accidentally in cheonggyecheon stream, seoul

let me rewind five months and x number days ago when i was trying to keep the shivers at bay due to the persistent negative degree celsius weather in seoul. x is for the exact number of days and i prefer not to accurately count because i already did some effort to count the number of months with my fingers. i'm particularly lazy like that. :p

the past few days have been uncomfortably humid and dry that i believe i'm now forgetting how it was to feel the numbing cold. i doubt though, if my hands are keen with the idea of remembering. them hands that suffered the most because the stubborn me refused to wear gloves.

anyway, so where shall i stop in this trail of thoughts? oh yeah, the mesmerizing stream in the photo above.

i've got two revelations for you. first is nothing grand but the second is close to unbelievable. are you ready? you actually don't have any choice. go, sue me.

well first is that, i only accidentally discovered this stream while i was walking aimlessly around dongdaemun. i was in ewha womans university in the morning till lunch and dongdaemun came to mind after i had my fill. although the genius you, might have already realized that this was only accidental with the post's title giving it away. bravo! bravo! now that i've given you a little pride in yourself, let's move on, shall we?

i know it's kinda crazy to be walking outside without anything in mind, given how freakin' cold it was that day. but i like being crazy all the time sometimes. no, this isn't the second revelation just yet.

in the middle of my aimless walk, i crossed a bridge and out of spontaneity, i glanced what's down below. then, i saw some people who were taking photos like they're having the time of their lives. of course, i followed suit and that's when i realized that this was the cheonggyecheon stream that i had read beforehand. surprise! surprise! there i was without even planning it all along!

an adorable duck wading nonchalantly, made the stream a lot prettier and the surrounding patches of snow were like additional embellishments that my eyes gladly welcomed.

now, here comes the second revelation. brace yourself.

Image from Wikipedia

would you believe if the cheonggyecheon stream was once in such miserable state like in the photo above? i know this is a lot to take in. this was during the 1950's and as part of seoul's industrialization in the later years, the stream was covered with concrete, completely concealing the stream. in 2003 however, a massive restoration was done to recreate the stream to become what it is today. lovely. calming. the presence of ducks makes it even cute.

this stark contrast of then and now, reminds me that anything is possible as long as you put your utmost efforts into it. as the saying goes, if there's a will, there's a way.

i hope there will also come a time when pasig river will have a complete turnaround and as well as the clogged up rivers and streams in all the cities in the philippines.

and here i was after i shamelessly asked a nepali tourist to take my photo. he even asked if i were also a nepali. i don't know. my face must be really common in this part of asia. in most instances though, i was mistaken as chinese. oh well.

with that triviality aside, i still keep this fervent hope for the arterial city rivers in the country. :)

o-O