Vietnamization: The lure of the green paddy fields

I have gone mad recently, absolutely raving mad. And its all because of 'Nam.

Its being a month since I returned from Vietnam, some of my vocabulary had changed. For example, a baguette is now called Bahn Mi. Asking for the bill is now called Dim Tien. Thank you is now called Kwang Un.The list goes on. 

Am I in love with the place, not really.  It is a wonderful, amazing country. But the climate is terrible. Fight a war there? No thanks, You can have the country. 

The trouble is with the green paddy fields. No, the roads next to the green paddy fields. No, the method of conveyance on those roads near to the green paddy fields. 

The trouble is that the Running Robot has became a biker. A bloody ruddy biker. All thanks to 'Nam.

Flashback to Hoi An on 4 May 2013, 10am, at a traditional barber opposite the Vaia Hotel. 

"Uncle, you know where I can rent motorbikes? "

"Have, have, my friend rent. I bring you."

15 min later. I was having motorbike lessons along the side road named Ba Hyuen Thanh Quan. The rental lady keeping a close eye on my handling. The bike, a new black Yamaha Nouvo.4 Stroke, SOHC One cylinder, 135cc, automatic. 
Satisfied,  the rental lady give a final instruction,  "minimum 30km/h. Go 30 -40km/h. Me 40 -50km/h. Slow dangerous. "

I nodded. 2 litres of petrol pumped into the bike and I was let loose. 

Pressed the electric starter,  a throaty cough from the engine and I eased the bike along Ba Hyuen Thanh Quan a few more rounds, just like flying the Cessna in the pattern. The rental lady continued her watchful eyes.  

Gathered my wits, a wave to the rental lady and I was ready for my solo. I turned out of Ba Hyuen Thanh Quan and eased into the traffic on Ly Thuong Kiet and headed east. 

Green paddy fields lined Ly Thuong Kiet and the smell of freshly cut crops permeated my nose. The wind rushes against me. The turbine whine of the cvt transmission,  the offbeat vibration of the single cylinder motor. The settling of the suspension as the bike glided along the road. The slight trembling of the handlebars giving feedback on the tarmac. 40km/h on the speedo and I let out a loud "Woo Hoo!!"


I am in love. Truely, madly, deeply...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A friend lost...

Image
It was a lazy afternoon at a coffeeshop in Bt Gombak. A brief look at the iPhone as my friend Leonard read through the alleged blog of a beligerent friend. A shrug and a smile later. "I know why you are feeling so this way. You are all grieving for the loss of a friend." "We all did what we can to convince him. But it will come to a point where you just had to let go." "He made his choice, and for better or worse, he will face the consequences of his actions. He should know that by doing all this he will lose his old friends. Yet he did it. You can't control another person man. Let him be...We probably don't mean anything to him now. So why bother getting angry over it." I nodded and remembered his words. For a long while, I toyed with the idea of replying to Asingaporean's loaded and aggressive reply to me on the public web. It was full of accusations and with no sense of guilt on his end. He has allowed his friends to be slained online and ev...
Read more

I fell in love today..... With a Suzuki Swift Sport...

Image
My Mrs has been making some noise about the budget and my car Marchie lately, and we are contemplating selling it. Obviously, I couldn't bear to sell my first wife, Marchie. Nevertheless, I being visiting some used car dealers and trying to run up some numbers,like how much Marchie can fetch. Also if possible to find a newer car and hopefully not to pay so much. I came across a blue gray Suzuki Swift Sport, a bit older for my contemplation. I have being looking for cars that are from 2008 or younger. The Sport is from December 2007 and cost SGD$46,800. The price is cheaper than most other cars I being considering. For the benefit of overseas readers, cars in Singapore are ridiculously expensive and still getting more ridiculous. A normal new Suzuki Swift now cost almost $100,000. A new Sport will cost about $120,000. While Mrs has been asking me to consider living without a car. I have being having sleepless nights about losing Marchie. Back to the Sport, after some haggling...
Read more

Running as a form of transportation

Image
Its being busy days for me as a newly wed couple going through their first Chinese New Year together. Despite being on holidays for the past four days, my running schedule have fallen behind. Today, after ending my new year visits early. I sent wifey home to rest while I prepared to sneak off for a run. I was preparing for a coastal run as usual till her cousin CT called and asked if we wanted dinner. Wifey turned down the offer as she wasn't keen to travel out. I offered to make the trip down by foot. I was at Geylang East Central. Her aunt's place was at Chuan Place. Usually it would take a 20 minutes drive down to the place. Wifey told CT that I am running down. CT replied in disbelief, not expecting that I will actually do that. I changed into my running gear. Did my warm up and check Google Maps for the distance to destination. 6.1km. Should be an easy run. I started my GPS tracker,Endomondo and the heart rate monitor. One foot in front of the other, I commenced my run. Ru...
Read more