Can you name one city in this world to which you would bestow the name 'Most Perfect City to Live in'? Have you ever passed by, travelled in and out, came accross or horsed around a city that just speaks to you from all its corners?
I'm talking about a city that can satisfy every single one of your emotional, intellectual and physical needs. One that gives you a range of entertaiment options from cultural, intellectual, arts, music, sports. One that satisfies your wish for a mind-blowing culinary experience. A city that provides its inhabitants with numerous cozy and inspiring corners, where people meet, talk, interact, debate, discuss and also whine, complain, compare notes on how life's antiques can occasionally throw them off their balances.
A city that is physically beautiful, where you can still feel nature, but you can't miss that buzz, that indistinguishible element of life. Such a city would be surrounded or close by the sea, maybe even a lake ( ok, a river will do as well!), green in all the right places, marked by classical yet eternally beautiful architecture, modern buildings designed with class and filled with just enough public spaces where people can stroll, stretch and enjoy the sunshine. A beautiful city can also be signified by the number and types of animals that you can spot in it. Birds : seagulls, doves or pigeons, dogs, squirrels, deers.....
I'm also talking about a city that knows no mental geographical border--it simply doesn't have an end- the more you explore it, the more you unravel and discover its beauty.
A city with soul. With a capital "S".
Sure, most of you'd say. If I did a quick survey, the following cities will definitely come up : New York, Paris, San Fransisco, Rome. My top three candidates would be New York, Paris and Istanbul. If I'm allowed to list five, I'll add San Fransisco and Vienna to the list. If I can add five more, I'll throw in : Sydney, Rome, Stockholm, Barcelona and Tokyo. I would probably have London up there, if only I've been there....If the size were a bit bigger, I would put Bologna in there, simply because of its classic and unparalelled beauty.
Imaginations and dreams can run pretty wild....but if I were asked the one city in which I would like to grow up, spend a good amount of my mature and wise years, and also grow old, my answer would probably be Jakarta. Yes, the city that has almost zero amount of the qualities I alluded to above. But Jakarta, to me, has a soul. With a capital S ;-). The paradoxical city that is full of controversies, full of assymetries, for some reason has that dwindling anti-climatic effect on me : the more I explore and integrate myself with it, the more I can come to terms with all its imperfections. Including the endless traffic jams, the lack (absence??) of walking spaces, the lack of fresh air and that chaotic and sometimes annoying J-walking of pedestrians...
All of this comparison gets me thinking....between the Perfect city and the city to which I attach partiality to....Wouldn't you say it's parallel to comparing between the perfect lover that simultaneously satisfies your emotional, intellectual and physical needs and one that you've grown so familiar and comfortable with, that all of its imperfection turns into an unconventional yet exceptional beauty to you?
Would YOU rather have a Jakarta lover? or would you constantly pursue a New York/Paris/London/Roman/Viennese lover? ;-)
