THE BIG BIG C OPENING… & my first Vietnamese pop concert.

I decided to group these two events into one post, because they’re about on par with each other in terms of COLOSSAL EPICNESS.

(Urban Dictionary: “epicness:  To describe something that is so amazing that no other word is able to describe its awesomeness.”)

The “Big C” is a supermarket that is in “Phong Phu Plaza.”  Basically, it’s Hue’s newest and biggest mall, and it’s conveniently located two blocks away from the shelter.  Some say that it rivals Saigon malls.  Others say, “Stop making up dumb myths about malls.”

It opened up a few weeks ago, and jeez- was there a lot of hype about it.  There was a countdown billboard outside of it, and I remember passing by it when it said, “3 MORE DAYS!” and thinking, “What?  They just started building this like two months ago… and clearly, anyone can see that there’s nothing in there.  It’s completely empty.  They haven’t stocked a thing.”

But, somehow it opened up on time.  I think they might have been working with that one Vietnamese wizard who worked on Thanh Tan Spa.

So, now comes the memory/nightmare that came with the BIG C OPENING.

Three groups went: 1) a group of girls, 2) a group of boys and 3) Minh Thanh and I (the stragglers).

When we got there, this is what we saw.

Nobody was moving outside… it seemed like they were waiting for a concert to happen or something… but there were people inside already… what was going on?

A few steps later, we realized there was a line… but wait a second, lines don’t work in Vietnam… How are they ever going to control the mob of antsy, Vietnamese shoppers?

Oh.  They stacked wooden crates to make a tight, zig-zagged, “corn-maze-like” path- and the security guards stood on top of them.  It looked nothing like animal slaughterhouse workers herding pigs.

The two other groups gave up… but Minh Thanh and I decided to go for it… and my God- it was the most intense 10 minutes of my life.  I now know there’s a level beyond being “shoulder-to-shoulder,” because my cheek got pushed into someone’s neck.

I remember at one point, I was stuck between a mother and father and was being pushed so hard that I really thought I could have just  lifted my feet up and would be carried in the right direction.

Minh Thanh and I were also holding each other’s hands as tight as we could, but we got pushed away from each other (and eventually had 10 people between us.)  The moment our hands separated, I looked back in a concerned, far-off gaze and yelled, “Minh Thanh!”… and then I just started laughing.  It was just too much.  There were security guards hovering over us, putting their hands out like stop signs… the husband-wife tag-teams that would throw ruthless elbows at teenagers… seeing the people who were pushing actually complaining/whining… It was just too crazy to be real.  I was the only one laughing.

After we lived through the BIG C line, this is what Minh Thanh's dirty, bruised, stomped-on feet looked like.

We made it out (of the line) alive… and to celebrate (being the only group that got in on the official opening day) we spent hours in Hue, Vietnam’s first arcade.  Since nobody here knows how to play it, I’ve also become a DDR local super-star in Hue.

The 4th floor food court/karaoke booths/KFC/bookstore/arcade!

The view on the 4th floor.

My first, "handy," promotional purchase.

There was a feeling of completeness to this year’s journey, as Minh Thanh and I stepped into that arcade.  I realized that I basically grew up in arcades as a child… and it was ironic that right before I left my child-minded year in Hue, I hit one of my biggest childhood nostalgia lumps.  It was just too much seeing Minh Thanh’s eyes light up, when he stepped into his first arcade.  I guess this happens all the time to parents, but this year’s been the first time that I’ve been able to constantly see myself in one of my kids.  It’s one of the best feeling in the world, and it makes you wanna hug that kid forever.

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For about a half a year now, my kid Truong has been taking hip hop dance classes, and his dance class/crew is one of the best & most selective in Hue.  He’s the youngest in the group, but his group recently decided to put him in his first dance sequence in public: a Khanh Phuong concert (a Vietnamese teen pop singer) at the Cultural Performance Center downtown.  How could I miss it?

I got my ticket late, so at first I sat in the nose-bleed section (honestly, who doesn’t love that saying?).  When I sat down, I started to notice a lot of people staring at me… and by people, I mean children.  I was surrounded by young children and mothers at a pop concert, and they were all staring at me while I owned my kettle corn.  Then, I thought, “What if this Khanh Phuong singer guy comes out to greet his teenage fans, only to find a crowd full of babies and mothers, oh- and 1 Vietnamese guy who dresses strange?  That poor guy…”

I later found out that concerts in Vietnam don’t really focus on the pop singer, even though it’s advertised that way.  The concert was like a variety show, (go figure?)  Khanh Phuong sang maybe 3 songs, and that’s it.  The rest of the acts were these famous TV child singer/actors from around Hue… Ok, so that explains why there’s so many kids- but still, poor Khanh Phuong… TV child actors get more fans than him…

Oh, get this.  One part of their first dance had the STREET FIGHTER CHARACTER SELECTION MUSIC.  They even chose Ryu’s stage- and the guy bellowed out “JAPAN!”- all while the group was breakdancing.  When I asked Truong about it later, he said “Yeah, what’s that game called again?”

Killing me softly with his words…

Here’s a blurry, little clip of what I was talking about earlier…

Here's the first little man.

I eventually made it back-stage (on accident)… and I think it was because I had a nice-looking camera.  That, and thanks to the amazing security of course.

The backstage hall... amazing.

Wait, is this the same kid? Well, whatever- the most important thing to know is that he galloped around in circles on stage.

This is Khanh Phuong.

This girl is everything I dislike. 

Truong getting gloved-up.

Yep, you guessed it. Michael Jackson.

…Hey- one last thing.

I can’t bring a camera into the actual Big C supermarket (just to the 4th floor area), but I wish I could show you the madness of the “fresh baguette corner of death.”  There is absolutely no order, so it’s just first come, first serve- which means whoever pushes their way to the front and mauls the worker first.  The first time I tried to get a baguette, I got elbowed in the ribs, my friend Tyler got pushed to the back by a group of small children, and I got a minor burn from some other lady’s fresh baguette.  After all this, when we clearly should have been complaining and crazed- Tyler and I talked as if we just got off a rollercoaster.  It was kind of fun… entertaining at least.  Where else in the world can you experience a mosh-pit for baguettes?

NOWHERE

~ by Hy Huynh on July 27, 2009.