Since coming back to London, my worst habits have manifested in full force and I am only now beginning to climb back. In other news, today I went to a live drawing session and got on the wrong bus. Rushing, I fast walked to the venue when I dodged out of the way of an old man. Despite no contact being made, the very notification of my existence was enough to call me a slur. The absurdity made me laugh inside.
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Back in London and things are much too big and much too cold. The once familiar has now become foreign. I will update soon. Whether it be one big one or in increments, it shall come. And I suppose I should start checking my emails again… I have HOW MANY emails from LinkedIn???
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I'll have to say goodbye soon, but I wish this moment could be frozen in time. Standing in my grandparents backyard overlooking the rice fields, flag leaves now stained gold by the sun. The egrets still float the paddies and the sparrows still circle the skies. Inside ông ngoại sleeps in his hammock and bà ngoại fans herself while watching movies on her phone. The wind chime's faint jingles sing next to my ears.
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And thus concludes the last of my travels. I heard horror stories about the overnight train and even still I took the longest stretch, 35 hours give or take, from Hanoi to Saigon. What could’ve been a 2 hour plane ride turned into a multi-day endeavour. Whatever, you only get to live once.
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mekongred
3 weeks ago
I kinda did want to stay in Hanoi for a bit longer, mostly because I found a really cool café only a moments walk from my accommodation that I liked to go to at night, drink a latte and maybe eat a baked good while I pretend to draw and go on my phone.
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mekongred
3 weeks ago
I thought I got lucky and I would have the four-bed room all to myself but only after a few hours an older man probably older than my father but younger than my grandpa took the beds next to me. Then he offered me an orange and I found out we’re from the same province or at least my roots are. Maybe not so bad after all.
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mekongred
3 weeks ago
I’ll still be in Vietnam until April the 2nd so still a few more days to go and stave off the future.
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I've had so many failed social interactions at this point that honestly I think I'm immune to it being debilitating anymore, is this what progress looks like?
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DO NOT GO TO PLACES POPULAR WITH COUPLES BY YOURSELF, EVEN IF YOU ARENT LOOKING FOR A RELATIONSHIP, IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL MISERABLE
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devhank
1 month ago
đồng ý (ko muốn ng quen ở mấy nơi kiểu vậy nhận ra mặt mình trước khi mình bay màu trc ;))
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I put my sketchbook and pens into a small plastic bag I got when I bought a seaweed flavoured snack and some mango gummies because I didn’t want to wear a backpack just to carry a sketchbook and pens. I didn’t end up drawing anything and walked along the beach for two hours until I got hungry.
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mekongred
1 month ago
Many hours later I wanted to head to a cafe and draw a little so I began looking through my room. Turns out I put it down and didn’t pick it back up, never to realise until I needed it. I started digging through my already fading memories of the day to find where I might have left it.
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mekongred
1 month ago
I’ve been resistant to speak any English throughout this trip preferring to blunt force my way through better Vietnamese, but as the restaurant picked up I could only find English coming out of my mouth. It wasn’t until they confirmed they had it did I speak Vietnamese again.
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mekongred
1 month ago
(just gonna start posting excerpts from posts because im too scared to write full entries because of how much my backlog is)
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im on a sleeper bus to da nang from da lat right now, cramped in a small bed, soft murmurs whisper from the cells behind me, loud conversations sound off between the drivers in front of me, my stomach hurts and my lips are dry.
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mekongred
1 month ago
Every few days I check neocities to see what the good people are doing, then I check to see if people suddenly hate me. Then I check myself to wonder what is wrong with me. Then I get over it. Not for long but for long enough.
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mekongred
1 month ago
All this is to say, I’m still trying. Trying to get better at talking, trying to care more, trying to be a better writer, all of these and many more, I’m still trying. So thank you for believing in my capacity to try.
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Ok i lied i am just as busy in the city as i am in the countryside, BUT, i will in a few days be spending many hours on a sleeper bus and hopefully i can get some writing done :)
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beginning to adjust to HCMC (DAMN!! IS IT BUSY), i might just do the updates for saigon as they come and trickle in the mekong delta entries as i write them
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mekongred
1 month ago
i dont think ive ever been pushed this outside of my comfort zone in my life, and its incredibly scary. rewarding when things go good, but debilitating when things go bad
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sorry that happened :o( sometimes all you can do is try and laugh