I was born in a small town in Bandar Lampung, south of Sumatra. It is a place where everyone knows everyone. A place I hated as a kid but appreciate as an adult. We didn't have relatives there because both families from mom and dad side lived in Bogor and Jakarta. My parents migrated there shortly after they got married. Me and my siblings were all born in Lampung. I lived there for about 15 years, then in Yogyakarta (3 years), Bandung (10 years) and Jakarta (14 years). When both my parents still alive, I would always go back there. Most of my trips home then were by bus, then by ferry, and bus again. It took almost 10 hours to reach home. After dad passed away in 1988 and mom moved to Bogor to stay in my eldest sis house in 2003, I never visit again. My last trip there was last year on November for mom's funeral. One thing that most of us all have in common is that we come from somewhere. You love to hear people talk about their hometowns. What’s good about it, what’s bad about it, what they miss, etc... But thinking back I have never really been sure where my home town is. I never thought I belonged there anymore. I appreciate the memories I have of my hometown but I am better off getting out of there. Jakarta is my hometown now.
What do you miss most from your hometown? If you still live there, will you ever leave? Do your childhood friends still live in your hometown ?
13 comments:
I definitely miss Surabaya.
It's just so special, because like you said, all my relatives, family members, childhood friends are all still there. Whenever I go home I will always hold some sort of small reunion for my friends.
What I miss the most? Definitely not the heat LOL but the food. Oh glorious East Javanese food. Something that I even think difficult to find in Jakarta (I find Jakarta and Sundanese food taste rather bland - so you can imagine how do I feel about Danish food)
I would definitely leave my hometown for something bigger though, but it would be ideal if I just work around the corner (Jakarta was actually great) because I could just hop a plane and go home whenever I feel homesick
I was born in Jakarta and only lived in my hometown for only 2 years, hometown for me is the place where my mom and dad born and grew up.
I miss: no traffic jam, cold climate (early morning and night), my grandma & mom, the food, the quietness.
Go there once a year for Lebaran or for special occasion.
El,
I miss Jakarta like it was in late 1980-es. Not much traffic jams, I could take oplet from Mayestik to Pondok Indah, Pasar Bunga Barito was less crowded etc...etc...
Yes, I would leave J-town anyway.
My childhood friends now live mostly in Bintaro or Serpong region.
What's constitute as a hometown, anyway? I can't point my finger because although my parents spend most of their days in Surabaya, none of them are Surabayan. I was only born there, then moved to Makassar before moving back to Surabaya, then to Sydney, Jakarta, and now Aberdeen. I don't miss any of the cities in Indonesia definitely. Well maybe Jakarta for its social scenes and friends like you and Ecky!
But I miss the food from Makassar. The best seafood in the world!
i was born in bandung, at the age of 2 we moved to jakarta. when i was 9 we moved to new zealand. when i was 12 we moved back to jakarta. at 16 we moved to balikpapan, 18 back to jakarta, at 19 i moved to new york city, and then back to jkt. and in 2001 i moved to brussels.
so i dont know which is my hometown, but i do miss all of them... :)
i was born in medan...but i had come to jakarta at the age of 6 so the only things i could remember about that place was what i had as a child. when i went back about 2 years ago, it was all so different. i love the food there though.
I have always wondered what constitutes a hometown. I, like most of the others, was born in one place, spent a few years somewhere and then moved, spent a few years somewhere and moved, and so on.
This was the beauty of having parents who were school teachers and had the ability to transfer from one school to another when the urge took them.
I guess my hometown in Indonesia is where I am living in East Jakarta and my hometown in Australia is wherever my parents are laying their hats.
Do I miss my Australian home town, yeah!
I was born and bred in Malang, East Java. When I was 18 I moved to Surabaya, lived there for 7 years (school + work), then moved to Germany for 2 years, then Jakarta for another 2 years. TAlmost four years ago I landed in Bali and never want to leave this place!
I don't really miss Malang even though it's my birthplace - every time I come for a visit I get really bored, nothing much to do there. Mom comes to Bali often and she brings all the "warung" food that I like. With mom and food always available in Bali, not much point of going to that city anymore :) Bali is my hometown now.
Elyani, you should post a picture of your hometown. would love to see how it is liked.
Oh, i miss my hometown a lot and can't wait to go back there every year, if i can afford the trip. i miss ocean, the simplicity and relaxed life, the people, the food, and most of all, my brothers and nephews.
I'm still looking for a place called home ...
I miss Bandung of course always do, my lovely city.
@to all: thank you for sharing about your hometown memories. I think we all feel somewhat sentimental about our hometowns because there’s always something there that is familiar.
hi,,,niku dapok cawa lampung dialek api mawat,,,iam can`t speak english ?? ohhh iam miss my home town too ,,now iam in other province.
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