Lemon Tea Street

(Baonghean) - My ability to remember street names is extremely poor, so even though I am a "true" Vinh city resident, 99% of the time, if someone asks me for directions, I will get a shake of the head and a "bewildered deer" look. Unfortunately, I know the street but I don't know the name, so when asked for street names, I am clueless!

Yet there is a street that has broken the “curse” of absent-mindedness, that is “Lemon Tea” Street. At this point, many readers will surely wonder: How can there be a street in the City named “Lemon Tea”? This street with a strange name is probably only a mystery to middle-aged to elderly people, but to young people, it is not unfamiliar. That is a section of the sidewalk of Ho Tung Mau Street, outside the fence of Ho Chi Minh Square and the Provincial Labor Culture House.

Lemon Tea Street on Ho Tung Mau Street becomes a favorite destination for young people in the evening.

No one knows when this sidewalk section became a gathering place for mobile refreshment shops in the evening. Both the shop owners and customers who come to this "street" are mostly young people under 25 years old. Starting from 6 pm, the young "ladies and gentlemen" owners begin to set up tables, chairs and utensils, ingredients, serving the most "trendy" refreshments and snacks among today's youth, such as lemon tea, peach tea, fried spring rolls, fruits with fish sauce and chili, etc. Although it does not appear on any map of the City, this "street" also has a proper nameplate like other routes. "Lemon Tea Street", perhaps a mischievous shop owner brought this nameplate to hang here every night when they opened the shop to serve customers. As a way to affirm the existence of a culture, a very unique nightlife of the City's youth.

I often gather with friends at a refreshment shop on this special “street”. The shops here do not have specific, exact names and addresses, so regular customers find their favorite shop based on their memories of the sidewalk where the shop stands and the shop owners. My “favorite” shop is located right next to the side entrance of the Provincial Labor Culture House. Why do I like this place? There are 3 reasons:

Firstly, right next to the entrance of the Cultural House is a green lawn space with a small rockery, so the lemon tea shop outside coincidentally "enjoys" that very natural perspective, giving this shop a very unique feature, very different from the other lemon tea shops sharing that sidewalk.

Second, the nameplate of the “street” is also located at the location of this shop - a very convenient thing if you are someone who likes to take pictures to save happy moments with friends and do not forget to “check-in” on social networks. Perhaps that is also the intention of the shop owners here, to create a healthy gathering and entertainment place for young people. If in Hanoi there is a lemon tea “street” opposite the City Opera House, in Saigon there is a lemon tea “street” at Notre Dame Cathedral, then in Vinh there is also a lemon tea “street” on one of the largest streets in the city, located in the central area right next to Ho Chi Minh Square. Many young people studying in Hanoi and Saigon coming back for summer vacation were delighted when they encountered a hobby, a place that seemed strange but was very familiar, closely associated with the life of students in big cities.

Finally, when it comes to young people, we have to mention habits. I often hang out with friends at this shop because I am familiar with the shop owners. Among them is a friend named Tuan, born in 1995, still in school. I know Tuan because he is the admin of a website about Vinh City cuisine. Once, when I invited a group of close friends to the shop, the whole group played "rubber time", I was sitting alone and absent-minded when I saw the shop owner pull up a chair to sit with me, chatting for a while to relieve my boredom. Like old friends meeting each other, the two of us sat and discussed enthusiastically about restaurants and delicious dishes in the city. Perhaps the passion for cuisine is also one of the reasons why Tuan and his friends opened this lemon tea shop. “But the most important thing is to have a place to meet friends, chat and relax after a day of work or study. That is healthier than playing games, drinking or driving on the road, which is both crowded and dangerous…”.

It is a bit strange to hear these things from a young person - a generation that is often associated with stereotypes of being reckless, fond of noisy activities, and crowded places. But in fact, that is just a very one-sided view of today's youth. Because, obviously, with energy always full, interest, and interest in new, strange things, the most "trendy", "stylish", the hobbies and actions of young people are always more eye-catching, more outstanding than the hobbies and interests of older people. My mother once complained when I often left the house every night at the invitation of my friends: "Today's young people, whenever they meet, drink, and then invite each other to bars and clubs. All crowded, noisy, and complicated places. What's interesting or nutritious about those places where they hang out and gather all day. Which parents wouldn't worry?"

After listening, I burst out laughing and convinced my mother to go with me once to see how young people "hang out". However, after the time we went to drink lemon tea on Ho Tung Mau street, my mother became "fascinated" with that very "gentle" culture of young people. Every few days, my parents would go for a walk around the square and the stop was always "Lemon Tea Street".

So, to see, the harmony between generations is not an “impossible mission”, even in the entertainment field. Because every age is the same, there must be moments of excitement and bustle, but also need quiet moments, peaceful corners on the sidelines of the hustle and bustle of life. And “Lemon Tea Street” is one of those quiet, humble and extremely lovely little corners. When sitting and sipping a cup of lemon tea, leisurely chewing a few sunflower seeds, indifferently listening to a close friend chattering about life, about someone, looking out at the busy traffic passing by, suddenly you feel like a note out of tune, out of rhythm. But it is not out of place, but a pause in the flow of modern life that is constantly urging. Slow down to feel your soul more peaceful, to listen to the sound of life more clearly, to see the colors of life more clearly.

Of course, sidewalk culture in Vietnam always comes with small negative points that inevitably make people frown. There was a time when the press was full of news about sidewalk lemon tea mixed with chemicals of unknown origin, or sunflower seeds soaked in chemicals to create color, create scent, etc. Those are the not-so-beautiful hidden corners of Vietnamese sidewalks in general, but perfect symmetry is not necessarily the priority rule in painting, especially when painting a picture of life. Those are a few scribbles that do not really match the modern urban area, but then we still look at those shortcomings with tolerance and even love and nostalgia every time we are away. And then when we return to our hometown, sitting on the bustling streets and looking at the friendly smiles of these dynamic young people, how can we be angry, how can we hate them!

Hai Trieu