In honor of Kimura-san, who invited Ari and me to visit Sim Works HQ. This is one of those stories I’ll always carry with me.
This summer, Ari and I traveled to Nagoya for the first time. Before this trip, whenever people talked about Japan, my mind would always go to Tokyo or Kyoto. Nagoya was simply one of those cities I knew very little about.
“It’s probably the first city I’d return to—not for the sights, but for the people.”
The first thing I remember isn’t the station or the streets. It’s Kimura-san waiting outside our hotel the next morning. He was wearing a blue shirt over a T-shirt, shorts, a cap, yellow socks and a Leica hanging around his neck. He smiled and we were on our way. There wasn’t much formality to it. It didn’t feel like someone taking us to visit a company. It felt like someone showing friends around the town.
The streets felt quieter than I expected. People rode bicycles everywhere not matching kits or expensive builds, just bikes carrying groceries, backpacks, and everyday life. Cars moved slowly. Small canals ran alongside the roads, clean enough that I found myself stopping just to look at the water. After a while, I stopped taking photos. I just wanted to look.
Good coffee always finds its way into my travels. Maybe that’s why our first stop made perfect sense. Circles wasn’t just a bike shop. Or at least, it didn’t feel like one. Outside, bicycles filled almost every available space. Some leaned against the wall, others sat neatly in the racks. Right next door was Early Bird, the cafe run by the same people. Customers moved between coffee and bicycles so naturally that it became difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. It all felt connected.
When we arrived at Sim Works HQ, nobody stopped what they were doing because visitors had walked in. Someone was packing orders. Someone else was discussing, editing. Shelves were filled with books, records, speakers, bike parts, photographs from old rides, and prototypes from collaborations they’d built over the years. Nothing looked arranged for guests. It looked exactly like a place where people actually spend their days making things together. One thing I kept noticing was the atmosphere between everyone. People teased each other. Laughed across the room. Picked up conversations where they had left them
Even though we couldn’t understand every word, the rhythm somehow felt familiar. At one point, I looked at Ari and laughed.
“This feels like Bandung.”
He smiled. He knew exactly what I meant.
We spent hours moving between places: coffee at Early Bird, lunch at Pine Fields Market, a visit to Studio Viicon, a multidisciplinary creative studio in Nagoya, more conversations, more introductions. Kimura-san seemed to know everyone, and every introduction came with the same warmth, never rushed, never rehearsed.
Somewhere throughout the day, we quietly stopped feeling like visitors. I kept watching Ari. Sim Works had been one of his favorite brands long before this trip. Seeing him talk directly with the people behind the products he’d admired for years felt quietly special. Nobody treated it like a big moment. Maybe that’s what made it one.
Looking back now, I don’t think this story is really about visiting a headquarters. It’s about being invited into someone’s everyday life. Being welcomed into routines that already existed long before we arrived. Sharing coffee, lunch, jokes, and conversations that made Japan feel unexpectedly familiar.
“People don’t just fall in love with the brand—they fall in love with the great people behind it. That’s what keeps you coming back.“
On our third day, the Circles team took us riding into the mountains outside Nagoya, a day that deserves its own story. After that, Ari and I spent a few days in Kyoto before returning to Nagoya once again. Coming back almost felt natural. Like returning somewhere we’d already begun to know.
When it was finally time to leave, it didn’t really feel like saying goodbye. It felt more like pressing pause. Because what we brought home wasn’t just memories from Japan. We came home with new friendships, conversations that stayed with us long after the flight home, and something to bring to life together.
“this feel like Bandung”
dan…
“People don’t just fall in love with the brand—they fall in love with the great people behind it. That’s what keeps you coming back.“
kata yang pertamanya, aku ga bisa relate karena belum pernah ke Jepang, tapi sedikit banyak, aku juga agak-agak suka main dan networking di berbagai community di Bandung karena suka dapet job foto dokumentasi event yang kecil-kecil juga, at that part of Bandung, aku cinta people of Bandung dan segala movement yang mereka buat. Kerennya ga abis-abis.
dan jadi makin penasaran pengen ke Jepang juga :((
dan kalimat kedua yg tentang brand and people behind it, yes!! agree like totally!
malah mungkin kita kita suka dengan kultur dan orang-orang di baliknya atau community around it, lama-lama cinta sama brand yg representing it juga.
Morend, mau nanya…
kenapa kepikiran bikin blog dimana dunia sekarang lebih cinta dengan short content dan format video seperti tiktok atau reels? what moves you to make this selain karena emang dari awal suka main tumblr ya?
Hahaha, iya.. mungkin karena sebenarnya yang bikin sebuah tempat terasa “hidup” itu ya orang-orangnya. :))
Aku juga suka banget bagian itu dari Bandung. Kadang justru dari event-event kecil, komunitas kecil, atau sekadar kenalan sama orang-orang baru, malah ketemu banyak hal menarik. Dan gatau kenapa Bandung tuh orang-orangnya selalu punya aja sesuatu yang mau dibuat atau digerakkan. Jadi memang ga habis-habis buat diexplore.
Semoga suatu hari bisa ke Jepang juga ya, Ka!:D Kayaknya nanti malah makin banyak hal yang bikin penasaran setelah sampai sana.
Dan YESSS!! aku setuju banget sama yang tentang brand dan people behind it!! Kadang kita awalnya suka karena produknya atau brand-nya, tapi lama-lama justru jatuh cinta sama kultur, orang-orang, dan community yang tumbuh di sekitarnya. Terus akhirnya brand itu jadi seperti representasi dari semua hal yang kita suka tadi. 🙂
Soal kenapa masih bikin blog di zaman semua orang pindah ke short content dan video.. wah, pertanyaannya lumayan berat nih hahaha
Mungkin karena aku masih suka prosesnya. Suka nulis, suka nyusun cerita, suka lihat lagi foto-foto lama, terus mengingat kejadian yang mungkin sebenarnya sederhana tapi jadi terasa punya arti setelah ditulis.
Short content itu memang seru, dan aku juga suka lihat Reels/TikTok, tapi rasanya beda aja. Ada sesuatu dari tulisan panjang dan blog yang bikin kita bisa berhenti sebentar.. ga harus langsung scroll ke hal berikutnya.
Mungkin juga karena dari pada jamanku medium ini paling lama dan nempel denganku, jadi ada rasa sayang sendiri sama medium ini kalau berhenti. dan blog ini selalu ngerasanya kayak punya ruang kecil sendiri di internet, yang ga harus mengikuti apa yang sedang ramai.
Dan mungkin.. aku masih ingin punya tempat untuk menyimpan cerita. Bukan cuma supaya dibaca orang lain, tapi supaya beberapa tahun lagi aku bisa balik ke sini dan bilang, “oh iya.. dulu aku pernah ada di fase ini.” 🙂
Jadi kalau ditanya apa yang “moves me” bikin blog sekarang.. mungkin sesederhana itu. Aku masih suka bercerita. Dan selama masih ada cerita yang pengen ditulis, kayaknya blog akan selalu punya tempat buatku.. 😀
ih mantepppp….
makin nge-fans sama Morend!
terima kasih untuk balasan komen yang panjangnya bisa dibikin satu tulisan blog lagi nih, hehe.. dan tentunya aku baca setiap katanya dengan seksama!
and maaf ya kalo suatu waktu kita bertemu di suatu event di Bandung dan aku ga nyapa.. bakal starstruck, geumpeur, ga tahu mau nyapanya kayak gimana, hehe.. tapi pengen fotoin, dari jauh aja kali ya 😀
sekali lagi terima kasih, dan mohon maaf nih kalo aku komen di postingan lainnya, jangan bosen ya!