makes sense.  It's a picture of the 'old' blending with the 'new', 'traditional' with 'modern'.  It gives you a sense of Hanoi holding on to its traditional way of life even as it makes way for progress.  

I know of course that a few days in a city doesn't give me a complete picture of the place.  Our short visit has afforded me to see only the good parts of Hanoi, and so those are the things that stayed with me. 

But Manila I know so very well.  This is my home; I'm intimate with both its pretty and ugly parts. I know the dark secrets of its innards and alleys. And the ugliness could be all that I see if I allow it. So I don't, and everyday I actively seek Manila's beauty.  It's a matter of perspective anyway, and so I see what I seek.














































2 comments:

  1. So true what you said about us being allergic to negative space te. We just need to fill up everything because empty space feels, well, empty :D So excited to visit Hanoi one day! And I love your last line!

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