Necklace Thief

What do the Vietnamese do to celebrate the Gregorian New Years? We party likes it’s 1999 at Paisley Park with Prince, of course! (By the way, there was no Prince and I don’t think the Vietnamese know Prince, but they do know Jon Bon Jovi.)

With clear skies, the people packed District 1 (the tourist district) celebrating the end of a particular calendar year. My friends (Hanh, Thang, Khoa) and I had difficulties finding a place to park our bikes. Lines of bikes packed everywhere. (By the way, there is no such thing as a “line” in Viet Nam; it’s permissible to budge in front at grocery stores, gas pumps, and parking if you push in front and don’t make eye contact.) The New Year’s lights plastered high above the streets and we circled and circled and circled the roads to find nice parking in order to join in the festivities in the park. (By the way, people don’t like to walk much in Viet Nam if its not part of their job description and so my friends and thousands of other Vietnamese were willing to circle than park 5 blocks away or budge in line.)

Once we relinquished our bikes, our stomachs drove us to the food stands. And like everywhere else in the world, when there is a celebration, there is expensive mediocre food. So we each slammed down some fried rice, one drumstick, and a cup full (or 75% ice chunks) of sugar cane juice.

Then we moved toward the stage full of singers and dancers. Hanh got distracted with a vendor selling necklaces that had initials. He stopped and we stopped. He coaxed me to buy a necklace with “K” on it, which I did within 3 minutes and 10,000 dong (~66 cents) later. Hanh vacillated for another 15 minutes of drama. I take some pics of our new toys…

Then I hear Thang yell, “Hanh! Hanh!”

The back of Thang’s neck had a red mark. A mystery man had torn off Thang’s gold necklace with one swift yank. We never saw the thief and Thang became somewhat despondent, losing a $200 gift from his mom. Just like that by 10pm, our New Year’s party fizzled away. We never made it to the grandstand and Thang started to walk back to our bikes. As gracious and supportive friends we walked back with him.

Thang drove back home and he told us to keep enjoying our nights. We hesitated but I think Hanh and Khoa felt obligated to show me a good time. I mentioned to the guys before that I usually like to dance on New Years. Hanh took that to heart even though I was reluctant to go to a club with two guys who don’t dance and without any girls in the group.

Then we entered “Now”, a small club with a DJ who mistakenly loved to sing along off-pitch to his techno mixes. We got shoveled into a corner and ordered some Heinekens with a fruit plate. Crowds of friends around drank and sang. Good times swarmed around us. My group sat flaccid, trying to bounce to the beats. Khoa had never been to a club before and Hanh had not been to one in three years. In conclusion there was no dancing to be had for this New Year’s Eve. After 1 hour of deafening music, I exclaimed, “Let’s go home. It’s not fun to go to a club and not dance.” The boys agreed and by 11:20pm, my night was done.