Today I tried my hand at Vietnamese bargaining in the gigantic Don Xuan market in the old quarter. The place is huge and an indescribable assault on all your senses. Imagine a cramped labrynth of fabrics, shoes, purses, jewelry, souvenirs, silks, cottons, toys, dishware, knick knacks, pretty things you want, many things you don’t want, and an army of tiny Vietnamese women either calling to you to buy their wares, or else elbowing you aside as they make their way through the stalls with lunch. It’s an experience for sure, and I plan on making many more trips there. Gift requests, anyone?
Next stop and HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEKEND: the International Hip Hop Competition to watch two fellow gaelic football teammates compete in the freestyle group dance competition. The event was legitimately like all of those Step Up, Stomp the Yard, cheesy - yet makes me want to join a dance crew- dance movies. Only Asian. It was called Ring Masterz and people came from all over Southeast Asia to compete. While I was there supporting my favorite crew, I got to watch the on-stage Popping battles and a video recap of the break dancing from a friendly Thai dancer. I even got my own Ring Masterz oversized t-shirt so when I find my own crew we can take it to the streets with style. Fo real.
Then I rushed off to GF practice, as I’m now calling it, which of course takes place on a field that just happens to be surrounded by corn and palm trees on a small island in the middle of the Red River that you can only get to by driving halfway across the Long Bien bridge, parking your bike/motorbike on the bridge, and then taking a mysterious set of stairs down to the cornfields. I mean, where else would you expect to find a soccer field? Oh, and this weekend also happened to be the first annual Long Bien bridge festival with vendors, music, art, and lots of people blocking the bridge off to all but pedestrian traffic.
This city never stops.
