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alex-baebae · 5 years ago

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Pieces of Honor

Chapter 7

Daesung’s point of view

“Good morning” I greet ____ and Seunghyun, he bows “good morning” she says instead.

“Get in the SUV” I commanded; they go out of the hotel, I follow them looking to the sides to see if someone semmed suspicious. “So, we are going to take a flight. The mission as I said is in Ho Chi Minh City” I'm explaining them their mission while the SUV takes us to the airport “some guys stole lots of our merchandise, you are going to take it back” they nodded “what kind of merchandise, exactly?” Seunghyun asks me “some cocaine, and guns, explosives” I respond “I guess we have to kill all of them and then, you are going to send someone to take the merchandise” I nod to what ____ says.

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“What do you think?” Seunghyun asks me “I don’t know, but if they dared to stole Boss Zhao belongings, they are a big deal” I answer “we must be...” I say “careful” he completes my sentence “exactly”.

After many hours we are arriving to the location “Let’s go for traditional food when we finish” he suggests “sure, I like Vietnamese food”. “Then you see that deteriorated house?” we look in the direction Daesung is mentioning “is that even a house?” I say sarcastically.

“Well, inside you will find that men, you have to take care of each other, there are at least 15 guards near to the entrance, but today the bosses are there as well, so please don’t be reckless. Your father wants all of them killed” I nod to Daesung’s words “got it” I say. “Inside there are lots of men, you know, as the bosses are inside, they will not hesitate to kill you” Daesung warns us again, he looks worried, well, my father must have threatened them about me not returning safe and sound for their incompetence “got it” I repeat.

“Then what’s the plan?” Seunghyun asks me as we cross the street “kill all of the guards quickly, and trying to not be so noisy, then we go for the bosses” he follows me as we get into that ‘abandoned’ house; it was big and ancient “we’ll surround them” he nods “easy” he says.

I take some poisoned darts from my pocket, I open the small metallic box, I gave some to Seunghyun, due to these small artefacts 20 men were killed in no time, then we continue with large knifes, at this point our mission gets more complicated, they are now aware of us.

I assassinate rapidly a medium sized man, however two more see me, they run towards me, Seunghyun kills one of them, the another one just fell I cut his jugular vein throwing my knife “hurry up!” he says as many people realize we’re there “shit!” I grab Seunghyun's hand guiding him to another level of the house.

“There are many of them” Seunghyun whispers “yeah, let’s think quickly”. Then many shots can be heard. Seunghyun pushes me, I fall over, he covers me with his body “you bastards!” it’s Lu Feng “let’s get out” I say to him, we quickly go down stairs, there were less guards there, however we have to face them in order to help Lu Feng, maybe he was dealing with many of men outside the house.

“Watch my back!” I yell at Seunghyun, I ran towards a tall guy, more people notice me, in no time they get shot by him, I cut the throat of the guy. “___!” Seunghyun screams my name, I follow him.

Soon, I meet Lu Feng “did you believe you were alone?” he jokes “go to hell, man” I chuckle “find them, we will be here watching your backs”. We run to the main room, suddenly Seunghyun got caught by a big blonde guy, the blonde punches his face repeatedly while he’s lying on the ground “stop them until the bosses escape” another Vietnamise guy yells at the blonde; I took my gun, I aim to him.

I shoot him in his chest, then I try to do the same with the blonde guy, nevertheless they’re moving a lot, I don’t want to shoot my lover. “Don’t move!” five more men, more bullets… that was Lu Feng.

As that guys try to cover and to shoot back, I jump on the blonde’s back, I try to cut his neck but pins me to the wall. Seunghyun is still on the ground, the blonde guy is about to strike back, I bury my knife in his throat, he fells with me, I remove his body rapidly from mine, he’s heavy.

Seunghyun shot another guard while his on the ground, I run to see my beloved one “you okay, babe?” I ask, he smiles “yeah” he stands up “what about you?” he asks me back “fine, love” he kisses my cheek “let’s find those bastards” he says.

“So, boss Zhao doesn’t want to play your stupid little game” I say while they were trying to get in a SUV, Lu Feng arrives soon to that parking lot of the house “kneeled in front of me” we both are aiming to five men, Seunghyun managed to stole an AK-47 they had.

“Let us go, we’ll pay you the double” one of them says, I laugh hard “loyalty to boss Zhao cannot be bought” I state “and it is not like you could even have a little bit of his fortune” I add “so, tell me… are there another guys who I should know about?” I ask them, silence fills the parking lot.

“Tell me!” I shoot many bullets near to their knees, all of those impact the floor decorated with colorful stones “yeah, there’s another guy” one of them finally speaks “who?” I ask again “he’s connected with a mafia in Afghanistan, sometimes there are in Pakistan and maybe all the Middle East, nobody really knows” he continues talking “who is this man you are talking about?” I ask as I press my gun on his forehead “he’s from Kore-” it was everything he said someone executes them from a tall enclosing wall, the bullet almost impacts my leg.

The chaos takes place, Lu Feng who was behind of us shot as well, what’s going on? everything seems to happen so quick?

Seunghyun falls on the ground he was 4 meters away, a knife was attached to his leg, I shoot the man that did it. “Careful, ____!” he screams; I move towards him “Seughyun!” he looks at me “don’t worry, I’m okay” he tells me “how you dare!” Lu Feng shouts out. We use the cars there were to cover ourselves from the bullets.

In no time two sharpshooters were captured by us, it seemed more of our people were outside “Miss ____” Daesung is here “take Seunghyun to the SUV, he's bleeding badly” he nods and gives first aid to my lover before taking him away. I turn around “you know, no body touches what is fucking mine!” I bury my knife many times into the injured body of the man that hurt Seunghyun, he screams every time I bury my knife in his stomach, I push him, he just falls over.

“And what about you? Who do you work for?!” I take a bunch of a kneeled man’s hair, he groans, he’s one of the sharpshooters “fuck you” I laugh hard then I bury my knife into his arm “You are gonna tell me, don’t you?” now, I put my knife against his neck “they work for someone else don’t they? They are only puppets!” I point with my index finger to the 'bosses' he chuckles “go to hell” he says before suicide, he had a poisoned pill, he died almost instantly “gonna see you there” I whisper to his corpse.

“Have to go, the police will arrive in no time” it is not like we fear the police, but we don’t want to make things more complicated, “let’s go then” I was going to be outside in seconds, however a big explosion is heard; me and few of my man are soon flying in the air, my body hits a concrete wall decorated with sharp little rocks, my body now, hits the floor.

There is no sound, just a perpetual beep noise and blurry images. I saw Seunghyun screaming desperately some words that appear to be my name, he tries to walk to the place I am. I do my best to keep moving, Daesung doesn’t allow him to walk “____” is the first thing I hear, it was Lu Feng voice.

Soon Seunghyun, Daesung, Lu Feng and me were in the SUV it was moving us to a faraway place “let me…” Daesung tries to help me, I’m not completely recovered, Lu Feng is driving.

“Help Seunghyun” he was confused “but-” he tries to cure my arm “hell, I’m fine! help him!” I yell at Daesung, then tightens the neckties which are preventing Seunghyun from losing more blood “we should take her to a hospital” Lu Feng comments “yes, take us there” Daesung says “no, we’re not going to a hospital” I say firmly “takes us there, she’s the boss' daughter!”

I’m getting angry, how could they care about me when Seunghyun was more injured “shut up, Daesung!” I say firmly “take us somewhere where Seunghyun could be healed” I say, Lu Feng only nods, tension is in the air, I don’t care I still feel dizzy, I grab Seunghyun’s hand “you are going to be okay” I whisper, looking at his eyes which are about to close “be with me, don’t close your eyes” I say. m

#choi seunghyun X reader #bigbang fanfic #mafia au #kpop mafia au #t.o.p x reader

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multi-ling-lsu-blog · 5 years ago

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Ngoc Tran To

+ From and resides in: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Shout-out to international students!)

+ Age: 20 years old

+ Ethnicity: Vietnamese (Her mother is from China and her dad is from Cambodia, but they are ethnically Vietnamese.)

+ She speaks English (for ~3 years, classifies herself as an advanced speaker) and Vietnamese (whole life, a native speaker), Cambodian (mentions she was taught some, but not much)

+ She and her family speak Vietnamese, but she mostly speaks (and thinks in) English outside of her home.

+ Being exposed to 4 languages (Chinese, Cambodia, English, and Vietnamese) is great for diversity purposes, but it can be difficult to juggle all of them. For example, she recounts a time her mother got angry at her for forgetting a word in Vietnamese and for “forgetting her mother language”.

+ She says her multilingualism has opened her up to more relationships and allows her to approach more people than she was previously able to, and therefore expands her circle.

#to

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abismg · 6 years ago

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The Cambodia Exposé ft Vietnam Tour 🇰🇭🇻🇳

My story happened on the year 2017, last 2 years ago

The flight was initially from Manila to Hanoi (Vietnam)

Going back to Manila, I booked from Siem Reap (Cambodia) to Manila

This history occured for 5 days only

Landed Hanoi

My experience in Hanoi was totally good

Hanoi is the so-called province of Vietnam

Having in mind “province” - it has the same notion with Philippine provinces where there are people not that plenteous and houses are a little bit distinct from the City houses

Food are inexpensive where there is buffet type or eat all you can style carinderia

Looking for a hotel were very friendly

Hotel owners are sleeping outside the hotel carrying a foldable bed with them

Hotel owners will ask every guest to hand them a copy of passport (Just let them take a picture of your passport, do not leave it to them)

Most Vietnamese have a hard time speaking in english

What I did is open the google translator and talked to the hotel owner via the translator and vis-a-vis

Malls are very far from the condominiums/hotels

You will need to take a ride of a car in order for you to reach the shopping center or its malls

We stayed there for two nights and a half day

Going to Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is also known as Saigon, the latter being its former name

Ho Chi Minh is the City of Vietnam

Travelling by land from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh will took 38-54 hours ride

Due to time constraint, I decided to took a ride of a plane ✈️ instead which will only took 2 hours flight via VietJet Air

The cost of this local flight was expensive

I did not show my passport at the immigration because I took domestic flight only

Landed Ho Chi Minh

My Ho Chi Minh experience was truly remarkable

Through their historical places, historical attractions, museums, et al, you can learn a lot of things that can answer your hows and whys with regards to Vietnam culture ~ Just discover it on your own

My flight going back to Manila was nearly approaching me, so even if I still want to stay in Ho Chi Minh, I cannot. ~ Dahil hindi lahat ng gusto mo makukuha mo ika nga ni Bea sa The Mistress the movie 🎥 huhu

Going to Siem Reap

Going to Siem Reap I rode a sleeping bus

Travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap by land took me 6-7 hours

The sleeping bus is literally a bus to sleep, the only thing I can do is to lay down only, I cannot sit nor stand for that 6-7 hours ride

Such experience was tough for me, as a tourist I want to see the view of every place I am into

Landed Cambodia

I pass through the Border Crossing gate of Vietnam and Cambodia

While we passengers are asleep, the driver and conductor shouted saying “WAKE UP WAKE UP”, “PREPARE YOUR PASSPORT”, “GO DOWN”

At the immigration, I showed my passport to the officer with a sleepy face

An officer did not stamped my passport

Yet, he only gave me a ticket evidencing an ingress to Kingdom of Cambodia

After the sleeping bus experience, there is another 3 hours drive riding a van going to Angkor Wat and near the Siem Reap airport

Finally, entered the famous Angkor Wat

I entered to Angkor Wat without changing clothes and without shower because I am really in a hurry

After the Angkor Wat walk, I went to the airport in rush

At the Siem Reap Airport

Luckily, Im not late

BUT, in the immigration, the officer hold me

He told me that I violated their law regarding the 24 hours stay in Cambodia, because I stayed for less than 24hours only

They asked me to stay until tomorrow but I refused, I dont want to buy another flight ticket

Ive talked to the officer privately and at first I dont know what he is pointing out

Until he said “I help you, you help me”, which meant I will give them money in order for me to pass through the immigration

He said, “put the money here” (referring to the middle of the notebook), then go

And I left USD20

Travel Tips to Cambodia and Vietnam

Know their laws

Prepare excess money

Have google translator

Stay for more than 5 days

And ENJOY!

P.S This is just my story. We have a different story.

#travel #tips #cambodia #siem reap #vietnam #hanoi #saigon #ho chi minh #adventure

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butchstalinist · 2 years ago

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“however I’m an indigenous communalist. I think all state leaders are monstrous bastards by virtue of being state leaders” as if this ideology isn’t at its roots anti-indigenous 🤢 as if the very movements we’re mentioning right now aren’t lead by indigenous people striving for self-determination & freedom from aggressive colonizing powers.

“All Socialists are agreed that the political state, and with it political authority, will disappear as a result of the coming social revolution, that is, that public functions will lose their political character and will be transformed into the simple administrative functions of watching over the true interests of society. But the anti-authoritarians demand that the political state be abolished at one stroke, even before the social conditions that gave birth to it have been destroyed. They demand that the first act of the social revolution shall be the abolition of authority. Have these gentlemen ever seen a revolution?” -Engels

I’m an indigenous communist, and I believe what you’re claiming to be indigenous communalism is really anarcho-primitivism. If you think all state leaders are bastards I have bad news for you about the nature of indigenous revolution and the necessity of not only smashing the existing state, but the building of a proletarian state to avoid the colonizers & capitalists from simply taking power yet again. Your ideological purity has no benefits for any real indigenous person, and only serves an imaginary scenario you’ve invented in your mind.

Lenin’s State & Revolution ^

“Consequently, the tactics of the anarchist become the tactics of despair instead of a ruthlessly bold revolutionary effort to solve concrete problems while taking into account the practical conditions of the mass movement… Marx teaches us to avoid both errors; he teaches us to act with supreme boldness in destroying the entire old state machine, and at the same time he teaches us to put the question concretely: the Commune was able in the space of a few weeks to start building a new, proletarian state machine by introducing such-and-such measures to provide wider democracy and to uproot bureaucracy. Let us learn revolutionary boldness from the Communards; let us see in their practical measures the outline of really urgent and immediately possible measures, and then, following this road, we shall achieve the complete destruction of bureaucracy.” -Lenin

Ho Chi Minh lead the indigenous people of his country to found a Marxist-Leninist state to drive out the colonialist French & US invaders. Yet from what you said he’s a “monstrous bastard” ? I think you’re the chauvinist bastard here, what successful movement have you ever built, let alone has anyone built with your deeply harmful ideology?

“There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by dint of reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: “Dear martyrs compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!” -Ho Chi Minh on Lenin’s Thesis On the National and Colonial Questions

“All states are acts of violence” 😂

So, you really believe the state can be abolished at one stroke? You truly believe your nonsense despite the numerous experiences of actual indigenous revolutionaries stating clearly that there needs to be a transitional state between capitalism and stateless society of communal society? What makes you so special you can ignore the lived experience of successful movements for self-determination?

‘"Don't you want to abolish state power?" Yes, we do, but not right now; we cannot do it yet. Why? Because imperialism still exists, because domestic reaction still exists, because classes still exist in our country.’ - Mao Tse-tung

(Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s book ‘Indigenous People’s History of the United States’) ^^

#this person is super comfortable calling indigenous liberatory leaders bastards #also you’re right they don’t care an American is slandering them cause this is what most Americans sound like anyways #also like girl ur on MY post with this nonsense #yeah the Kims don’t care an AMERICAN is doing the same things every AMERICAN does like ur point is what?#you’re annoying me on my post and claiming you’re supporting indigenous while ignoring real indigenous movements #casting spell of begone primmie

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thispabulum-blog · 3 years ago

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Here We Go Again...

Fuck-It Friday

I know Thursday's post was bleak, but I promise I'm okay. I wrote most of it in the middle of the night with a Cuddlebug sleeping in my arms. I'm fine.

I don't super have anything to add to this week, so here's a random thing I found in a folder on my computer, which is a series of complaints about some guests on a cruise that I may or may not have discovered and become fascinated by while I was working at a previous job.

This is with regards to the dispute, as per subject, received from our mutual client Mrs. [Redacted].

We are very disappointed by receiving this chargeback notification from Mrs. [Redacted], for a series of reasons listed below.

Mrs. [Redacted] and her travel companion went on a 14-day-long luxury cruise on our vessel [name] from Phucket to Ho Chi Minh City on a FAM TRIP RATE. Guests paid only 100 USD per day per person, i.e. $2,800 USD in total for what normally costs $15-20k USD! We are therefore surprised to discover this chargeback despite the exceptional price granted.

Mrs. [Redacted] and her travel companion- after investigation to answer this chargeback - were very disruptive.

And of course as soon as I read that, I realized there were several more pages, so I just had to know. This is a series of emails from some type of guest manager on the ship to the head office.

We urgently need your guidance and assistance regarding Mr./Mrs. [Redacted], who joined in Phuket, Thailand.

From joining, the guests have been complaining and causing major disruption with other guests, to the point that I have to contact you.

These guests are talking extremely badly about the Ship, [Company], and the itinerary to other guests, and trying to rally guests on their thoughts. They are extremely disruptive and very abrasive to staff and are a constant nuisance, which will endeavor to bring major problems throughout the voyage.

They have also made comments to guests about other products [cruises] plus stating that they have paid 10's of thousands of dollars to come here. I have personally spoken to them, they were unhappy with the manicure received at the spa, shouted at the spa manager on embarcation. Thereafter, I spend 45 minutes listening to the guests' complaints. I sent out a message to all staff giving them a heads' up of the guests.

We have looked up their booking (attached) and we see that they are in the system as NON-REV [non-revenue, usually implies complimentary reservations] but their booking stated that they paid $2800 USD for both passengers. It also looks like they were a last-minute booking.

If I am not mistaken, Travel agents of [Company] are supposed to behavior in a certain manner?

They are claiming that they are travel agents, and I don't really understand what the motive is for this disruptive behavior.

Next message.

Sorry again to disturb you on a Sunday, our guests have just returned from the tour, while walking through the dining room during dinner, Mrs. [Redacted] has just been verbally abusive and loud in front of other guests toward myself and thereafter the [other employee]. The [Redacted]s had earlier left the guided tour of the city, and demanded that they be returned to the vessel as they felt that the dirtiness and filth of the city was unacceptable for guests to be put in this situation.

She stated that she is getting a petition together with other guests, plus other things. I am sorry, but we urgently need guidance how to handle.

And then.

Late last night, the guests requested a meeting with [employee] and myself approximately 10:30pm, we met with them accordingly and they were still extremely wound up and very difficult to reason with.

This morning was a highlight day, Orangutans of Sumatra, we arranged a private vehicle for them and they followed the excursion (at their request).

Also this morning, Captain, Staff Captain, and myself met in confidence to discuss. At this point it was decided to meet and address items with the guest upon arrival, and a plan of action.

Guests returned to the vessel at 1500 and it was arranged to sit down with them at 1800. Unfortunately, Captain was not available due to maneuvering, so [Other employee] was there and with the Sr. Receptionist there as a witness (only), in the Dining room.

The conversation lasted over an hour, and many points were discussed including Policies and behavior, as well as her expectations of [Cruise Line] and expeditions, I do believe that we may have turned them around and given confidence in their vacation, she especially apologized for her behavior over the past few days, and thereafter went up to [other employee] to apologize as well.

I asked her in the future to please address any issues directly with myself.

We will monitor the situation. I hope that it will continue with good spirits.

Thank you for all your assistance and understanding over the past days.

But of course it didn't help, and the Redacted couple ended up contacting their credit card company after the fact to dispute the charge.

Aren't people lovely?

Sorry that had nothing to do with anything, but I hope it was a bit entertaining.

#Spotify

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backofthebiketours · 3 years ago

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How To Visit The Cu Chi Tunnels On Your Own

Banging your head against the bus window on a boring tour isn’t an adventure. Challenging yourself with getting to the Cu Chi Tunnels on your own is an experience. I’ve crafted this article featuring all you need for getting to the Cu Chi Tunnels on your own.

Selecting a guide can be expensive and time consuming. The Cu Chi Tunnels supply free guides for visitors with an admission ticket. Read on to learn about how to get to the Cu Chi Tunnels, then follow their free guide for a money saving adventure.

Visit the Cu Chi tunnels on your own by calling a taxi, renting a Car, or hop on the local bus. Every option above has its own merits. Follow my recommendations found below, and you will be climbing through those elaborate tunnels in no time at all.

If you are adventurous but on a budget, I believe you are not looking at hiring a taxi or renting a car. Renting a Taxi or Car is a great option though for some that are not on a tight budget. I’ll give you options to pick and choose the best transportation for your Cu Chi Tunnel experience.

Hiring a Taxi

Standing on the sidewalk, waving your arm to flag down a taxi isn’t what I have in mind. Mai Linh, one of the most reputable Taxi companies in Ho Chi Minh City, offer some roundtrip fares to Cu Chi.

Be clear with the taxi company over the phone on dropping you at the Benh Duoc entrance. Also your driver will most likely not speak much English, if any. Speak to the operator on the phone ahead of time about any questions you might have before departing with the taxi.

Here are the contact information for Mai Linh. Use this information to get a taxi anytime not just for the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Mai Linh Taxi (10-15 minutes call before)

Hotline: 028 3838 3838

Saigon (District 1) -> Cu Chi Tunnels( Ben Duoc Entrance)

Option 1: 7 Hours or 70km (140km total) Package

4 Seats: 1,160,000 VND

7 Seats: 1,340,000 VND

Option 2: 6 Hour or 50 km (100km total)

4 Seats: 950,000 VND

7 Seats: 1,130,000 VND

***Every Extra Hour is 60,000 VND, Every Extra km is 12,000 VND***

***Tolls are not included in the price***

How would I visit the Cu Chi Tunnels on my own in a taxi?

Hop out of bed early, even though it’s vacation time. Drag my lazy butt down to the hotel buffet for breakfast. Speak with the hotel concierge directly about calling Mai Linh. Show the hotel staff this article with the Mai Linh prices and be sure to repeat destination is the Ben Douc entrance. Confirm that twice, sometimes details get lost in Vietnam.

When driving to the Cu Chi Tunnels, ask the taxi driver for his phone number. Ring him up when you finish and are ready to be picked up.

Eating a tantalizing bowl of Pho for lunch or experiencing new dishes at the famous Beef Restaurants out in Cu Chi might be worth planning ahead of time on the way home.

How to do the Cu Chi Tunnels with Car/Van/Van Limousine Rental on your own!

Traveling with my family is like pulling my own teeth sometimes. A little sister who cries when out of her comfort zone and a brother who shouts about always being bored. The picture I am painting is familiar to some people. The family comfort factor rests heavily on us when traveling sometimes. Rental services have large comfortable vehicles that will make getting to the Cu Chi Tunnels easy for the planner in the family. A free guide at the Cu Chi Tunnels balances out the price to make it affordable to travel in style.

An Minh Car Rental

Phone (Mr Phong, Speaks some English): 0909 555 783

0913 724 238

Email: [email protected]

Website: xedulichanhminh.com

Saigon -> Cu Chi Tunnels

6 Hour Two Way Trip Package

4 Seats : 1,100,000 VND

7 Seats: 1,200,000 VND

***100,000 VND for every hour over 6 hours***

***Tolls INCLUDED in the price***

The price is comparable to renting a taxi. I would go for renting the car as I would be able to set up communication and confirmation ahead of time via email. I also like being able to call Mr Phung on the phone during the trip if I needed to.

You could arrange the address you want to be dropped off at for the tunnels and then the address for anywhere you would like to stop for lunch.

Getting to the Cu Chi Tunnels on your own on the public bus.

Starting out a window on a long bus ride isn’t what some would call an adventure. When the local language is not English, something that sounds so mundane can become quite the voyage though. Not knowing what exactly will happen is all part of the mystery and fun of traveling.

I’ve tracked down everything you need to know to jump on the bus and get to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This way to travel is budget friendly.

# 13 Public Bus to Cu Chi Tunnels

Open time: 3:30 – 20:30

Type: 46-80 seat bus

Price: 7,000 VND

Quantity: 150 trips/day

Time length each trip: 60 – 75 minutes

Time between each bus: 10 – 20 minutes

#79 Public Bus from Cu Chi Bus Station -> Ben Duoc (Cu Chi)

Open time: 5:30 – 17:30

Type: 46-80 seat bus

Quantity: 70 trips/day

Time length each trip: 45 minutes (25 km)

Time between each bus: 10 – 20 minutes

10 Steps to do the Cu Chi Tunnels on your own By Bus:

Step 1: Wake up early. Eat some breakfast then head off to the bus station.

Step 2: Pack a small bag of any supplies you might need.

Step 3: Make your way to the Pham Ngu Lau Bus station at the end of 23/9 Park towards Nguyen Trai street. The location on the map below.

Step 4: Get on the Public Bus #13 to Ben Duoc. You will purchase your ticket in Vietnamese Dong from the Ticket Agent on the bus!

Step 5: Read a book, nap, strike up a conversation, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Step 6: Arrive at the Cu Chi Bus Terminal and search for Bus No. 79. There will be taxi drivers and motorbike drivers offering their services. Just ignore them, get to Bus No. 79 and buy a ticket from the agent on the bus.

Step 7. After 35 minutes there will be blue sign saying Ben Duoc to the left and Ben Dinh to the right. Get off 2 minutes later at the Ben Duoc entrance.

Step 8: Congratulate yourself for a mission well accomplished!

Step 9: Go into the main entrance, buy yourself an Entrance ticket. Walk your way to the local Cu Chi building where you will watch a short introduction video. After, you will receive a guide who will show you through the tunnels!

Step 10: Return to the No. 79 bus BEFORE 17:30, THIS IS THE LAST BUS OF THE NIGHT. Hop back on the No. 13 back to Saigon at the Cu Chi Terminal!

There you have it all of the knowledge you need to do the cu chi tunnels on your own. You might want to ask yourself if visiting the cu chi tunnels is worth it? If so, then what should I wear to the cu chi tunnels?

I hope this article helped, I invested some serious time into making it so if you enjoyed it please don’t hesitate to share it for other adventurous travelers like yourself.

Chu Chi Tunnels Info

Read More Here: How To Visit The Cu Chi Tunnels On Your Own

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dunnystuff · 4 years ago

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Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2021 12:54 PM

Subject: Rich's Blog

Afghanistan beware. Biden led the charge on not providing an aid package to South Vietnam that would have provided resources to combat the North Vietnam invasion. So now we have Afghanistan. My ultimate fear is they will return to being a terrorist state. I pray I’m wrong!!!

Today is the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon

Hi to all -

Saigon

It was 46 years ago today that we saw the final end of the Vietnam war, as Saigon fell, and the North Vietnamese raised their flag over the city, which they promptly renamed Ho Chi Minh City. I was there, and a participant in those events. Now and again, they show this on TV, and it seems like yesterday, not all those years ago. This nation now has a vibrant Vietnamese community as those who escaped and their descendants make a new home here.

Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine is the consort of Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused to 'grooming' young girls to be his sex slaves. She has been in custody now for 10 months (what, no suicide yet?) at New York's Correctional Center in Manhattan. The guards there seem to be doing a better job of keeping her alive, and checking on her every 15 minutes, like the guards for Jeffrey were supposed to be doing. In fact, her lawyer is complaining about all that attention. Keeps her from getting any sleep. But, somehow, and she says she doesn't know how, she is in a photo with a real shiner. Most folks know how they got that black eye, but it is a mystery to Ghislaine and others. She looks a bit haggard, and shows her age, in that photo as well. Guess this happened in between guard checks.

Biden Came Down to Georgia

Well, he did not have to play fiddle against the Devil, but he did try to hold a drive-in rally in a small town here. It did not go well. Protesters shouted him down with cries of 'abolish ICE' and 'end detention now'. So, flustered Joe set aside his notes, and said "I agree with you. Just give me five more days." Sounds like another round of Executive Orders are about to arrive.....

Joe also said he would ignore the CDC, which has stated that you do not need a mask outdoors (after all, sunlight kills this virus, and many are now vaccinated, so there is no need for masks). Nope, Joe will ignore his own dictum that we should 'trust the experts', and he will wear his mask, as a symbol of his obedience.

NBC reporter Craig Melvin complained to Biden that, in spite of his promise to reunite families, 'not one migrant child has been reunited with their parents'. Joe fumbled briefly and then said 'we don't know who they are, or who and where their parents are'. That pretty well sums up his border policy. This is being done to create chaos, not out of kindness to the migrants, or Americans. Chaos is the path to power.

If you go back to Nazi Germany, the parallels to 'woke' culture are striking. Approved speech, political correctness, violence if you dare disagree, taking over police departments, and a firm belief in the occult. Our left is following exactly in the footsteps of their examples from the past. As always.

Directed Energy Weapons

We heard some of this a couple of years ago, as people in our embassies in Cuba, China and Russia reported experiencing nausea, disorientation and motor skill degradation, which turned out to be effects of microwave beams directed against them by our hostile enemies.

Recently there have been a couple of similar incidents here, one in Arlington, Virginia, and another on the Ellipse, near the White House. Victims were government employees, and they had similar symptoms. These might be test runs, in preparation for further attacks.

Rich

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my-tas-modern-world-history-blog · 7 years ago

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The Vietnam War Episode 7 - The Veneer of Civilization

The title is "Facade of Civilization", which implies affectation of a created society circumstance and for this situation we are discussing about US. It concentrates on a considerable measure on the hidden side of the recently framed government after Nixon's decision in 1968. During the June of 1968, the soul of revolution over the vietnam war over unfairness over human rights appear to have spread all around. The strain to convey a conclusion to the war was building President Lyndon Johnson had officially chosen not to run once more. Deaths and agitation had stunned the country and the nation was planning to pick another president.

With Nixon as the president, war in the farmland escalated. He requested a few activities to wipe out the VC. VC were moving forward and backward to the Ho Chi Minh trail with trucks. As US pointed that trail to bomb. Therefore a bigger number of bombs were dropped than the time in World War 2 and furthermore were killed numerous individuals too. Nixon had yearning plan for administration and told he would end the war first. He had quit bombing for a period of time.

For some Americans, a major defining moment in the Vietnam War was Seymour Hersh's investigating a place called My Lai. There were at least 347 armed soldiers got killed. We all saw the vivd bloody photos of tons of people who were killed at My Lai, of a street was filled up with hundreds of dead bodies. The support for the war got declines, and American men of draft age confront troublesome choices and twisting good decisions. After police fight with demonstrators on the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon has won the administration. Likewise, he promised lawfulness at home and peace abroad. In Vietnam, the war goes on horribly.

This woman down here, Nguyen Nguyet Anh, during the war it there’s a a pic of her beautiful age and she had to work to sacrifices like all other soldiers fighting shouting out at the battle filled, like people who sacrificed their lives in order to lead the country to successful. She worked as a member of driving trucks along the Ho Chi Minh Trail during 1968 to 1970 for North Vietnamese Army.

In my opinion, this episode was less touching and emotional than the pervious one, yet, it was still every vivid seeing all those people dying out at the battle field. The epsiode “The Veneer of Civilization” was less critical than the last scenes, however, it likewise touched about the war that was all the while going ahead between US, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam.

-Jen-

#vietnam war

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sciencespies · 4 years ago

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The History of Violent Attacks on the U.S. Capitol

https://sciencespies.com/history/the-history-of-violent-attacks-on-the-u-s-capitol/

The History of Violent Attacks on the U.S. Capitol

On Wednesday, far-right insurrectionists stormed and occupied the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The mob forced lawmakers to flee for safety, smashed windows, vandalized offices and posed for photos in the House chambers. One woman died after being shot by law enforcement, an officer with the U.S. Capitol Police died from injuries sustained during the fighting, and three other people died from medical emergencies during the riot, reports CNN.

Images from the scene show attackers waving the Confederate battle flag in the halls of the Senate. As Judith Giesberg, a Civil War historian at Villanova University tells Business Insider’s Aria Bendix that the flag was appropriated in the 20th century, and continues to this day, to perpetuate the system of white supremacy in America. Wednesday was a grim first: During the entire Civil War from 1861 to 1865, the flag never entered the U.S. Capitol. (In fact, Confederate troops never took Washington at all. When Confederate General Jubal A. Early launched an attack on Fort Stevens, Union reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to save D.C. from Confederate invasion.)

A man holds the Confederate battle flag in the halls of the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday. To his right, a portrait of Charles Sumner, an abolitionist senator from Massachusetts; to his left, a portrait of John C. Calhoun, the seventh U.S. vice president and a staunch defender of slavery.

(Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)

Although Wednesday’s attempted coup failed, historians also pointed out that the U.S. has witnessed one successful coup d’état before: in Wilmington, North Carolina. As Gregory Ablavsky, associate professor of law at Stanford University, notes in a statement, during the Wilmington Massacre or Coup of 1898, white supremacists overthrew the government of the then-majority-black city and killed as many as 60 black people.

And while the attack on the Capitol shocked many, it was also predictable: Plans to invade the Capitol building have been circulating on various social media platforms for weeks, as Sheera Frenkel and Dan Barry report for the New York Times.

Since President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol in 1793, assailants with a range of motives have launched attacks on the building with varying levels of success. Most notably, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was likely intended for the Capitol Building, per the National Park Service. A group of passengers overtook the hijackers and crashed the aircraft into an open field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people onboard.

A number of “lone wolf” attackers have also thwarted Capitol security: in 1835, Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Andrew Jackson as he exited the building’s east portico. In 1915, a former Harvard professor successfully exploded three sticks of dynamite in the Senate Reception room, and an armed assailant in 1998 shot and killed two Capitol police officers.

But Wednesday’s mob joined the ranks of just a handful of groups with political motivations that successfully carried through with their plans. Here, Smithsonian takes a closer look at three instances of coordinated political violence against the U.S. Capitol.

1814: British forces burn the Capitol

British Burn the Capitol, 1814, painted by Allyn Cox in 1974 on the corridor fo the Capitol building House wing, first floor

(Architect of the Capitol)

Flames leapt from unfinished wreckage of the U.S. Capitol on August 24, 1814. British forces set fire to this building, the White House and much of Washington in retaliation for Americans’ burning of the Canadian capital at York the year prior. Britain and its young former colony were embroiled in the War of 1812, a conflict that ignited over the Royal Navy’s practice of “impressing” American soldiers into British service by wrongly accusing them of being British subjects, among other causes, reports Joel Achenbach for the Washington Post.

At the time, the Capitol building housed the House, Senate, Supreme Court and Library of Congress, per the Architect of the Capitol. British forces burned the 3,000 or so books in the collection in the Library of Congress and piled furniture together in the Supreme Court Chamber to create a huge bonfire. The Capitol building was still under construction and did not yet have its famous dome, reports Gillian Brockwell for the Post.

Nature happened to save the day. A huge storm, possibly a tornado brought on by the previous day’s 100-degree heat, struck Washington and put out the fires, sending British forces packing earlier than planned. Some interior structures and much of the Capitol’s exterior survived the blaze, and after some debate, officials decided to rebuild the federal government’s building where it stood. As Cassandra Good reported for Smithsonian magazine in 2016, just one casualty was reported from the fires: John Lewis, the grandnephew of George Washington himself.

1954: Puerto Rican nationalists open fire

“Guard Congress After Gunfire,” Boston Daily Globe, March 2, 1954, p. 1

(Library of Congress)

On the morning of March 1, 1954, Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero and Irving Flores Rodriguez boarded a train from New York City to Washington, D.C. With little to no security measures in place at the Capitol, the group walked into the building with concealed handguns and entered the gallery overlooking the House floor, where Congress was in session.

Around 2:30 p.m., Lebrón shouted her support for Puerto Rican independence, and the group shot indiscriminately at lawmakers from the gallery. They managed to wound five Congressmen before being overtaken by visitors and police officers, per a House of Representatives oral history of the event.

The group designed their violent attack to draw attention to the cause of Puerto Rican independence. Their grievance dated back to the Spanish-American War, when in 1898, the United States invaded Puerto Rico and established it as an “organized territory.” At the time, this meant that Puerto Ricans were subject to American imperial rule but were not considered full citizens. Even after Puerto Ricans achieved citizenship in 1917, the territory still has no voting representation in Congress and little political autonomy. More than a century of U.S. imperialism and its adverse effect have led some Puerto Ricans, such as these nationalists, to argue that their territory should be completely independent of American rule.

“Bullets whistled through the chamber in the wildest scene in the entire history of Congress,” Speaker Joseph W. Martin, who was presiding that day, would later recall. According to the Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives, the police had sealed off the Capitol within minutes of the shooting and conducted a thorough search of the grounds until they captured Rodriguez, who had narrowly managed to slip away in the mayhem. The four attackers were tried and sentenced to federal prison with sentences ranging from 16 to 75 years. They remained imprisoned until President Jimmy Carter, responding to international pressure, granted the shooters clemency in 1979.

1983: Far-left extremists bomb the Senate Chamber

The resulting damage from the November 7, 1983, bombing outside of the Chamber of the United States Senate

(Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Leftist groups had attacked the Capitol directly before: In March 1971, for instance, members of the extremist group Weather Underground set off a bomb in a bathroom on the Senate side of the Capitol, harming no one, reports Brockwell for the Post.

But the most serious terrorist attack took place a decade later, when a group of women split from the group to form the May 19th (M19) Communist Organization. Just before 11 p.m. on November 7, 1983, a member called the Capitol switchboard to announce that a bomb was about to explode.

Minutes later, M19 detonated a bomb in the Capitol’s north wing, blowing a hole through a wall and knocking the Senate majority leader’s office door off its hinges. Luckily, the area was already deserted and nobody was harmed, but the attack resulted in $250,000 worth of damage and shredded a portrait of Daniel Webster, per the U.S. Senate.

Members of M19—named for civil rights icon Malcolm X and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh—coordinated the attack to protest U.S. military involvement in Grenada and Lebanon. Broadly, the group argued that violence was a necessary ingredient in the fight for “revolutionary anti-imperialism,” and its members would go on to bomb other high-profile buildings such as an FBI office. Some of the women involved were later arrested and charged with lengthy sentences, Brockwell writes for the Post.

National historian security expert and historian William Rosenau, who wrote a book on the bombings, told Smithsonian’s Lila Thulin last year that the group is the only documented terrorist group run entirely by women. They were “a group of essentially middle-class, well educated, white people who made a journey essentially from anti-war and civil rights protest to terrorism,” he says.

Rosenau added that in his view, people should tread cautiously when comparing militant leftist organizations of the 1970s to extremism of all political stripes today.

“Historical context is absolutely paramount,” he says. “We kind of lump terrorism together, like groups as disparate as Students for a Democratic Society, Al Qaeda, Red Army Faction, Aum Shinrikyo, but these are all products of particular times and particular places.

Rosenau continues, “The important thing is just to realize that there are some similarities, but these are very different periods in time and each period of time is unique.”

#History

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esandcasg · 4 years ago

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Chapter Three – Patterns in the Snow

I sat on the solitary wooden chair outside my hut, watching the sun come up over the jungle trees. Time seemed to be running slowly. Inside, Adam was making porridge, wrongly convinced it would give him some sort of biking advantage. In front of me, standing ten feet away, was Ifan.

“Ifan Thorne,” I said. “I always knew someday you’d come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?”

Ifan looked me up and down coolly. “Adam has presumably explained everything.”

I nodded, my teeth starting to grind. “I’ve learned to hate you in the last ten years.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I was a child. I thought we were just climbing a mountain. It was wrong and you knew it.”

“You knew what you were doing.”

I stood. “Now I do. This is my place. Get out.”

I turned and walked back into the hut, away from Ifan’s protestations that, as technically he hadn’t come into my place yet, he couldn’t get out; which rendered my statement nonsensical. I swung the door open, interrupting Adam as he was trying on some of my age-defying eye cream.

“Oh… I was just…”

Ignoring him, I went back into the bathroom, cursing the fact that the cheap extractor fan I’d installed the previous year hadn’t had time to ventilate the room yet. I placed my hands on the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The time had taken a toll. Arguably, it wasn’t the years but the mileage; irrespective, I resembled a dried out husk of a man. My face was weather-beaten and pockmarked; lines etched deep trenches in my forehead. My hair, more salt than pepper now, unkempt and thinned by the unrelenting sun. Time had taken its toll; but thankfully not on the eyes.

I bowed my head, giving in to the inevitable. I had lost something on Kangleong. Maybe it was time to get it back.

I walked back out into the main room of my hut. Adam had by now gone outside, the appearance of wrinkles on his forehead presumably now visibly reduced via the magic of oxycutin-10. I switched the TV off and looked round the room, wondering if this would be for the last time. It was home, and I was happy here. But something was pulling me away, to complete something I’d began ten years previously.

I clambered into the back of the C-Max; Ifan drove us through the Korok Forest to Gerudo Town, the nearest large settlement. Ifan explained that this was where he and Adam had been staying whilst trying to track me down.

As Adam went off to check out of the hostel, Ifan and I found a bar. Gallantly, Ifan bought me a bottle of the second cheapest beer. For a while we drank in silence, save for the occasional fart.

“So,” I said, after half my bottle was finished. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

Ifan looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly that.”

“You said Adam had told you everything.”

My hands circled the bottle impatiently.

“He told me some stuff, sure. Stuff about time travel, Henry Craven and going back to Kangleong. Now I want you to tell me what’s really going on.”

Ifan let out a hiss of breath. “What he told you was true.”

“From a certain point of view?”

“Look, let’s not start this again, you made that Star Wars reference in the epilogue of Vertical Summit.”

He was right. Damn him, I thought, taking another gulp of my beer.

“Look,” he began, making some attempt at conciliation, but the anger rose up again inside me. I couldn’t help it. Ten years had done nothing to help me accept what had happened.

“Do you have any idea how bad it was?” I interrupted. “I don’t think you do. I don’t think any of you have the first idea. I died here. I lost everything. Everything I was, everything I wanted to be. And then I got given it back.”

“What are you talking about?”

I shook my head. Maybe this was too obscure a reference; I wasn’t convinced either of Ifan or Adam had watched the DVD extras of Touching the Void.

“You owe me,” I said, finally. “I had to put your names on the memorial at base camp. Had to phone your parents. Had to sing a hymn at your funeral and make hors d’oeuvres for the wake. Vol au vents. You know I hate vol au vents. I found some caper berries that went really well with cream cheese, but no-one really went for them so I had to take them all back in my car. I thought they’d keep for a while at least but they lasted three days. Three days Ifan! I had to eat 150,000 vol au vents in three days.”

Ifan looked at me but said nothing.

“All this time carrying your secret. Why didn’t you just tell me from the start? I could have helped. Or I could have stayed at home. Or climbed something people would believe that I climbed. Yeah, that’s right. No-one believed I’d summited. There was no-one left alive to back me up. They thought I’d faked the photos. ‘No-one can climb Kangleong in winter’ they said. So what did they assume happened? That I went on an expedition where everyone else died and I miraculously survived without a scratch? No-one believed a word I’d said; even after I told the whole story.”

“I thought you told it well. The even chapters at least.”

“Thanks.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth!” I almost shouted. “Bloody hell, Ifan, don’t you think I’m owed that? I kept your secret, even though it ruined me. I had to give up my entire life, come halfway round the world just to find some peace. And I found it. I actually found a peaceful life for myself. And then you two turn up and shatter it.”

“It’s not as easy as that.”

“You think anything has been easy for me?”

Ifan looked at me in the eyes and I knew he agreed; he owed me, him and Adam both.

“What we told you was true, back in the tunnel,” he began. “We were on Craven’s tail. He knew we were after him; he’d tried to kill us on that mountain. So we had to fake our deaths, had to make him think we were out of the equation. Then, only then, he might lower his guard and let us get close enough to bring him in.”

“You told me this.”

“We spent the next three years living in the Karakoram. Trying to blend in. We had most of our gear from base camp and plenty of energy gels, so we knew we could hunker in for long enough. In the meantime we were looking for the exact smuggling route Craven was using. It wasn’t enough to know it was somewhere in the Karakoram. We needed the exact trail. It took three cold years, but eventually we found it.”

“I thought you’d already found the trail? Isn’t that what the tunnels were for?”

Ifan shook his head. “You studied the Vietnam War, right? Think of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. A whole network of routes, and the US never knew which routes were being used. Sort of like that. They’d been building this network up for years. We don’t know how long the tunnels have been there, but they might even pre-date the smuggling. They certainly pre-date Craven. There are only two of us, so there was no way to patrol all the tunnels in order to find out which ones they were using.”

“Presumably there was some sort of pre-planned route? Or a system?”

“Exactly,” said Ifan. It took a long time to figure it out, but we did. We got very lucky. We knew we were getting nowhere. We couldn’t just wait in the tunnels because that would get back to Craven. We had to be patient and figure out the system. After three years of waiting, we started our observations. Two years later we had made barely any progress. Truth be told we were on the verge of giving up. Morale was pretty low; Adam and I were barely talking to each other, we’d got so sick of each other’s constant company. So I suggested we forget about things and climb a mountain. So we did. Gasherbrum IV.”

I let out a sharp hiss of breath. Gasherbrum IV was just under 8000m, so not technically in the group of the 13 highest mountains in the world, but its difficulty was legendary. No safe route on the mountain, a sheer west face. Originally known as K3, it was felt in some circles to be a harder mountain to climb than K2. Each route was exposed; you could be blasted by hurricane-force winds, hit by rockfall or swept off the route by avalanches. Seracs hung perilously on each way to the summit, barely clinging on to severely steep faces.

“Acclimatisation wasn’t a problem,” continued Ifan, “as we’d been living pretty much at 30,000ft for the three years previously, just under the death zone. So we figured we could just do a fast and light ascent of one of the ridges. We knew it would be tough.”

“Tough!” I exclaimed.

“Only problem was we knew nothing about the routes, or when was best to climb, and I found out that Adam hadn’t bothered to pay our broadband bill, so we couldn’t get wifi to google it. I suggested we head up an easier mountain, like Broad Peak, wait there with a telescope and plan our expedition.”

“Okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure where the hell this was going.

“So we made it up Broad Peak easy enough. Conditions weren’t brilliant – a lot of scratchy ice. Not a lot to dig into. A bit of a slog. But anyway, we got up to the top, set up our tent and just watched Gasherbrum IV for a month. As you know, there are a lot of avalanches there, supposedly. So we watched for their frequency, where they tended to fall, etc. We started to write our observations down. And then we noticed.”

“Noticed what?” I said, signalling the barman for more beer.

“There was a pattern. An undeniable pattern. It took us a while to realise. It was only when we were having a barbeque to mark our anniversary that I re-read the notebook and noticed the pattern. Avalanches down the south-east ridge specifically. At 8.45, every morning, there would be an avalanche. Some days just a solitary one. Other times two, or three. Rarely, four. But always at 8.45. And always on the south-east ridge.”

“Hold on,” I said, finishing off an onion ring from the sharing platter I’d ordered for myself. “Are you serious? Timed avalanches?” I picked up a mozzarella stick. “You realise how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Which is why we stayed on the summit for another month, just to be sure. I’ve still got the notebook. I can show you.”

“Well, what does that mean?”

“A signal.” Ifan took a folded piece of manuscript out of his jacket pocket and spread it out over the table, knocking over a couple of jalapeno poppers onto the floor. Observing the three second rule I crammed them hurriedly into my mouth, not willing to sacrifice them to the story.

I looked down at the table. The paper Ifan had unfolded was a map; a map of the Karakoram. I counted off the peaks – K2, Broad Peak, the Gasherbrums, Mason Mount, Denali and, of course, Kangleong. But there was something else on the map. Criss-crossing the mountains, someone had drawn a series of coloured lines in thick marker. Seeing the criss-cross made me jump.

“What am I looking at?” I asked, taking a bite of my plant-based burger.

“This is the network of tunnels. We think we found them all. Each different colour represents a different route.”

Although each coloured line ended in a different place on the western edge of the mountain range and started at different places at the northern boundary of the Karakoram, at points the lines converged before separating again. I could count six separate colours.

“Six routes,” said Ifan, as if he was reading my thoughts or the last sentence. “Six routes through the mountains.”

“So,” I said, “let me get this right. You’re saying that each number of avalanches corresponds to a different smuggling route?”

“Yep.”

“But you said there were a maximum of four avalanches.”

Ifan nodded. “We saw four three times. Most of the time it was one, two or three. But when we looked in the diary, Adam had recorded five avalanches on the south-east route once. Early on.”

“Okay, so that’s five. What about the sixth?”

Ifan leaned forward and pointed to the red line on the map. For the most part it ran a distance away from everything else.

“This one,” he said. “We think this is the sixth. We’re not even completely sure it exists. We drew the line on this map where we thought it goes but we’ve only found parts of it. We think sections of it are hidden. Behind seracs, inside crevasses, that kind of thing. But we found tunnels which didn’t seem to go anywhere. We think they’re part of this sixth route. A secret route.”

“What for?”

“Craven himself. You know the passetto di borgo in Rome? Provides an escape route for the Pope to the Castel Sant’angelo. Something like that. A route only Craven knew. A way for him to escape. That’s why there are no six avalanche signals. We think it’s for him only.”

“You think.”

Ifan grimaced. “We don’t know for sure. After we descended from Broad Peak we searched extensively for him. We found the tunnels, bit by bit, and built up this map. We knew where the passages intersected, we had a remote camera on Broad Peak watching Gasherbrum IV, so when the avalanches went off we knew where to go. Over the next two years we caught ninety-six smugglers. Found seventeen tonnes of plutonium. But nothing of Craven himself. You can see the routes all begin and end at separate places. So there was no way of knowing where he was holed up. Of course, the smugglers themselves wouldn’t tell us. They were too scared of him. Meanwhile he was happy for them to take all the flack.”

“A craven individual, you might say.”

Ifan looked at me silently.

“Hold on,” I said, “you said you were hiding out for three years. Then you said you were finding tunnels for two years. That’s five years.”

“We spent a while looking for you.”

“How long?”

“Six months.”

I paused. I’d only got GCSE maths but I’m fairly sure that didn’t account for the whole ten year gap between seeing them last and now.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

Ifan looked down at the table. He slowly folded back up the map and placed it back inside his jacket. Then he took a deep lungful of air.

“Towards the end of the time we were rounding people up. We were on K2, just around the Black Pyramid, where one of the tunnels runs behind. It was a snowy day. Fairly typical bad weather for K2. Anyway, we decide to head up to the balcony, to see the famous bottleneck and the serac above it. Adam left before I did as I had to pop a few things in the boot of the car. When I got to the balcony there was no sign of him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’d gone. I could barely see his tracks in the snow. The whole balcony was a complete white-out. No sign of anything at all. I couldn’t even see as far as the bottleneck. He’d vanished.”

I didn’t understand.

“I stayed on that mountain for four years, looking for him. Looking for any sign of what had happened. Then, just as I was packing up at Camp II, he came wandering back down the mountain as if nothing had happened.”

I still didn’t understand.

“So what had happened?” I asked.

Ifan shook his head. “I don’t know. He seemed completely fine. Still had all his gear, still wearing the same clothes. But… there was something different. I didn’t realise until we were down at base camp. But then he started talking about you, about getting back to Kangleong and 2013. Stopping Craven. I didn’t understand it.”

“You mean…”

“Yeah. This whole time travel thing. The whole thing about being from the future. That’s what he’s been saying since he came down the mountain. I don’t understand it. But he’s convinced we have to get back to Kangleong. He’s convinced we need to stop Craven.”

“But what happened up there? What happened to him in those four years?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ifan, for heaven’s sake…”

“Jeez, Andrew!” Ifan was shouting now. “Read between the lines! I haven’t decided what happened! I’m leaving that for Adam to potentially use in a subsequent chapter!”

I fell quiet, unable to process everything. What had happened to Adam to leave him convinced he was from the future? Where had he been for those four years?

“So,” Ifan said softly, “I figured that the best thing to do would be to go along with it. Find you, then head back to Kangleong. See if I could understand along the way what was going on.”

“Okay,” I said. “So what’s the issue?”

Ifan looked up at me. The expression chilled me to the bone.

“Kangleong’s not there anymore.”

“What do you mean? Not there?”

“That’s what I’m telling you kid. It’s been totally blown away.”

“What? How?”

“The earthquake. You saw it on the TV. It’s reduced the mountain to rubble. There’s no way back. Whatever was hiding there, there’s no way to find it now.”

I looked over Ifan’s shoulder. Entering the bar, his 85 litre backpack over his shoulders, was Adam. He looked down at the bottles of beer.

“Where’s mine?” he said.

Ifan and I looked at each other in silence.

#Vertical Summit 2

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jghouse-asia-pacific · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.jg-house.com/2020/04/01/deceit-desire-hot-place/

Deceit and Desire in a Hot Place

At 9:00am, Lan, Howard, and I finished breakfast and left the dining room on the 2nd floor of Hotel Vissai. Lan and I were going to the Golden Smile Clinic on Ký Hoà Street in District 5 of Ho Chi Minh City. The previous night, a hot one in southern Vietnam, as always, a new patient had arrived after an 11-hour flight. The woman, Mary Lynn Tefford, lived in Canberra, the Australian capital.

“She will be at my mother’s clinic at 10:00,” Lan said as we rode down in the elevator. “She phoned two weeks ago. She flew in yesterday.”

Howard, though, was going to meet his friend, Emile, an executive at Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and natural gas company, who was staying at Hotel InterContinental in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City.

The three of us exited the lobby and waited on the sidewalk in the polluted air. Howard hailed a taxi, got into the small car, and was gone.

A few minutes later, Binh, my driver, brought his car to a halt before Lan and me. The slender, soft-spoken man smiled, revealing a gap in his top teeth, a gap which hadn’t been present the previous day. Two days prior, he had mentioned needing to see a dentist, but I assumed he was going to have a minor procedure, like a teeth cleaning or a filling. His dentist had other ideas.

The first rain clouds, dark specters, appeared on the horizon as Binh wove in and out of the buses, cars, and motorbikes on Nguyễn Văn Trỗi Street, the main road between the airport and the center of the city in District 1. By now, though, the daily changes in the weather were familiar.

Binh turned right on Công Ty Cp Bằng Hữu Quốc Tế-Cửa Hàng Số Street and then merged onto Trần Huy Liệu Street. As Binh drove, he periodically looked into the rear-view mirror and stared at Lan and me sitting in the back seat. He wanted to listen to the story about Mary, the new client from Australia.

“She’s 42 years old,” Lan said. “She’s re-married. She wants to have a child with her new husband in Canberra.”

Binh looked out the window and waved to a man on a motorbike, who waved back at him, shouting some words which were lost in the noise of the traffic.

“Mary doesn’t want to have surgery,” Lan confessed. “She wants to avoid any cutting with scalpels and a long recuperation from the trauma of surgery.”

Binh soon halted the car in an alley between Lương Nhữ Học and Triệu Quang Phục Streets. The area was popular with people looking for natural or herbal healers and for buying exotic and expensive medicines.

Woman Riding a Motorbike in the Rain

Golden Smile Clinic

When Lan and I arrived at the Golden Smile Clinic, we saw the same clerk who had greeted us two days before. She was 25 years old, but looked 16, and she wore the same white pressed blouse, skirt, and stiletto heels she had worn then. The clerk passed through a door at the back of the clinic, and we followed her into a narrow yard.

There we saw a garden with an impressive collection of plants, not only sprouting from the ground but also growing in pots hanging from a wooden structure with curls drooping onto the ground. The clerk pruned several leaves off a tall vine with white and pink flowers, a pink-striped trumpet lily.

“We grow them for our clients,” a woman’s voice coming from behind me said. I turned and saw Lan’s mother. She smiled at me.

The clerk then cut off a Vietnamese coriander sprout and gave it to Lan’s mother. The clerk disappeared back into the clinic again.

The mother spoke to me. “Western medicine can help only so much in the most severe cases. I know it is the same in your country, even though you have many big hospitals and expensive clinics.”

The clerk, who re-appeared suddenly with a surprised look on her face, said a few words in Vietnamese to Lan and her mother, who stood next to each other a few feet from me.

“Mary has arrived,” Lan said, turning to me. “You can stay in the garden, if you like. Just relax until Mary leaves.”

Lan and her mother went inside.

“Some water?” asked the clerk, whose name was Tran. “Coconut milk?” I shook my head without thinking.

I looked at my iPhone and saw a message from Karen, who was helping me collect data for a research project about literacy. She asked if I would meet her at the house of her friend, Emily, and walk with her to the school at SEAMEO. I knew that she gave English lessons to Vietnamese children every afternoon.

Lan and her mother didn’t return to the garden as Tran led me from plant to plant in the hot yard, describing each one and its uses, including the tần dày lá, or plectranthus amboinicus, for respiratory tract disorders; the sả hoa hồng, or palmarosa, for skin maladies; and the rau má, or centella asiatica, for blood circulation.

I went into the clinic again and saw Lan and her mother with Mary.

The Australian woman, who had short, blond hair and wore a blue polo shirt, tennis shorts, and Adidas shoes, was drinking a green liquid from a painted glass. The woman looked like she was 25, not 42, years old; she looked muscular and appeared athletic and well coordinated.

“My goal is to reduce the size of the tumor so that I can get pregnant again,” Mary said to me after shaking my hand. “The tumor is benign, but I want to eliminate it.” She stopped. She seemed distracted. “My new husband has no children,” Mary confided. “He wants a child.”

A jeep pulled up outside.

“I have to leave,” Mary added, turning toward the door. “I’ll see you again.”

Street-Side Pedicure

In the Heart of the City

I told Lan that I had to go to District 1 and collect a folder of statistics on bilingual students in English and Vietnamese. Lan looked at me, disappointed. Her mother frowned. Then I thought of a counter measure. I asked Lan if she could meet me for dinner at the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel at 7:30.

Lan’s mother nodded, as if giving her daughter permission. Karen had said to me earlier that morning that Duy planned to take her to the Rex at 8:00. Lan agreed to meet me. I wanted Karen and Lan to have an opportunity to talk. Although they were my two best friends in Vietnam, I suspected that they would soon hate each other or, more realistically, that they already did. I wanted to introduce them formally before matters got worse or, perhaps, unbearable.

At noon, dark clouds gathered overhead as Binh brought his taxi to a stop on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street. A door opened on the ground floor of the three-story house, and Karen appeared in the doorway. “Emily is here,” she said. “I’m going to take her to SEAMEO when I go back for my afternoon class. You can come with us to the school. I have the folder ready for you in my classroom.”

I stepped inside. It was hot. The pungent odor of a recently cooked meal made it seem even hotter. “Emily wants an extra teaching job,” Karen said to me, as we entered the kitchen. “But do you really need this job?” Karen said to Emily, who had just entered the room from another door.

“Yes,” Emily replied. “I can’t take any money from my mother in Texas right now. She opposes my relationship with Cao. I need the extra cash.”

“Do you think that Cao will sacrifice his career in the army?” Karen asked. Cao was a major in the Vietnamese army and rising fast in the Communist Party.

“Why would he lie to me?” Emily commented. I could think of at least ten good reasons. I knew Karen could, too.

Because Karen had to be back at the school at 1:30pm, I walked with her and Emily as they argued. From Lê Thánh Tôn Street, we entered the courtyard of the school, a property which once housed CIA headquarters. Emily stopped. I felt my iPhone vibrate in my back pocket. When I looked at the phone, I saw a text message from Howard, who reminded me about our meeting with Emile and Natasha, Emile’s fiancée. Emile wanted Howard to help Natasha look for a house to rent. Howard wanted me to go with him. The plan was to meet at Hotel InterContinental, where Emile and Natasha were staying, at 2:30 that afternoon.

Emily turned to Karen.

“I appreciate your introducing me to the administrators here,” Emily said, “but I don’t understand your attitude toward Cao. I know you had a bad break-up recently.” Karen shook her head. “I feel bad for what happened to you,” Emily continued. She was referring to Karen’s recent affair with a security guard during which he had fathered secretly a child with another woman. Karen didn’t reply. “Although Vietnamese men have a reputation for promiscuity,” Emily said, “I’m not concerned. I know Cao loves me. My situation is different.”

“What Cao says now and what he says next month very likely will be different,” Karen replied with a scowl on her face.

“Let’s go and see the director,” Emily replied, ending the conversation.

Contemplating a Next Move

Inside a Stretch Limousine

After walking the short distance from SEAMEO to the Hotel InterContinental at 2:00pm, I stopped under a tree on Hai Bà Trưng Street across from the hotel in a light rain.

A black stretch Mercedes stopped in front of me. Although the driver, a Vietnamese man in his 20s, could have been anyone, I thought I recognized the big car. When the window in the back of the car rolled down, I recognized Howard in the dark interior. The car, I knew, belonged to Howard’s friend, Emile.

I assumed that Emile’s girlfriend, Natasha, was with Howard in the car. I remembered that Natasha had flown in from Moscow, where she lived most of the year, three days before. Probably Howard and Natasha were on their way to look at properties in the tony districts of the city. Emile had asked Howard, who was a long-time friend from Pittsburgh—part of a large Jewish community in that city—to accompany Natasha in her quest.

But I thought Emile wanted Howard present primarily to help Emile hide his new relationship with a young Vietnamese woman, named Ngoc, a financial analyst who worked for Emile. Howard had become, basically, a shield. I had tried to warn Howard that he was entering a trap, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He was unrealistic. Natasha’s step-father, Dmitri, was the CEO of Burisma. Dmitri often came into the company’s new offices in downtown Ho Chi Minh City when Emile and Ngoc were sitting together. I knew Dmitri would punish Emile, and probably Howard also, when Natasha found out about Ngoc and issued an ultimatum.

“Good afternoon,” Howard said, opening the door. “It’s hot and wet outside. Why don’t you come inside and relax for a moment?”

Howard slid to the opposite side of the car, and, while closing the door, I sat where he had been sitting. Phi, a Vietnamese man in his early 30s who was a real-estate agent, sat beside Natasha, facing me. Natasha was facing Howard. The window next to me went up again, and the big car started to move quietly, as if it had a mind of its own. While the air cooled my face and arms, the blue light overhead made me relax and forget about my encounter with Karen and Emily.

“Howard thinks he knows the housing market in Ho Chi Minh City better than I do,” Phi remarked. He looked at me. “How long has Howard been here? A month? It’s impossible. Crazy.”

Natasha glanced at me. “Although Howard knows the market in the States,” she replied, hesitating and calling attention to her Slavic accent, “how he might or might not be able to find a house for me in Ho Chi Minh City is not important. I wanted to have Phi, a local agent, helping me as well.” She ran a hand through her hair, looking at me, expecting a reply.

Natasha, in her 30s, had high cheek bones, full lips highlighted with a pinkish gloss, and long dark hair. She looked more than exotic. She seemed temperamental, used to getting her way. She focused everyone’s attention on her without trying.

Howard also was staring at me, expecting me to defend him, but I glanced at Natasha and decided I should refrain. The situation was complicated. I could have said many things, but I said nothing.

Natasha preferred a villa in the An Phu neighborhood, an exclusive area, located in District 2, but she hadn’t bothered to tell any of us, or even Emile himself, what she expected. Anyway, I knew that she had her own money and did what she wanted when she felt like it.

Emile, I suspected, was afraid of Natasha. I knew Howard was.

Howard picked up some papers lying next to him on the seat. “From the listing for the property Phi has selected,” Howard said, “I don’t know why we should even bother driving out to it and viewing it.” He pointed to the listing. “It’s written in English. I have pictures in color, too.” He looked up at Natasha. “I know what the place has to offer.”

Natasha, dressed in shorts with a see-through shift covering her legs and her upper body, placed a hand on Phi’s arm. “We’re going to see the place you’ve selected,” she remarked. “Don’t worry about it or worry about what Howard says or worry about what Emile might have told anyone. It’s my decision.”

I noticed at that moment Natasha wore a gold chain around her neck with a gold medallion suspended between her breasts. The medallion swung slowly, from one side to the other, reflecting the light.

Howard looked out the window of the Mercedes, trying to focus everyone’s attention on him. “What street is this?” he said. He seemed upset.

I wanted Howard to come to his senses, though, and forget about helping Natasha. I realized she was a powerful woman skilled at controlling people.

Fruit for Sale

Bar at the Hotel InterContinental

It was 4:00 in the afternoon. The crowd at the Hotel InterContinental’s ground-floor bar, called Purple Jade, occupied all of the tables.

A group of foreigners—four middle-aged men—sat at one of the tables. The men were speaking loudly in stilted English accents.

Natasha, Howard, Phi, and I sat at a separate table next to the four middle-aged Englishmen. They had been gambling at a casino, called the Palazzo Club, a couple of blocks away. Three of them were discussing what they had lost. The fourth bragged about what he had won.

“I told you,” Howard said, looking at Phi, “the master bathroom has to connect to the master bedroom. And, as you will recall, in the last place we visited, it did not.”

Howard drank some wine from his glass. “Also,” he pointed out, “you must keep in mind that Natasha has a maid and a hairdresser. They go with her.”

We had walked through a villa with 12 bedrooms, renting for $20,000 a month. Natasha had followed Phi through all of the empty rooms and been impressed with the lay-out of the large house.

“The place was beautiful, but it was not for me,” Natasha explained. “We’ll look at two more places tomorrow if I have time.”

Howard drank some more wine. He looked at me and then at Natasha. “Don’t feel like you have to settle,” Howard said. “Phi has to find something you actually want.”

“That’s the problem,” Natasha said. She smiled. “I don’t know actually what I want.” She looked at the Englishmen, almost dismissively.

Natasha stood up from the table. Her see-through shift seemed to get caught on her chair. “I’m going upstairs,” she announced. She jerked the shift away from the chair. I thought she was going to rip it off her body as well.

Natasha’s bare thigh brushed my arm as she passed between the tables.

The men from Great Britain watched Natasha. They wanted to question us about her, but they didn’t.

They were silent for the first time.

Waiting at Red Light

Rooftop of the Rex Hotel

Under a mulberry tree on Hai Bà Trưng Street across from the entrance to Hotel InterContinental, I waited for Binh to arrive in his car and take me back to Hotel Vissai. The rain came down in sheets. Howard had borrowed a large umbrella for me from the concierge, but still I was getting thoroughly soaked.

Inside the hot taxi, Binh practiced his English. He paid no attention to me. He had his radio on. My thoughts turned to Karen, who now showed an interest in a relationship with Duy. Or, at least, she acted as if she no longer opposed one.

Binh pulled up in front of Hotel Vissai. I asked him to pick me up in one hour.

After showering, dressing, and sending e-mail messages to colleagues in the States, I found myself back in the taxi with Binh. It was still raining. Binh was talking to me in English. Once again, I paid no attention to him. I was thinking about Lan.

Approaching the Rex Hotel on Nguyên Huê Street in District 1, in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, I saw that it was brightly lit in the darkness. Binh had stopped the car and turned to me. “Are you going to meet the American woman or the Vietnamese?” he said.

“Both,” I replied, getting out of the car. “It’s probably a bad idea.”

Binh smiled, revealing the gap in his top teeth.

Under a transparent awning in the rooftop restaurant, a cool breeze blew from the nearby muddy Saigon River and from nearly empty streets. But it was still hot. I took a sip of Malbec, apparently imported from Argentina, and set the glass down. I didn’t care for the wine. I perched uncomfortably on a barstool near one end of the room where I had a clear view of the elevator and of people arriving. It was 7:30. The rain had stopped.

A couple emerged from the elevator. At first, I didn’t recognize Karen, who, wearing makeup and high heels, looked 10 years older than usual. She was taller than Duy. Even for a Vietnamese man, he was short. The maître d’, wearing a black and orange uniform, led the two of them to a table along the railing at the front of the restaurant, where they had a view of the park below. They didn’t see me.

When the musicians started playing, I turned around to listen and, a minute later, I felt Lan beside me, touching my arm. “Is that wine for me?” she asked. She knew it wasn’t, but she started to drink it anyway. She placed the empty glass back on the table.

The music was loud; the singer, with long, black hair, was Filipina, but she sounded American when she took the microphone. “I know the song. It’s by the Eagles,” I said. “I can’t remember its name.”

Lan laughed. “The name of the song is ‘Take It Easy,’” she replied. “Glenn Frey of the Eagles wrote it about a small town, called Winslow, Arizona, in the U.S. Do you know it? I hum parts of the song sometimes.”

“I like your dress,” I said to Karen. Lan nodded. I knew, though, Lan wasn’t agreeing with me, only acting as if she did. The four of us sat next to the railing on the rooftop and looked down into the adjacent park. I focused on a bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh, a symbol, in the middle of the park, set off by beds of azaleas.

I couldn’t keep my mind on Lan and Karen. I had hoped Lan would like Karen. Now I knew any friendship was impossible. Lan was jealous. I felt depressed. I could see Lan’s dislike of Karen was unmistakable and wouldn’t go away. Karen’s argument with her friend, Emily, earlier in the day and Emile and Howard’s impending doom were omens, not accidents. Down below, the statue of Ho Chi Minh, wet from rain, glistened in the night, reflecting an array of colors from neon signs on buildings around the park. I felt adrift, outside myself or history. Only the city was real.

#LifeCulture, #Vietnam #Beauty, #Culture, #HoChiMinhCity, #Love, #SoutheastAsia

#beauty #culture #Ho Chi Minh City #love #Southeast Asia

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initforthelongrun2019 · 5 years ago

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Challenge Complete

So here it is, my final blog post (a month late, but who’s counting?)

Back on the 1st January 2019 I set myself a challenge; to run 7,500km in order to raise money for Action Aid.

Many people asked why I chose 7,500km and, as I mentioned in my very first post, there was no real reason for this. 5,000km seemed achievable (10km every day) and so the next best sounding number after that was 7,500km (around a half marathon, every single day).

I set this challenge at the same time as I was battling an ongoing injury; the dreaded plantar fasciitis. I had already experienced two years of this excruciating pain in my left foot, and, after numerous visits to the physio and changing my routine to incorporate more stretching, pilates, etc, I had around three glorious pain free months. However, in October or November 2018, the injury reappeared; this time in my right foot. Somehow I managed to forget just how horrible it had been coping with this for the previous two years and stupidly I thought it would just go away, so I stubbornly decided to continue with my challenge.

In the first few months it wasn’t so bad, and I managed to run around 21km almost every day. However, pain soon started to set in and I hobbled around on most of my runs and struggled to walk throughout the remainder of the day. For some reason I decided I didn’t need to see a physio again (and I am still questioning this decision) but I did introduce more pilates and stretching in to my weekly routine, and cut out all other high impact activity, such as my HIIT and interval classes which I’d been enjoying for such a long time. This was actually more from a time perspective than anything else, and probably wasn’t the best decision, as I lost a lot of strength and also gained a lot of weight; something I am still battling to get back down.

In addition to my injury, I also experienced some big changes to my own personal circumstances. Initially, when I began, my intention was to quit my job during the first half of the year, so that I could travel, volunteer, and have some much needed rest and recovery; as well as allowing myself the flexibility to run whenever and wherever I liked. However, I left my office based job in March 2019 and instead of being as free as a bird, I embarked upon a new challenge, where my role required me to travel extensively across South East Asia, Hong Kong and Macau. Having been in a similar role before, I knew how difficult it would be to keep up to a solid workout regime and, while I still worked out every day during my trips, it was difficult to do two or three sessions a day like I usually do, due to work commitments, often at irregular hours. Depending on where I am based, it can also be difficult to run. Jakarta, for example, is definitely not a runner-friendly city, so when I was there I had to wake up ridiculously early, take a Grab Bike to an area which was safe to run, and gain as much distance as possible in the relatively short time I had in between the park opening and work starting. Shortly after starting my new job I moved to a new country; see, I really do like a challenge!

Despite the injury, the new job and the move, I still continued to run, although the pain was getting worse and the work trips were becoming more frequent. After picking up the trail running bug during my 122km race in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in 2018, I took part in a few more ultras; the 100km park run in Bangkok, Thailand, the 70km Vietnam Jungle Marathon in Pu Luong, Vietnam, and 103km at The Moon in Koh Phangan, Thailand. I had signed up for three more; all in Thailand, but my final one of the year ended up being in Chiang Mai in August 2019. I was so excited about this race, but the throbbing pain in my foot throughout the entire journey from Hanoi to Chiang Mai was something I was so desperately trying to put to the back of my mind. I experienced discomfort all day, all night, and stretched like I had never stretched before in an attempt to make it go away. Yet when I was lining up at the start line, the pain was still very much there. I carried on regardless and, around 4km in, was in so much agony I almost got my first DNF. I won’t go in to too much detail here (one of my previous blog posts talks about this particular race) but this was a really worrying time as I knew I was doing more and more damage to my foot. Somehow, I managed to complete; I think mainly due to my stubbornness and not wanting to get my first DNF, but I really worried about the damage I had done, and how I was going to complete the rest of my challenge. I flew back to Hanoi and booked a session with my physio; normally I had needling but I was in far too much pain for this. She asked me to stop running for a while and for the first time ever, I listened and agreed. When I say I agreed, I mean that I cut down significantly but didn’t actually stop. Again, another silly decision, but that’s just who I am. I did have two weeks off running; I thought it would help, but it didn’t. I did, however, make the somewhat sensible decision to pull out of my final two ultras; 230km in Chiang Rai and 100 miles in Pai. I’m still very disappointed but there is no way I would have been able to finish them. See, I can be sensible sometimes...

I still wanted to complete my challenge so, from the 1st September, I decided to incorporate cycling. My friends had been telling me to do this for a long time, but I felt as though it was cheating. But I really had no choice; unless I just gave up on the challenge altogether. Adding cycling should have made it much easier but it didn’t; I was still travelling a lot with no access to a bicycle, and I was already so far behind my final target.

In the end, I completed a total of 7,000km; 4,047,69km running and 2,952.31km cycling. Obviously, this still falls short of the 7,500km I wanted to run, so, towards the end of my challenge I had an idea. I had been supported by so many amazing people through this, and I don’t think I could have done it without their support, so I asked for one last favour; for people to run and/or cycle on the last two days of the year, to contribute to my distance. After receiving help from the wonderful people below, I managed to rack up a total of 7,679km.

X7 bootcamp: 54.9km run Mum: 10km run Andy: 10km run Steve: 4km run Boon: 19.09 km run Claire: 17.53km run Jamie: 4.82km run Gareth: 61.78km cycle Manny: 36.74km run James: 12km run Ajay: 30.05km run Belle: 33.22km run Jiratiwat: 13.3km run Chris: 7.65km run Pang: 25.57km run Forest: 27.97km run Mark: 70.45km cycle Nick: 14km run Tom: 18km run Am: 11.1km run Beth: 105km cycle Donna: 25.01km run Naomi: 27km run Sam: 22.53km cycle Kiat: 12.08km run Kai: 5km run.

Last year threw out some difficult obstacles, but this challenge was very much at the forefront of all of these. However, despite the pain, the complaints and the frustrations, I still had an amazing time pushing myself to my limits and I’m so pleased that I was able to complete the distance in my own unique way, and raise money for an amazing charity.

I also had the opportunity to run in some wonderful locations (see below);

Vietnam: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, Da Lat, Pu Luong, Phu Quoc Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Koh Tarutao, Koh Lipe, Koh Phangan Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Taiping, Johor Bahru UK: Bradford, Manchester, Oxford South Africa: Cape Town Cambodia: Siem Reap Indonesia: Jakarta Hong Kong Singapore Macau

I also ran with some truly amazing people… far too many to mention but a huge shout out to all of those who supported me through my challenge, especially my crazy people in Bangkok (Ajay, Donna and James, I’m looking at you).

I’ve since completed another ultra; this time a 70km in Moc Chau in Vietnam, and although I ran very slowly, I was injury-free for the most part. I think I’m now well and truly on the road to recovery, but I will continue to have regular visits to my physio who has now become a very good friend and even, if the pain goes away for good, I’m not going to take it for granted that it will stay that way.

However, I’m feeling very positive and now wondering... what’s next?! :)

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balarouge · 5 years ago

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The sound of Toronto right now: this music is setting the tone in 2020 - NOW Magazine

As Toronto grows and gets more expensive, there’s angst about displacement of DIY communities and spaces for creativity to flourish. But we’re still thriving. Globe-trotting sounds are meeting on the dance floor, toxicity is being worked out through rockstar swagger, disco is returning to its radical roots.

Here are eight snapshots of artists pushing the scene forward and more to watch in 2020. The music they’re making is strong, vibrant and diverse – the whole world in one city’s music scene.

The sound: Dance music for rule-breakers

Bambii is part of the lifeblood of Toronto’s dance music scene. She’s a leader in the collective of cool, queer and diasporic DJs who are working to make the city’s dance music culture reflective of their realities.

Committed to Black women and queer folk from the very beginning, she’s turned her biannual party, JERK, into an institution. Known internationally for genre-defying sets, she’s left a string of sweaty dance floors from Berlin to Ho Chi Minh City. But in 2020, she’s stepping away from touring as a DJ to focus on releasing her own music.

Bambii calls her recently released debut single, Nitevision, a “future dancehall” track, which is interesting – considering she was adamant at the outset of her career about not being labelled a dancehall DJ. Being Caribbean, she was concerned she would be pigeonholed by narrow-minded categorization.

“I’m at a place now where I understand Caribbean music and diasporic music to be so vast in terms of something to reference or to be inspired by,” she says. “It’s just so rich. I no longer feel like I’m being put in a box.”

As a song and as a music video, Nitevision is an ode to Black women – to people Bambii admires, to her friends, to her community. It’s an ode to the dance floor as a conduit for powerful feminine energy.

“It just felt like it was the most sincere point I could make, coming out as a producer.”

And it’s just the beginning. She plans on dropping several singles this year. She says the songs will sound like her DJ sets. So expect more future dancehall, but also high tempo house, ballroom, Jersey club and reggaeton. She even hints at some songs using her own vocals.

Like the city she’s from, Bambii is perpetually evolving – she’s never settled on just one thing.

“The real Toronto, to me, just sounds like everything – which is what’s cool about it.”

Bambii has been in the party scene for years and the idea to produce came to her four years ago, but it took some time to conquer the intimidation of producing and get comfortable putting out her own music. But she also felt DJing no longer allowed her to express everything she needed to say and represent everyone she needed to represent. Her work has an overarching intention to reclaim Black women’s stories, and to counteract the narratives that are imposed on them.

“When I think about what inspires me or encourages me, it’s people suspended in joy and dance,” she says. “It’s what spaces feel like when there’s a majority of women in them, a majority of Black women.” KELSEY ADAMS

More Artists To Watch

Demiyah Pérez

A student of Intersessions DJ workshops led by Chippy Nonstop, Demiyah Pérez spent 2019 pivoting from being every Toronto DJ’s favourite dancer to a purveyor of sounds in her own right. Her sets, a high-energy mix of dancehall, reggae, house and hip-hop, cater to dancers who aren’t ashamed to leave it all on the floor. Last May, she helped launched Ahlie, a party series designed to create common ground between queer and straight people who love dancehall and bashment culture.

The brainchild of DJs Hangaëlle, Minzi Roberta and Kiga, Kuruza is a collective and a monthly party. Already the go-to Afro dance music party in the city, Kuruza settled into its new home at the Drake Underground late last year. Think African pop music, gqom, baile funk, Afrohouse, soca and dancehall. You can also catch them on underground radio station ISO Radio, where they spotlight different DJs and provide a glimpse into their events.

Sofia Fly

DJ/producer/rapper Sofia Fly's 2019 EP, Rosé, is a reflection of her trans Latina identity set to nebulous house and ballroom beats. Her inspired downtempo remixes of pop faves like Kehlani and Shakira to indie rap darlings like Princess Nokia prove she knows how to parse a song down to its core. Her live sets are opulently layered, genre-jumping feats, from hip-hop to disco to deep house.

Shan Vincent de Paul

The sound: Grimy flows and globetrotting beats

Shan Vincent de Paul’s ruthless collaborations with fellow Tamil musician Yanchan on Mrithangam Raps scored more than half a million views last summer. Fans ate up the video series in which Vincent de Paul’s staccato rhymes chase the percussion from Yanchan’s mrithangam (or mridangam), an Indian drum commonly used at Hindu weddings and Carnatic ensembles.

“It was an authentic bridge between the classic South Asian sound and modern rap,” says Vincent de Paul about the genre fusion that brought him back around to his Tamil roots.

Outkast, Hieroglyphics, Pharoahe Monch and their contemporaries are primary influences on the Sri Lankan-born, Brampton-raised refugee artist who has been grinding out music since 2005, first with Soliva Spit Society, then as half of experimental duo Magnolius and finally alongside the collective sideways.

“I never want to classify myself as a Tamil rapper,” says Vincent de Paul, about why he didn’t tap into his heritage until recently. “I want to compete with the best of them. [And] I always had this fear that if I was going to be speaking about our story, it’s going to be falling on deaf ears.”

His first two solo albums, Saviours (2016) and Trigger Happy Heartbreak (2017), scored with U.S.-based music blogs like Okayplayer and Afropunk. But as Tory Lanez, Drake or the Weeknd will tell you, homegrown love is hard to find.

He went beast mode on tracks like Die Iconic, unleashed bangers like Bitch Go and Warning Shot and lifted spirits with the refugee anthem Out Alive. But for years, Canada slept on him.

“The art I’m making is undeniable,” says Vincent de Paul, letting out his frustration about being ignored by the industry he once catered to. “I can out-rap 99 per cent of the people in this country. I’ll put that on my life. Canada has some of the best artists in the world, but our industry is a high school shitshow.”

Vincent de Paul eventually found support within the South Asian community, who were thrilled to find a brown rapper whose rhymes are tight. And then he hooked up with Yanchan. Their Mrithangam Raps paved the way for an upcoming tour through India in February and a collab LP called IYAAA dropping March 27. And in early summer Vincent de Paul will release his third solo album, Made In Jaffna.

“Now I don’t give a fuck about the Canadian industry,” he says. “Because I have all these other people that are legit supporting me and uplifting me.

“Now the Canadian industry is outnumbered.” RADHEYAN SIMONPILLAI

If you’ve seen their name in red stencil all over the streets of Toronto and wondered what the fuc Fuctape might mean, it’s an anonymous Toronto collective with over 30 members. None of them are identified, but listen to their album and scattered singles – all up on YouTube – and there are a few you might recognize. It’s somewhere between the give-no-fucks energy of early Brockhampton and Odd Future with the way-too-online pranksterism of Death Grips, with some other electronic and indie rock pastiche in the mix.

Swagger Rite

The first song on Swagger Rite’s The Swagged Out Pedestrian, released late last year on Sony, is called Mosh Pit – and that’s the vibe throughout the spare and bone-rattling trap of the five-song EP. The Jane and Weston rapper’s single In Love With The K was a viral hit on WorldStarHipHop and attracted Drake collaborator BlocBoy JB for a new version. His energy is infectious, and you can already see it starting to spread beyond Toronto.

Jon Vinyl

Jon Vinyl has a pretty good friend in his corner: pop sensation Shawn Mendes. The young R&B singer/songwriter got a shout-out from his old Pickering high school pal on Instagram last year for his Nostalgia EP, and the music stood up to the sudden influx of rabid Mendies (is that what his stans are called?). His upcoming single Moments (out January 31), produced by fellow Torontonian GOVI, shows his star potential – timeless smooth soul meets 2020 pop hooks.

Nyssa calls her music “repurposed rock.”

With her bleached-blond hair, intense eyes and undeniable swagger, she’s seven decades of rock star energy channelled into one person. You can hear it all in her electro-glam pop songs: outlaw country, 60s Motown, singer/songwriter folk, pulsing 80s pop and plenty of old rock and roll.

But there’s one thing missing: guitars.

“I’m not saying I’ll never use guitars. I mean, I love guitars,” says Nyssa. “But I want to challenge myself, and this kind of music is usually so guitar-driven, part of the challenge is to find that energy somewhere else. I want to take all the things I love and then break all the moulds so you hear them in a different way.”

As a solo artist, Nyssa has an EP, Champion Of Love, and a handful of singles to her name. But she’s a long-time veteran of the local rock scene. She fronted the girl group/rockabilly-indebted band the Superstitions (later Modern Superstitions) starting when she was 15 years old.

She’s been through the record-label wringer and is now purposefully independent and self-sufficient. She produces all her music herself, and even her powerful and intense live shows are 100 per cent solo – though she cherishes the visceral communal experience of live music.

One collaboration Nyssa does have on the way is with Meg Remy of U.S. Girls, who co-produced her cover of Ann-Margret’s psychedelic Lee Hazlewood collaboration It’s A Nice World To Visit (But Not To Live In). That will appear on an upcoming vinyl box set from local label Fuzzed and Buzzed and also on Nyssa’s otherwise self-produced debut album, Girls Like Me, which she plans to release sometime this year. The songs, all primarily beat- and lyric-driven, tell the stories of female outcasts at odds with the modern world.

Nyssa is long-time regular and now co-organizer at Dan Burke’s annual Death To T.O. Halloween shows, where local musicians dress up and play full sets as other bands. She’s channelled Rod Stewart, INXS, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger and Elvis. This year, for a special Valentine’s Day edition, she’ll perform as Meatloaf. She always chooses artists she wants to “become a little bit,” and it’s inspired her own music, but she won’t forget the baggage that comes with it.

“In rock and roll we still have all these very out-of-date male archetypes of excess. Just pure appetite,” she says. “And there are obviously a lot of troubling stories.”

“So I would like to take the good and the fun and the no-holds-barred sexuality and take away all of the uh…” she pauses for a second, searching for the right word and then lets out a bemused laugh, “...horrible bullshit.” RICHARD TRAPUNSKI

Nyssa plays (as Meatloaf) at Death To T.O. On Valentine’s Day on February 14 at Lee’s Palace.

More Artists To Watch

Jesse Crowe launched Praises to focus on more personal inner questions about gender expression and health than they could tackle in their main project, Beliefs. But with the recent Hand Drawn Dracula release of the addictive three-song EP Three – co-produced by their Beliefs collaborator Josh Korody – it’s overtaken that shoegaze band as the project to watch. The songs are stark and dramatic, minimalist and heavy, with a voice that makes you stop dead in your tracks. After recuperating from cancer surgery, Crowe will return to the stage this year and finish the follow-up to their 2018 debut album In This Year: Ten Of Swords.

Praises plays the Monarch Tavern on March 27.

Cindy Lee

Patrick Flegel, formerly of the short-lived but influential Calgary post-punk band Women, calls Cindy Lee the culmination of a lifelong exploration of guitar, queer identity and gender expression. The songs on the upcoming album What’s Tonight To Eternity (out February 14) are ethereal in the literal sense, exorcising ghostly echoes of the Supremes, Patsy Cline and Karen Carpenter – pop’s uncanny valley.

Scott Hardware

After a stint in Berlin, electronic art-pop artist Scot Hardware has spent the last few years back in Toronto making his new sophomore album Engel (Telephone Explosion), and he’ll release it on April 3 before another extended jaunt in Europe. Inspired by Wim Wenders’s film Wings Of Desire, it’s an eclectic and uncategorizable piano-and-strings-speckled meditation on queerness, shame, death and the afterlife.

Scott Hardware plays at the Boat on January 30.

The sound: Soft sounds for the comedown

Ziibiwan is an electronic musician, but they don’t make music for the club.

“[Musician/artist] Melody McKiver explained it nicely: [my music] is what you play after the club when you’re like, ‘I’ve had too many gin and tonics and I need to chill out,’” Ziibiwan says with a smile.

While living in foster care, music was a release for Ziibiwan. They played piano and guitar, and later experimented with electronic music through a digital audio work station. They covered Radiohead and Foo Fighters songs, and were enamoured with whatever was playing on BET. But it wasn’t until they moved to Jane and Finch that Ziibiwan made their own music.

“I was working at Loblaws on St. Clair West, doing the graveyard shift, and I would commute from Jane and Finch. I was on my laptop most of the time and I would record everything,” Ziibiwan says about the making of their 2016 debut EP Time Limits, a collection of beat-centric songs that evoke textured imagery.

“There were a lot of problems going on in my life then, and I felt like the land was giving me something. Not just the land but the cultures around me at Jane and Finch,” continues the musician, who’s currently living in Hamilton to care for their family. “It was one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had in my life.”

Following the EP’s release, Ziibiwan, who also performs as DJ Nimkiiwitch, opened for acts like A Tribe Called Red, played at Venus Fest and composed scores for two short animated films by Amanda Strong. Next month, Ziibiwan and McKiver will perform their original score for the play God’s Lake as it tours throughout British Columbia. This week at the Music Gallery, Ziibiwan will celebrate the release of their new album, Giizis.

Ziibiwan describes Giizis as more soft and introspective than their previous music, and it will feature their voice for the first time. For Ziibiwan, Giizis – an Anishinaabemowin word they define as, “the moon, the sun and the eastern direction, which is all kind of a new beginning” – is the start of a new and more intimate creative chapter.

“I want to introduce this version of who I am to people because people don’t really know me beyond making beats,” they explain.

“My friend once said that we don’t have to always be performative with [our] Indigeneity and we also don’t always have to protest in our music. That’s what most Native rap is. It’s always they, they, they and us. It’s always plural and not really introspective at all.

“We deserve our own music.” LAURA STANLEY

Ziibiwan plays an album release show on Saturday (January 25) at the Music Gallery at 918 Bathurst with Phèdre and Melody McKiver.

More Artists To Watch

Xuan Ye

Interdisciplinary artist Xuan Ye approaches sound manipulation with boundless curiosity. The improvised electronic pieces on her debut LP xi xi 息息 (out now via Halocline Trance) shudder, whine, whisper and shout. The detailed sonic layers force you to drop everything, breathe and listen.

Xuan Ye performs as part of Convergence Theory on Saturday (January 25) at the Victory Social Club.

Astro Mega

Listening to Astro Mega’s (aka Jermaine Clarke) extensive catalogue of songs feels like slipping into a warm bath while a party happens on the other side of the door. His 80s- and 90s-hip-hop-inspired beats are muted and chill, often with a collage of sampled voices. Listen to 97’ Kobe from his recent LP GodBodyDevine if you want a vivid memory of playing NBA Live 97 in somebody’s basement.

BisonBison is a new multi-genre collaborative project between electronic producers Dani Ramez (Spookyfish) and Chad Skinner (Snowday) with producer and drummer Brad Weber (Caribou), multi-instrumentalist Sinéad Bermingham and vocalist Sophia Alexandra. On their upcoming debut album Hover (due out February 7), they meld the gentle sensibilities of folk with disquieted electronics in hypnotic convergence.

BisonBison play a release party on February 1 at the Garrison with ANZOLA and Kira May.

Luna Li

The sound: The all-ages scene grows up

As a teenager, Hannah Bussiere Kim straddled two worlds. Her mother ran a music school in Roncesvalles, and she trained in classical piano and violin, taking Royal Conservatory exams and performing at recitals. On weekends, though, she was at DIY shows at now-shuttered all-ages venues like D-Beatstro and the Central.

She left Toronto to study violin at McGill, but dropped out after one semester. She wanted to start her own band.

In 2015, she started a garage rock group, Veins, which morphed into her solo project Luna Li two years later.

“When I was first starting out, I thought, ‘Rock and roll is cool, the violin is not,’” says the 23-year-old. “It took me a long time to figure out how to incorporate my classical background into Luna Li.”

On her debut full-length, to be self-released this spring, she combines swelling psychedelic guitar and chiming keys with soulful orchestral arrangements of violin, harp and cello. She enlisted her brother, Lucas Kim, to play the cello and her producer, Braden Sauder, for drums. Everything else she plays herself. And she’s putting new parts of herself into the songs, too.

“Many of my older songs were crafted out of poems or were vague in meaning,” says Bussiere Kim. “A lot of [the new ones] deal with mental health, loneliness and friendship. They’re more direct and clear, and vulnerable.”

She’s also inspired by a new wave of Asian American female musicians like Japanese Breakfast, Jay Som and Mitski. “I’m half-Korean and that kind of representation – of actually going to shows and seeing people who look like me – was key,” she says. “When I was in high school, I never saw a band fronted by an Asian person.”

Last fall, Luna Li played festivals almost every weekend with her live band – Sauder, Hallie Switzer, Charise Aragoza and Sabrina Carrizo Sztainbok – and landed big opening slots for bands like Hollerado.

She’s still involved in the tight-knit all-ages scene from her high school days. It’s just all grown up now.

In addition to Luna Li, she plays guitar in the psych band Mother Tongues (also with Aragoza) and drums in the art pop group Tange, which is made up of ex-Pins & Needles members Deanna Petcoff and her Luna Li bandmate, Carrizo Sztainbok. Meanwhile, her boyfriend Jacob Switzer plays in indie rock group Goodbye Honolulu.

In 2020, she plans to focus on Luna Li and tour in the spring when the album is out. And hopefully, many of those shows can be all-ages.

“It’s hard to do all-ages shows because so many DIY spaces have shut down,” says Bussiere Kim. “But it’s really important that everyone feels welcome at my shows, and that includes young people.” SAMANTHA EDWARDS

More Artists To Watch

Goodbye Honolulu

While they were still in high school, Jacob Switzer, Emmett S. Webb, Max Bornstein and Fox Martindale started Goodbye Honolulu and the label Fried Records as a home for their music and their friends in the all-ages scene. The garage rock band has a penchant for punchy riffs and gang vocals, and it’s taking them beyond the city. Next month, they’re supporting the Beaches on their cross-country tour and then heading down south to play SXSW.

Goodbye Honolulu opens for the Beaches at Danforth Music Hall on February 28 and February 29.

This year brings good news for longtime fans of Sam Bielanski’s grunge-pop project. After two EPs, countless Toronto shows and playing in Pretty Matty’s live band, Pony’s finally releasing their debut full-length this year. On the woozy first single Limerence, Bielanksi sings about the crushing feeling of unrequited love. Fittingly, this February she’s playing the emo-themed tribute night Taking Back Valentine’s Day (February 14 at Junction City Music Hall) in a Paramore cover band.

Moscow Apartment

In the three years since Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla formed their indie folk-rock band Moscow Apartment, they’ve released their debut self-titled EP, won a Canadian Folk Music Award and toured across the country – all before they graduated high school. This spring, the teenagers are releasing their sophomore EP and playing shows during March Break (they’re still in high school, after all), while being outspoken advocates for the all-ages scene and climate justice.

Moscow Apartment plays the Paradise Theatre on January 30.

The sound: Disco reconnected to its roots

A half century after the heyday of disco, Tush is helping the genre stay alive.

The project, which started as a seven-piece live disco band called Mainline in 2015, now consists of just two core members: vocalist Kamilah Apong and bassist Jamie Kidd.

While their music draws from funk and soul and follows the four-to-the-floor beat typified by disco, they’re more than a vintage throwback.

“Disco is such a loaded term,” says Apong, who previously played in the band Unbuttoned. “For us, it means thinking about how music was made in the origins of [the genre] and keeping to those practices, which was experimentation and [that it was] so much of a social, cultural music.

“Black women were such a huge cultural connection, and disco is deeply ingrained in Black and queer communities.”

Naming Universal Togetherness Band and the Brothers Johnson as some early influences, Tush released an EP, Do You Feel Excited?, in 2018. Their latest single, Don’t Be Afraid, is an atmospheric slow burn propelled by Apong’s gospel-style vocals exhorting us to love defiantly. This summer, they’re planning on releasing their first full-length album.

“What we strive for is depth in the music, lyrics and themes that you don’t find in what most people think of as disco – like more of the later, whitewashed, commercial stuff,” Kidd explains. “We’re making lyric-based dance music that incorporates live instrumentation and more contemporary electronic techniques.”

Tush are a versatile band, and they’ve performed in grand ballrooms like the Palais Royale, rock clubs like the Baby G and underground warehouse parties. Recently, in order to tour more freely and take on gigs at intimate clubs, they’ve distilled their seven-piece live band into a live PA trio that includes Alexa Belgrave on keys.

Kidd, a veteran of Toronto’s electronic scene who co-founded long-running event promoters Box of Kittens and puts on their popular Sunday Afternoon Social parties, has witnessed the gradual loss of the city’s live music venues, especially those accommodating of dance music. But his genuine love for the local scene and all the talent in it encourages him to continue on.

“Something I’ve always strived for is authenticity and doing it for the right reasons,” he says. “With Tush, we’re just doing what we feel most connected to.”

Apong agrees, adding that there’s strong support for contemporary disco in the city. “Everyone dances, no one’s trying to flex or look cool,” she says. “When we throw our own shows, our people show up.” MICHELLE DA SILVA

More Artists To Watch

Born Ryan Anthony Robinson, R. Flex is a queer Black singer, electronic producer and cabaret performer blending R&B and dance music. A backing vocalist in Tush’s seven-piece live band, R. Flex released their own EP, In & Out, in 2018, and since performed in Glad Day’s Black Power Cabaret and at Queer Pop: LGBTQ+ Music & Arts Festival.

Catch R. Flex singing covers as part of Just Like A Pill on January 31.

The DJ, producer, composer and keyboardist born James Harris has been releasing music spanning disco, funk, deep house, dub and jazz since his 2017 debut EP, Memoirs. When he’s not performing or creating visuals for the electronic monthly Astral Projections, he’s co-running Cosmic Resonance, Toronto’s most exciting progressive jazz-fusion electronic label.

Babygirl

One of Toronto’s hardest-working DJs, Katie Lavoie is a fixture on the queer dance party circuit. Catch her spinning everything from Hi-NRG to juke house, pop bangers and big gay anthems at her monthly residency Freak Like Me at the Black Eagle, and on her ISO Radio show Therapeutic Hotness. Babygirl is also part of the team at Intersessions, which teaches women and LGBTQ-identifying folks how to DJ.

Babygirl plays Freak Like Me with Chippy Nonstop and Karim Olen Ash this Friday (January 24) at the Black Eagle.

The sound: Exploding the “Canadian sound”

Haniely Pableo is a cardiac nurse by day, rapper by night. As Han Han, she sings and raps in Tagalog and Cebuano, challenging notions of what makes music “sound” Canadian.

Hip-hop once seemed like an unlikely career for Pableo, but she’s driven by a desire to overthrow patriarchal-racist-exploitative systems. She enjoys creating positive change through challenging conversations, like one she recently had with a man in Tanzania.

“He said that his daughter could go to school and get educated all she wants but when she’s home, she needs to respect and serve her husband,” she recalls. “I argued with him – wouldn’t he want his daughter to be treated like an equal by the husband, [not] a servant? We went on and on.

“I [have] a lot of conversations like this when I travel or go home to the Philippines.”

Her passion for changing the narrative first collided with Toronto’s arts and music scene in 2006, when she immigrated to Canada and took a poetry workshop. After years of performing around the city as part of the collectives Santa Guerrilla and PSL (Poetry is our Second Language), she released her self-titled debut album in 2014. On her upcoming second album, URDUJA, she delves even deeper.

“Each song is different, but [it’s] mostly about the complexities of being a woman,” she explains. “How to be strong. How to be vulnerable. That you can’t always be fierce.”

Inspired by her late grandmother, she named the album after the folkloric Filipino warrior princess revered for power and leadership.

“She’s the opposite of the stereotype that we have today – that Filipina women have to be submissive and happy. That’s what I want to manifest on the album, that we’re more complex. We can be angry, sad, happy, confident and all those emotions exist on an equal spectrum.”

Pableo, who will play a Venus Fest-presented release show with fellow Filipina-Canadian acts Charise Aragoza and sketch comedy troupe Tita Collective, hopes it also challenges the idea that there’s such a thing as a unified Canadian sound.

“We’re missing out on a lot of talent and creativity [when] we stick to a narrow-minded view on what Canadian music is and is not. It’s not progressive or empowering to those communities who are always neglected and ignored,” she argues. “Canada always prides itself [on] diversity and multiculturalism, so it should follow naturally that the music scene reflects those values.”

Pableo acknowledges a growing celebration of diverse Canadian music and cites acts like Maylee Todd as important trailblazers. But she’s committed to making her music until she’s just one of many.

“My hope is that Filipino-Canadian music and talent [become] appreciated, recognized and respected. That’s my personal goal. That’s why I’m still here.” CHAKA V. GRIER

Han Han plays an URDUJA release show at Lula Lounge on January 30.

More Artists To Watch

Honest, empowering lyrics. Self-love and body positivity. A voice that blows the roof off. No, it’s not Lizzo. It’s LU KALA. The Congolese-Canadian singer is known for her flaming orange hair and songs like DCMO (Don’t Count Me Out) that you want to cry and dance to. She’s worked behind the scenes as a songwriter, and now she’s preparing to release her debut album. Its first single, Body Knew, will be out next month.

Duo Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne released their lush debut, Sombras, in 2019. OKAN's vocal- and percussion-driven tracks evoke their homeland yet also reflect the vibrant Cuban-Canadian community. On their album artwork they’re in full Latin garb, perched regally against a snow-covered landscape – the perfect illustration of their sound. This summer they’ll release their sophomore album, Espiral, and tour through North America and India.

Amaka Queenette

In the summer of 2018, Amaka Queenette quietly released her astute and far-too-brief Vacant EP. At just 19, the Nigerian-born singer’s lyrics and voice hold the composure of someone twice her age. Soulful and elegant, she moves between jazz, R&B and gospel with ease while singing about isolation and soul-searching. This spring she’ll release a visual EP, Fleeting, Inconsequential.

The sound: Heavy psych from the depths

Paul Ciuk laments the lack of meaningful connections in Toronto’s music scene.

“The sense of community we have here is totally broken,” explains the drummer for proto-metal quartet Häxan.

In the band’s experience, power dynamics are often unbalanced and musicians are reluctant to help others unless it helps themselves. But Häxan has seen that there’s an alternative – they’re proof of how supportive a small but dedicated community can be, especially if they have a space to congregate.

Though some of the friendships in Häxan span decades, the real genesis of the band happened at now shuttered Kensington Market metal venue Coalition. In 2015, with only a theatre degree in her performance arsenal, vocalist Kayley Bomben (also one of Coalition’s founding bartenders/promoters/managers) made the leap to front a Germs cover band with guitarist Paul Colosimo and bassist Eric Brauer for a one-off covers night.

“Coalition acted like a big tent because you could see all different kinds of metal there,” Brauer explains. “It was a pivotal venue for us to be able to work out the band dynamic,” Bomben agrees.

Häxan matured from punk cover band to Stooges-inspired grunge act and slowly conjured the fiery intensity of the psychedelic metal they play now. After finalizing their lineup with Ciuk, they quickly slipped into a heavy vintage groove.

A fascination with the occult didn’t hurt, either. Their name is a reference to a 1922 silent film that explores how superstition wrongly linked mental illness to witchcraft. “When we think of people as evil because they’re different, that leads to a lot of horrible things,” Bomben says.

Their debut album, set to be released this spring, furthers the fascination. It’s named Aradia, after a tome of Italian folklore that positions witchcraft against hierarchy and oppression. (The first single, Baba Yaga, just dropped on Bandcamp.)

The album was produced by Alia O’Brien of Badge Époque Ensemble and Blood Ceremony, who knows a thing or two about how pagan rituals and witchy vibes should sound. Häxan credit that connection to Fuzzed and Buzzed. The local label took a chance on them early, putting them on last year’s half-cover/half-original Altar Box 7" compilation where the band first collaborated with O’Brien.

“Nobody has ever done anything like this for any of our other bands before,” Colosimo says. Bomben agrees, pinpointing the key to thriving in the city’s metal scene. “You really have to find the people who are willing to help each other out.” MICHAEL RANCIC

More Artists To Watch

Look out for this mysterious project to make waves later this year. More within the psychedelic camp than metal, ROY still bring plenty of heaviness – biting, raw guitar lines rendered through a thick cloud of analog tape haze. But they temper that weight with dreamy keyboard-conjured paisley sublimities. Think the schoolhouse rock of Darlene Shrugg, or the dense psychedelic tapestries of Tony Price.

Rough Spells

Häxan’s Fuzzed and Buzzed labelmates occupy similar psychedelic and doomy territory and also have a full-length ready. They match Häxan’s occult metal intensity with stellar vocal harmonies and incisive lyrics. Their most recent single, Grise Fiord, is named for Canada’s most northerly community and a site of forced Inuit relocation in the 50s. All proceeds from the track go to It Starts With Us, an organization that honours the memory of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Two-Spirit and Trans people.

Erythrite Throne

Mysterious figure Wyrm has completely thrown themselves into the dark and dank atmospherics of dungeon synth, a black-metal-adjacent style that emerged in the 80s. They’ve released a ridiculously prolific amount of music in little over a year under the Erythrite Throne moniker: 18 albums on Bandcamp starting in 2018, including one on January 1 of this year. Don’t be overwhelmed: their mostly instrumental music is moody and wholly engrossing. Start with The Blind Hag’s Lair.

This content was originally published here.

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