Markets
Today was my birthday.
I don’t celebrate it anymore, but I like observing the day, like any other, with loved ones or friends.
I’d normally be teaching or working but Vietnam celebrates a national holiday today because of its liberation from the French, I suppose. You’d think there’d be a mark-up on baguettes, but nope.
I ended up going with Mona, my fellow conspirator, into town just to get away from the claustrophobia of this neighborhood.
We’d already missed Salsa last night because Fred informed me that the lessons were for intermediates only. As a result, beginners would be turned away.
So it was with some disappointment that Mona and I stayed in the hood to partake in a lengthy but uneventful pub quiz that showed how useless I was at it.
This morning was going to be the day where either rock-climbing would be on the menu, or a good bit of browsing. So by the time she came around, we were ready for a day on the town.
We started off at the markets at the centre of town. A brief walk through brought us past bags, sunglasses, coffee, and fabrics. People asked us if we wanted to buy their t-shirts, promising great deals for us, and same-same as original.
The food stalls were stocked with pre-cooked foods leaning against plexiglass panes, and piled in what must have been truly unsanitary conditions. Flies swarmed through the market, feasting on those who feasted on the flesh, and those who merely browsed, alike.
We killed some time at the Fine Art Gallery, with some degree of disappointment. For less than one US Dollar, we perused the galleries of all three floors, taking in the varying sculptures, lacquers, sketches, watercolors, and paintings that left us - for the most part - unimpressed.
There was a selection of art work dedicated to the revolution, to the constant struggle of the classes against foreign oppression. The stark propaganda themes were not lost on us, and that gave us some interesting conversation material for the afternoon. I reckoned that it would be neat to collect samples of propaganda used by all world powers during the 20th century wars, and to put them side-by-side.
Our walk took us along Le Loi toward the church of Notre Dame. We’d been to this public square before, but it was important that we started putting places to the map. At least, this was my priority for the day.
After nabbing a bite at the Goldfish, we took the walk toward Diamond Plaza again to let Mona scope out some goods. Along the way, I stopped off at a street vendor who was trying to sell me on one of her photocopied books.
“Fucking Vietnamese!”
The exclamation was followed by a derisive sneer, and an overzealous display of wild gestures. The man who shouted this was a foreigner on a bicycle, visibly disturbed and himself contributing to an embarrassing display of unkosher behavior.
Whatever the other street-book vendor had done, he was retaliating in full and a dozen. Losing face is a serious thing in Asian culture, and this expat was riding that horse to death.
Disgusted, I put down the book, and began to leave, when I suddenly realized something familiar about the woman bookseller…I bought a book from her many years ago…
The evening ended with a quick stroll through the night market. It was a scene, much bigger than the outdoor markets in Vancouver, this area was a hub-bub of freshly cooked foods, barbecues, and street-lined stalls with fake brand names.
Our return to D7, was slowed down to a crawl on the bridge.
I looked past Mona’s shoulder and saw the cause of the commotion: fireworks far east of D7 commemorating the anniversary of Vietnam’s emancipation from French colonial rule was on today.
“Oh yes,” Mona said, “Happy Birthday!”
I grinned.
“You see?” She joked, “I tried to arrange the fireworks for you, but I couldn’t afford to bring it closer to you!”
I hadn’t chosen to advertise this greatly — I haven’t celebrated my birthday in some time. But today was perfect: a day off from work, and doing what I wanted with the people I wanted around me…even if it was just one person this time.
Tags: August 2008, August 2009, September 2009
