lost in makassar

A Moment That Changed How I See the World

When I went to Makassar, I was really excited. I mean, Makassar is a big city. It was actually my second time visiting a big city outside of Java Island. Makassar is also known as one of the largest cities in Sulawesi. I went there with my family, and we only stayed for one day and one night.

As soon as I arrived, I felt kinda lost. The city was so big, much bigger than Palu, the city i come from. I used to think Palu was already big enough, but after seeing Makassar, that thought completely changed.

We actually went there because my mom was sick. The doctor in my town suggested that we go to Makassar for better treatment. Thankfully, her condition got better. I also have a bunch of friends who live there. When they found out I was in town, they contacted me to hang out before I went back home.

So we made a plan. We went out from around 4 PM to 10 PM. They picked me up at the hospital on their motorcycles. I asked them so many questions on the way, literally everything I saw. The traffic was insane, red lights, long traffic jams. And they told me that wasn’t even the worst of it. I couldn’t even imagine something worse than that already.

It took us about an hour to get to CPI Center Point of Indonesia. And that place... was so beautiful. I could see the Masjid 99 Kubah (along my life i could see on google), big ships, lights everywhere. I was speechless. My friends were super kind, telling me stories, explaining things to me, making me feel like a tourist.

As we rode around that night, I kept looking around. I opened my eyes wide. This city... it’s something else. It made me realize how small I was. I used to feel like I had achieved something in my small town, but in this big city, I was just one tiny person in a vast world. That moment made me reflect deeply.

The tall buildings, the glowing lights, the wide roads, it all hit me. This was only the second time I had seen a city this big after my trip to Java a couple of years ago. I didn’t even know Sulawesi had a city this massive.

I sat there, quiet, thinking about the whole evening. The skyscrapers, the lights, they all made me realize that I’m just a tiny human in a huge world. It reminded me not to be arrogant about what I’ve done or where I come from.

Makassar taught me not to be arrogant, not to be too proud of myself. There are still so many things I don’t know, and so many places I haven’t seen. That trip humbled me. I understood that I needed to learn more, explore more, and always stay grounded. I saw that outside our little “shell,” there’s a bigger world waiting  and it’s okay to feel small.

That visit changed the way I see myself. It taught me to be humble, to accept myself, and to not be afraid of what’s out there. Everyone is small in their own way and that’s okay.

This trip taught me a lot. That we shouldn’t be proud of being "the best" in our small pond. Once we leave that pond, we’ll see there’s so much more out there. And that feeling of being small, that’s what changed me. It made me more aware of who I am, made me want to stay humble, to keep learning.

Going to Makassar gave me a moment I’ll never forget. It taught me to accept myself, to be brave, and to stay grounded. Because just like me, everyone else out there is also figuring life out. There’s really nothing to be afraid of.

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Sometimes, you have to lose yourself in a place you've never been before to truly find who you are.

That’s exactly what happened to me in Makassar, a city I barely knew, yet it showed me how small I am in this vast world, and how much more there is to learn, to see, to feel. I didn’t expect that a short trip, which began for my mother’s healing, would lead me to my own quiet awakening. That day, surrounded by tall buildings, sparkling lights, and long city roads, I realized, I’m not as big as I thought.

And somehow, that thought didn’t scare me. It humbled me. It changed me