Reflection

As you walk down the path, you begin to question yourself and your purpose. You visualize another of your being right in front of you, and challenge him of your uncertainties.

"What is it again am I after?"

"Where am I supposed to be?"

"Why am I seeking something at all?"

Though you don't expect anything from the other you, it still pains the soul to find no hints to the questions you wanted answered the most. Yet you realize it is a necessary ordeal in order to expunge the doubt that remains up to this moment.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Sun Wukong

After collecting your thoughts, you turn to the remaining stone animal around. And it responded, "I, who was born of stone, remains stone to this day."

"Don't mind me, you should go on," it murmured as it pointed you the direction along the walkway with his staff.

And indeed you did, you continued walking along the marble path.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Petrified Pig

"If you're gonna roast anyone, roast me!", the petrified pig rebutted.

"I'm sure I'm gonna be better off a lechon than being stuck in here," it bravely stated.

You suddenly recall a poem you playfully wrote about your love for this lechon dish. You even titled it, "All I Dream Is Lechon" and it goes:

"Lechon, how I crave for you
Every time you always do
Crunchy and tasty is your skin
Hastily, I wanna dig in
Only that it's bad to eat too much
Never, if it's a freshly cooked batch."

And clearly, you are not fazed with all that's happening so far.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Rock Dragon

"No helping, chicken!", it was a rock dragon you're seeing now.

"Do you want me to roast you with my breath?", it continued in anger.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Stone Chicken

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!", clucked the chicken.

"Wow, a stone chicken! A talking stone chicken!" was all you can say. You didn't even bother to wonder what it was trying to tell you.

"Cluck, cluck," as it continued to shake its head in disagreement.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Bats of the Marble Walkway

You jump out of the flower bed, onto the marble pavement.

The moment you landed, you hear "Ouch! Hey what's the big idea?"

This time, it's a shrieking voice coming from what appears a pair of bat inscriptions on the marble tile you're on. Apparently, you stepped on one of them.

"Really, what are the chances of me stepping on you by accident?", you thought in disbelief.

But you stood frozen on the toes of your right foot, wriggling as you try your best to balance. You didn't want to bother anyone or anything again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," you just say, as the pair swept along the lengths of the marble walkway.

Then you decided to follow their path as well.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Another Flower

"Hey don't go all over this guy here. We're hopeless. Let him find out by himself." You realized another flower talking back to the one that greeted you.

"Help, did I hear help?" yet another flower asked.

"Liberation!" another exclaimed.

"Is this it?" another questioned.

And even more of them voiced out, all at the same time that you can only hear buzzing all around.

You don't seem startled, but you realize all the flowers arguing with each other now.

You still don't understand what's happening at this point, so you decide to let them be.

"It couldn't get any weirder than this," you thought.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Flower

"It's been a long time since we had someone like you in here!"

You try to find the source of the faint and tiny voice, looking around in the garden of rainbows.

"I'm here!" you again hear it.

You crouch, attempting to narrow down all the chirps, hums and all sorts of lively fluttering sounds you hear in the sea of lively colors. Then you notice this one lone colorful flower.

It noticed that you acknowledged its greeting. So it continues, "What brings you here? How can I help you? Will you be able to help me? Help us?"

You are taken aback with the questions hurled at you, and you haven't even thought of how or who to answer to. You don't even know if you wanted to.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Yard

You reach the narrowing end of the water body. You hop out, and feel satisfied enough of all the jolly merry skating.

A few steps further you hear a greeting...

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Amusing

And then it hits you. You are obviously enjoying the way you glide over the water just like a pond skating bug.

You circle around just as a figure skater would, and you see from afar the same eccentric old man who greeted you out of The Tower.

But you didn't care, and so you tread along.


 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Bon Voyage

You depart for the Ivory Bridge.

As you walk away from The Tower, you look back one last time and see it being shrouded by magically growing trees. There isn't any sparkles, but you just know it. The Courtyard appeared from nowhere and returned to its place in greeting anyone who gets near The Tower.

Suddenly, everywhere that everything stood at turned into a glossy body of water. An enchanting sight, for an enchanted place.

You're so overwhelmed with all that's happening that you don't realize you're walking over water now.


 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Confused Even More

"Do not use a cannon to kill a mosquito!" an old man called out to you.

Someone caught you by surprise, but you caught what he said so you react, "Whoa! What the?! I never even thought of that! What has the cannon have to do with a mosquito?"

"The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it," he answered.

You clearly get confused. Hoping to make things clear, you asked, "Are you talking to me, old man?"

To which he grimly interjected, "What. Is. The. Sound. Of. One. Hand. Clapping?"

He glared at you, as if he were expecting you to answer. But you shut silent and left--you left confused even more than before.

Then the old man smirked.


 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

The Tower

As you get out of The Tower, you fail to notice that The Courtyard is gone. The pool, the bubble, and the blabbering warriors altogether. You only see The Tower, and you bid it farewell anyway.

Your anticipation to discover something has made you forget the very few moments of uncertainty you had when you entered The Door.


 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Hurry!

You knew you had to traverse the same way you took going up the tower, only it would be going down. It didn't seem as far going up, so you hurry in excitement skipping steps along the way.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Ivory Bridge

"Not all that glimmers is gold," you thought.

But you corrected yourself, "Glitters, not glimmers!"

And so you have decided to set your direction to the glimmering Ivory Bridge, hoping it would lead you to more answers.


 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Vast

You look around. At first, you felt it was too overwhelming.

"In a place like this, how am I going to know what I am supposed to do?"

But you never gave in.

After a while more, you see something glimmer in the corner of your eye.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

An Entirely Different World

A subtle ray of light blinds you the moment you find yourself at the top of the tower. It faded quick. And when it did, along with it, a whole new world materialized before your eyes.

You notice everything looked very much alike in style as the courtyard when you first entered The Door--the structures, the colors, the balance.

It assures you that you are still in the same world.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Winding

The stairs going up felt like forever as you see a seemingly endless winding trail. Everywhere looked the same. The steps, the walls, the lighting. You can't see yourself doing any progress at all with that kind of monotony.

"Does this even end?"

You thought of counting the steps, but lost count by the moment you gasp for breath. Then all you can think of is reaching the top, if there ever was one.

With due perseverance, you eventually make it to the top.

 - Journey to the East in the West

Navigation:  Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24