Intrigue Normie

My Strong Zero’s Virginity

Posted on August 1, 2019 by intriguednormie

A personal story about how I started living life
— Chi

Me and my friend once had a conversation about what would be the first thing you miss after leaving Japan. Without a doubt, my first and foremost answer would be Strong Zero. For your information, Strong Zero is a 9 percent soda mixed alcohol sold in Japan, they are comparatively cheap and strong enough to put down the most heavyweight drinkers. It also has a lot of flavours, some of them aren’t bad, to be fair, its sour flavors are pretty much Umami. For me, Strong Zero is an enlightment to my way of drinking. Cheap liquid wacks, marijuana is illegal, beer is not strong enough. Strong Zero is the way for poor dusty people but ambitious to get high as quick as possible. My limits is two tall boys, then i would feel an extreme nausia and need a toilet to vomit. But this is not a story about my addition to Strong Zero, or how it makes me look like a woman who just had her second new-born baby, where the first one is still so young, thus annoying and demanding with the husband only gazing his eyes on the latest match of Vietnamese football team. This is about how my first time of Strong Zero and how amazing it is.

So here’s to who my Strong Zero’s Virginity belongs to, big applouse to my younger friend, Linh.

I waited for Linh at Shibuya station. It had been a long time since we met and it was the first time i met her in Japan. She greeted me with a sudden dose of affection: from afar, she ran toward me and gave me a palm tree hug. Palm tree hug is one of my high’s school inside code, and it had been such a long long time, ever since the end of the jubilient highschool day that i got a palm tree hug. I like that it took little time for us to switch from greeting and procedure talks to real conversation about what we both enjoy: art, beauty, experience and language. We got on a train to Asakusa, bought eight balls of “super Karai” Takoyaki and had it at Sumida river. It was not surprising that the Takoyaki is not even close to spicy, which is normal considering the general perception of spiciness in Japan, but it was hot, giving so much sense in the cold weather. Linh talked about the time she stayed drunk for the whole night and talked to Japanese drunk poeole and the time she threw it all in front a Lawson, yet escaped the racist eyes from the staff there thanks to her Western friend’s coming picking her up. The sky is a mellow ombre from deep blue to orange peach color. We wanted to walk up to the bridge to see the sunset, but we couldn’t catch up with the speed of the blue gradually spreaded up to the whole sky, star and city light started to become visible, and not soon after, the whole area was entire dark blue, then faded into black.

We walked to an Izakaya near Sensouji, and had two chunks of beer. While drinking, Linh passionately explained to me some cool shutter camera speeds. She was doing major in Photography, so i expected we would take a lot of pictures when go out with her. That’s why i brought my camera. Linh didn’t bring any of her cameras.

After the first round, we walked around Sensouji place. It was a greatly tourist-oriented traditional area: there were lots of shop vendors selling vivid Japanese stuff, warm yellow lights were strung everywhere, giving a brilliant and holic impression, given the background of an old, big red temple, everything makes a lot of sense. This kind of scene often captured my heart, i regard it is some Japanese’s unique aesthetics and culture feels. We talked about it. We agreed that we can never have this atmosphere in Vietnam, Vietnam is dirty and dusty, so the light can not be as transparent and serene like in Japan. Tokyo is so clean and nice, but we also loved the old dusty Hanoi- the city of paint sloughing yellow wall, old French architecture, and the leisurely old-fashioned people struggling in an ever-changing urban life days, the frawn of poorly-educated immigrants in the dirty smoke and wind in the street. Linh also stated that, after 3 months living there, those kinds of beauty turned to be so boring, which i can not agree with her more later on. After visit lots of temple and shrines, i became too familiar with the red temple, the hanging lights, the wooden fence of Ema or Omikuji, walking Kimono girl and the food vendors. Everywhere is the same. It rang a little crack for me at that time and dawned on me heavily later, that the beauty i once envisaged Japan is just some shallow, mould-shapedly set up rendition of a limited narrowed image of the country and and its soul

Here’s come the Strong Zero part, when naturally, we needed a second round. Linh started to be excited:” I’ve got to introduce you this. This one is 9 percent and it will make you high as hell”. She took me to oSake section in Donkihote, we bought two Strong Zero’s tall boys and started to drink. Mine was either Muscat or Lime flavor. I liked it because it has actual sour flavor, not like most of claimedly fruit-involved beverage in Vietnam whose has too much sugar and aromates. At one point that i got so-so tipsy, we were still wandering and window shopping in Dokihote. The bright white light of Donkihote increased the haziness inside my mind. There was moment I was like a Mid-autumn traditional drum with the temperature of a rice cooker: my heart beat so loud, my face became so red and warm. And there was other moment when we stopped by the fish tanks at the entrance door of Donkihote. Watching the weird fishes subtly, smoothly move in the blue water calmed me down. I felt peaceful. I bet if staff at Donkihote was mad to see us, as it turned out that drinking is not allowed in their store.

Linh was crazy in love, i can tell. As she was happy and sincere with everything. She kept warming up my hand and kissing it. The Shibuya crossing was as crownded as normal. The ads, neon lights brightened up the whole upper area whereas it was darker on the ground, full of people walking toward each other. Linh was moaning, like when people are making love. I was supposed to feel shy, but i was so high so I didn’t really care. I think it was fun.

She saw me off until the entrance of Den-en Toshi line. On the way back to dorm, i was sitting and leaning on . I couldn’t see something clear since everything is 3D image now, nor could i take control of my head telling it to stop move back and forth. But i knew something for sure: i was over the moon. I went back home, lying on my bed with my clothes off, looking at the LED on the ceiling while my heart kept beating. I wanted to feel like this. I was stucking with obsessions and doubts on identity and trapped inside my own circle and this strong girl, with her atmost dedication to live with liberty and affection, really tore the heavy margin away for a moment. I had been trying to live as brilliant as possible but none of them is even close to this. I want to break free from my own thought and truly engaged in the beauty in life. I would like to throw myself to jump into the sea of life, trying to wash off the mud out there, chilling along a shoal of fish, untangling myself from the sea weed, seeing mellowing colorful coral, get fucking annoyed by trash that floats in sea surface and feeling the shining flickering light shine through your body while listening to the resonating sound of the sea. I didn’t know how hard it is, to get out of the shallow. As it became clearly later that the goal to enjoy the beauty of life is indeed the most paradoxically vain goal ever. Despite having misinterpreted it, what Linh inspired me is real, and the feelings is real. The day I lost my Strong Zero’s Virginity in Japan is the day i was deep-rootedly motivated to live differently, it is the ever first day in my long journey to find myself

#personalexperience #strongzero #japan

Getting off the beaten track – A visit to Banana Island

Posted on August 14, 2019 by intriguednormie

A small island in Hanoi where people live in harmony with nature in an old rural lifestyle

Banana Island is a rare place that I find less familiar with Hanoians than tourists. Some of my foreign friends mentioned about the island, yet my friends, even my parents who claimed to be living in Hanoi since birth did not know about it. Also, It got the name “Banana Island” by tourists. Its Vietnamese name is Red river’s middle island, a tedious name which could be easily lost in bunch of other Red river’s alluvial grounds. Moreover, a quick search on google shows that: there is only 1 Vietnamese travel review for this place, which is the equivalent to the number of English review. So from those few travel reviews, here is some of my impression about the island:

The way to get there is fairly sketchy and dangerous.
It is full of nature
Residents are poor people from all walks of life

Therefore, I regarded a visit to Banana Island an adventure, an authentic experience. It would be venturesome with a lot of new things to see.

I and my Italian friend, Valentina decided to go on an adventure to Banana Island on a summer afternoon. We were well-prepared for the wilderness with mosquito repellent cream, cap, water, and of course, our cameras. It was Valentina’s third days in Hanoi and by then she must have gotten used to Hanoi’s insane traffic. She was relaxedly sitting behind me on my scooter on the way to Long Bien bridge when it started to rain heavily. But fortunately the rain did not last long, the sky cleared up after 15 minutes, and our adventure continued.

To get to Banana Island: Park your scooter at Long Bien Station, Tran Nhat Duat street, walk until the middle of the bridge, there will be a steep pathway leading you to the Island below.

Hanoi refreshed herself after rain. Long Bien bridge welcomed us with such a calming atmosphere. There was no rainbow but the mild sunlight over the area was lovely so we were in good spirits. As we got closer to the middle of the bridge, Banana Island slowly came into sight. Looked from Long Bien bridge, the island amazed us with carpets of water fern floating on the river adorned by some wooden boats. Far away, different green shades of banana trees and crops mingled with each other. The naturalistic reminded me of the childhood drama “Dat rung Phuong Nam”. Overhead, dark cloud was covering the sky as if it was about to attack the city, yet we were convinced by the cloud’s direction that it was not gonna rain on the island, so we decided to keep on anyway.

A scenary that reminds me of my childhood drama

The only way to go down to the island is a steep pathway which despite being little challenging for foot walkers, is relatively dangerous for scooter riders. Yet they did it anyway. Two people, an old auntie and an old uncle, were strenuously pushing their scooter to climb up the slope, some combs of banana were secured at the backseat. After them, another old uncle while braking intensively plunged down the slope . People have to wait in line to use the slope.

“Just a while ago, I belonged to the city’s hustle and bustle, and now, I am standing here, the air is fresh, my anxiety is hanging out somewhere else, I am looking at Long Bien bridge and Chuong Duong bridge from under.”

The “main road” connecting the slope to the far end of the island is long and winding. There was only a concrete house that crossed our sight making me wonder if all of the inhabitants lives in tents. To the right of the road, on the riverbed, a huge awning utilized for parking slot spots on. Judging from the number of scooters, there must be more than 15 islanders. Islanders seem to rely on farming and horticulture to make ends meet. Behind bunches of banana trees standing along the island’s “main road”, there comes a spacious land where rice and flowers are grown. Standing there, you can see the sprawling city on the other side of the river. Those two sites give off such different vibes as if they were from two different worlds. I was thinking: just a while ago, I belonged to the city’s hustle and bustle, and now, I am standing here, the air is fresh, my anxiety is hanging out somewhere else, I am looking at Long Bien bridge and Chuong Duong bridge from under. Comfortably peculiar, I must say.

By then, our prediction was proven to be wrong as the rain started to fall, still, I felt strangely calm. We explored deeper into the “jungle” a bit. The fauna and floral are exceptional. Valentina noticed some butterflies with a strange polka dot pattern of black and indigo blue, in the rain, she still tried her best to capture photos of them. Nevertheless, the swift witty creature made it impossible for her.

We headed back home as the rain got heavier and it was unwise to use banana leaves as a shelter. I glanced at people resting right under Long Bien bridge where dusted plastic tarps were hung by makeshift and wondered how frightening it would have been to be under an iron bridge when thunder and lightning covered the sky. On the way back to Long Bien station, we saw the man who had climbed up the slope earlier, he was trying to sell banana in a corner of the bridge amid Hanoi’s summer downpour.

It was a short journey, there are a lot of things that we missed during this visit: we have not talked to any of the locals nor did we see with our own eyes any residents swimming naked in Red River. However, it does change my perception a bit. I thought the Island was a wild, somewhat dangerous place with poor residents. While it remains to be true, having been on the island and witnessed my anxiety fade away in the gentle arm of mother nature, a thought crossed my naive mind: this does not sound bad at all.

If you are hooked by the island, here are some interesting informations:

It is the largest alluvial ground of Red River
It used to be tourist attraction during French colonial area, in fact, it was the French who built the steep staircase making it easier for people to access to the island.
It was left abandoned until the year 1911 when Hanoi Authority engaged in a massive cottage clearence, a number of residents who did not own family book moved to the the island to make ends meet
Residents plant a wide variety of crops and flowers such as banana, corn, sweet potato and mulberry
There is only one concrete house in the island, other islanders live in tents or boats
A group of architects is having an ambition to turn Banana Island to the green lung of Hanoi. They want to fill the island with unique trees of northern Vietnam, create a biosystem that could bring back the sense of harmony between humans and nature to urban-dwellers, especially children who has few playgrounds and young adults whose life stuck in concrete box, who themselves forget what outdoor is.

Also, some tips for my wide-eyed wanderers:

Protect yourself with suncream, mosquito repellent cream, cap, water and raincoat
Do your timing right: it take 2 or 3 hours to explore the whole ground, and if you get back by around 6 pm, (and if the weather is nice), immerse yourself in the radiant sunset over Long Bridge or riverbed (as your choice).
Take a rest in the vendor under the bridge: have some corns and listen to the owner’s stories (I did not because of the rain, but you should)
Feeling totally blended with nature by joining the locals to swim naked in the river

Reference:

https://anninhthudo.vn/song-o-ha-noi/chuyen-ve-bai-giua-song-hong/796309.antd

https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/213576/nostalgic-future–turning-banana-island-into-green-lungs-of-hanoi.html

My life’s elixirs

Posted on August 1, 2019 by intriguednormie

To answer the question: “What makes you happy ?”

One day when in Japan, a Christian asked to offer me a pray. She needed to know what i specific want so as she could give me a pray, i answered I want to be happy. I did not have a slightest idea of what i mean to be happy, i just did not have any other wishes. Happiness could be such a general phrase.

Today, when I wrote down some first words of this piece which is supposed to be a list of ten things making me happy. I did hesitate for a while because I could not find up to ten things. Happiness is not Sơn Tùng MTP songs which are everywhere. In fact, i have to admit that there aren’t a lot of things that make me happy, but dismay as it seems, i feel happy because there are some certain things that float on my mind immediately when i think about happiness. Those truly wondersome things that could make a morning less mournful, insecurities invisible and life likeable.

1.Chilling on bed with music

2. Bob Dylan

3. The Beatles

4. Taking care of other people

5. To be in a good atmosphere, be it Longer than a Summer, matca studio, Phủ, Tranquil, or VCCA

6. Petting my cat

7. Reading and the act of falling into words

8. Eating food food

9. Travelling

10.Writing

11. Looking at the sky

—–

(not in orders)

Surprisingly, those happy elixirs are coming out like instagram’s friends suggestion. It is such a blessing to find oneself having so much things to relish especially when i have been refraining myself from thinking about happiness recently for the fear that i might find my current circumstance unsatisfactory.

However, thinking about it, my list of life elixirs would prolong forever despite the fact i could not think of many in the first place. It is because for me happiness is generally life, to be more precise, the ability to see and feel petty trivial stuffs such as rythm played by the soulful artists, savoury food made by experienced local old ladies and uncles or simply the everyday sky with its variation of pantone. As long as you can see them, they never fail at making you feel like a flower.

Behind the Spotlight: The double-life of indie artists

Posted on August 1, 2019 by intriguednormie

Youngsters, mostly art lovers came to witness the visual story of their favourtie indie artists in a reflective monochrome space created by VCCA- Vincom centre for Contemporary Art. The theme is Behind the Spotlight. I can not help but wonder its connection to the room’s light design which is seperated into two different black and white spheres. Whereas white and black may represent the pubicly visible onstage and the obscure offstage of the artists’ lives, the white space is put behind the black space on purpose, which may reveal that the spotlight of the show this time is actually what’s behind the spotlight.

Judging from the title, i expect the exhibition would be an intimate work showcasing hidden struggles that are often blurred in the public’s camera lens. But the exhibition emerges in a more horizontal approach: every artist has or used to have a breadwinning job and its unique interplay between that job with their passion for music. Although i would prefer captures of raw and imperfect moments, the photos’ sophisticated set-up and its strong aesthetic sense can easily instil thoughts and feelings for many of the beholders.

The orthodox idea of “follow your passion” is discussed realistically throughout the exhibition. Indie artists featured shared a same voice to encourage youngster to do things one enjoy. However, there are much more to be told such as acknowledgement of the difficult financial situation artist may face, how the career needs resilience, the will to work seriously and so on.

DUONG LAM VILLAGE: RUSTIC SOUL REMAINS IN A TOURIST SPOT

Posted on August 1, 2019 by intriguednormie

Over-familiar with ancient villages yet? While many ancient villages are loved for its historic sphere, as a tourist attraction, it gives off an unhidden vibe of commercialization. Visit Duong Lam village on an off-season tour of early summer to find the authenticity of a village – the rustic old soul still shines

What is the most powerful drive to make one get off their butt to travel? For many cases, it is brilliantly refreshing to see new things. From the Memoirs of Geisha -like Gion Street (Japan) to the spiritful Jiufen old street in Taiwan, to the subtle yet vivid Hoi An ancient town, etc ancient villages hold such a special place in the heart of a traveller. It reminds us not only of the beauty of different cultures but also the everlasting rhythm of life that has been beating for thousands of years. However, having been to all of these places, I can not help but feel a huge similarity: souvenir shops, locals’ pigeon English, clothing rental stores, beautiful Instagram corner. Since most of the activities are shopping and taking pictures, despite being in different places, my experience remains repeated. Feelings are grounded by the action of selling and buying and stuck in camera frames. It is hard to see what we originally want from an ancient town: how differently the locals live from us, how their ancestors have lived before, how they keep up with the tradition. The genuineness is vague.

In Duong Lam Village, people keep their normal life of typical Vietnamese rural villages as if tourism hadn’t come.

Street stores and street vendors are homespun which is seemingly meant for locals: There is a cheesy homemade Boba shop, a barbershop decorated with dusty photos of K-POP idols from 10 years ago, a small motorcycle repair shop with every kind of tools spread out in the front yard, etc

People talk to each other in a leisurely pace. They greet each other cordially. They joked, they laughed, and laid-backly spend the day.

Owners of the restaurant we visited are restaurant owners for the weekend. In weekday, they are teachers.

The Ancient house of Mr….is popular to tourist. And yet while 6 or 7 strangers were visiting their house and taking pictures , the owner would still relaxedly clean his fish tank

People still sit around under the communal house to have a cup of tea and a mid-day chat. A local man is eating betel on the street. No people were there when we visited one of their temples. They leave their temple empty without any worries and enjoy an “inner circle” activity while lots of strangers are wandering around in the zone. The rhythm of life is beating casually as if there were no interruptions by tourists. Rather than a tourist attraction, Duong Lam is still a dear home for its family members to be comfortable at any time of the day.

Lovely couple taking wedding photos, foreigh visitors, hope they don’t be offended by the smell of cow dung on the way. They are actual cows doing their noble work in the field, not some poor animals often used for children to ride on and take pictures.

Of course, Duong Lam is a tourist attraction, and many signs are showing it’s well-prepared for tourist: Lots of street vendors sells souvenirs and cuisine. Owners of local houses often greeted you warm-heartedly while readily providing you interesting information about their house like a professional tour guides. Of course, the lives of the people have changed since the emergence of their village as a tourist attraction. I believe they’re all well aware of their life’s being interesting in the eyes of outsiders. Perhaps, it is a lovely coincidence that Vietnamese traditional culture gives much credit to hospitability and interpersonal connection, which makes us concern less for our daily life being interrupted by strangers. I wonder if this innocence is why Duong Lam can still keep its genuineness. Or else, it could be attributed to the authority’s well-thought tourism development plan, or else, in a more simple way of thinking, let’s be grateful that tourism and commercialization haven’t touched here deeply yet.