Knowing when to walk away from a relationship

Poster mash-up: ODDO made a propaganda look-a-like poster for turning Banana Island into a public park. — Photo courtesy of ODDO Architects Viet Nam News by Nguyễn Mỹ Hà We drive to Long Biên Bridge to get to Bãi Giữa, more commonly known as Banana Island, a 24ha stretch of land in the middle of the Red River. Running down from the centre of the bridge is a steel staircase leading to an island covered by a green canopy of banana, papaya and guava trees, interspersed with the cloudy-white flowers of the wild reeds. The area is vast with no roads, just beaten paths zigzagging behind gardens and trees. It’s a world away from the hustle and bustle of the vibrant city we left behind. "It’s very quiet down here," says Marek Obtulovic from ODDO Architects, as his colleague Nguyễn Hoàng Long nods in agreement. As we walk under the shade of numerous banana leaves, Obtulovic stops and says: “This is where our … [Read more...] about Nostalgic Future: Turning Banana Island into Green Lungs of Hà Nội

Viet Nam News “So your aunt and I will be gone for a few weeks. You’ll take care of the shop. In the evening Vân will be home and review the day’s trade. Don’t worry about business. You’re better off here anyway, because you don’t have anything else to do while waiting for a job offer other than wandering around inhaling traffic smoke or sitting at cafes ogling unemployed girls in short skirts and high heels. It wouldn’t be fun. You’d better look after the shop for us, or else we’ll have to close it and lose customers. Look, we can’t let customers walk away. Is there any house on the street in this whole city that isn’t used as a shop? We have to sell things. Everything. This big market which is our city is perhaps one of a kind in the world. In other cities people set aside a little land for gardens and lawns and green trees. They sell things in separate zones. But here we’re filled with shops. Which is very … [Read more...] about Crossing the street alone

Viet Nam News By Phan Triều Hải Ever since her 32nd birthday last year, Vy had been afraid of gaining belly fat. So instead of eating cheese and drinking lots of beer before sleeping, the couple only drank two small glasses of beer at dinner. The weather in Sài Gòn encouraged beer consumption. Cao thought Sài Gòn was the best place to drink. This city had all sorts of problems: crowdedness, noise, heat, suffocation, traffic, lack of hygiene, pollution and beer was the solution that could dissolve all these issues in the fastest way. A gulp of beer enabled people to endure and relax, and made them irritable but energetic enough to do unexpected things. Beer lovers would never feel tired of Sài Gòn. Nor was there a better place for beer to show off its ability to excite, relieve stress, connect friends or accompany a solitary person. Nevertheless, Cao rarely went out to drink. He wasn’t social. Cao always wanted to be alone. His world … [Read more...] about Cold Beer