SUNSHOWERS 🌦️ Moments in Zhuhai, Episode 1

💌 my favorite part of traveling—beyond the shutter clicks and palate surprises—is the realization of how tethered i am to the world, prompted by navigating through uncertainties. though i do believe that feeling most alive amidst chaos is very much just a me thing, seeking familiarity in the unknown is certainly human nature. when a nomad in 67,000 BCE encountered a certain edible fruit, he’d settle for finding the same one even as he moved from settlement to settlement. when a merchant in ancient egypt stumbled upon a new trade route, she’d probably trek through it repeatedly, even with the possibility of other paths. when scholars in 1969 discovered, i don’t know, a universal phenomenon, one of the first things they’d do is give it a name — after themselves or someone dear to them — before fully studying it. meanwhile, stelle from 2026 would do the same things: reaching for chinese dishes she’d already tried in the philippines, comparing a street she’d never been down to an avenue in makati or an alley in binondo, and recalling names in everything she does: kurt when pogi-hunting, mariel during pop mart sightings, hyra upon seeing anime merch, isha when a familiar song plays, shan when car-spotting, tessie in k-pop adverts, vy upon spotting dachshund designs… the list goes on. i am what i love, and hence i see so much of those things in these novelties, so much of myself in this corner of the world i’ve just stepped foot in. then again, i feel like i’m over-romanticizing what appears to be mere survival instinct. the empty spaces that ambiguity yields can foster madness, so filling them with things you’re used to is simply a coping mechanism for it. like comparing complex train systems to the ones at home, so i get to appreciate them even after getting off at the wrong station. like attributing guangdong’s weather to manila’s similar humidity, so i wouldn’t get too worked up over the heat. like finding acquaintances in staring strangers, so i wouldn’t feel too foreign. but hey, isn't my wax poetry why you're reading this for? :P 🎧 songs: YELLOW黃宣 & 9m88 - 怪天氣 Strange Weather Afar陳侶帆 - 我想 佩奇的夏天 - 阁楼演奏班