Three-Region Coffee Shops
By Do Quang Tuan H
Sidewalk coffee shops in Saigon give the author, a Hanoian now living in Saigon, nostalgic memories of the autumn in his former residence
Saigon is said to be home to so many settlers from afar that its weather has changed, no longer being merely dry and rainy seasons alternately. Hence, when autumn has come to Hanoi, Saigon in down south also feels the chill similar in one way or another to that in the capital. It’s a feeling caused by light sunshine, dry wind and immense sadness.
At dawn and at dusk, I like to sit at the sidewalk coffee shop (*) at the end of Han Thuyen Street in Saigon’s District 1. The place gives me a feeling that it is a “three region” coffee shop.
First, the feeling of Hue, the ancient city in central Vietnam. It’s a thrill to sit comfortably on the sidewalk here in Saigon to watch passing traffic. Sidewalk coffee shops on Truong Dinh Street, also in District 1, offer cheap coffee—VND3,500 a cup of no-sugar coffee. Aside from the low price, coffee drinkers at such a place also enjoy the feeling of “permeating” into “a shower of tamarind leaves,” reminiscent of Doan Thi Diem Street in the royal citadel of Hue.
And sitting here in downtown Saigon listening to the ringing of bells also reminds me of the coffee shop on Au Trieu Street in Hanoi.
During my days in Hanoi, I used to visit the coffee shop because I liked the owner. After 40 years-plus trekking every corner of this country to study stone and dirt, he retired to take care of a small shop in place of his wife. Knowledgeable, sociable and talkative, he could talk with me for hours on end about any affairs under the sun and the adventurous lifestyle both of us ardently embraced. There’s a strange thing about the owner, too. He was able to prepare delicious coffee although he didn’t drink coffee at all and had never tasted a drop of it. Yet the aroma of his coffee attracted a raft of customers from all walks of life.
Comfortably seated at a corner of Ba Muoi Thang Tu Park in downtown Saigon, I can let my mind travel as far as the dreamy city of Hue and far up north to Hanoi to which I have owed much. No wonder why I have frequented this place on Han Thuyen so often. Let me treat you with an anecdote of mine. I have had stomachache and been advised not to drink much coffee. So, I have to choose coconut milk instead. However, upon my arrival, coffee shop attendants often shout out, “Black coffee with ice and no sugar, please!” I have had to rectify my order many times now.
Sitting at the sidewalk coffee shop in Saigon during a tranquil afternoon counting falling leaves, I think about how homesick Hanoians—like myself—enjoy autumn. I remember one autumn morning when I came back to Hanoi, one of my close friends who had just survived a fatal traffic crash hurried to a familiar tea shop just to meet me. Despite his broken left arm hung under the neck with a bandage and many wounds on his body, he took a bus to cover a distance of 20km to share with me a cup of tea.
He told me that our tea pot was to him the most special in his lifetime. To enjoy it, he had to make his way back from death.
We talked much about our memoirs and social affairs. And I was so happy that my friend was able to remember everything although he had just suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
The tea shop, Truong Xuan on Hanoi’s Ngo Tat To Street, also reminds me of another friend. She spent her childhood on Hang Bac Street in Hanoi’s ancient quarter. She has lived in Europe, studied and worked there for so long a time. Yet when back to Hanoi, she managed to save some time to get together with old friends, enjoying the aroma of autumn with cups of good tea.
(*) Note for expatriate readers: Sidewalk coffee shops in Saigon (and other cities in Vietnam) are in fact not “shops” at all in the common sense of the word. The “shops” are actually part of the sidewalk. Coffee is prepared on a multi-deck shelf (often made of glass). Customers sit on very low stools, often holding their coffee in their hands.