167. A bizarre work opportunity in Hoi An

12 Aug, 2024

For a month, I've been talking to Wook Guy's (WG) wife and having a nice time. The couple lives in Northern Thailand and are in the process of getting their start-up off the ground ¹. Since exchanging messages with her, I found that she's really interested in literature and learning Japanese. We practiced writing kanji to each other and sending each other voice messages in order to get the hang of the conversation in another language. Sometimes she would teach me words in Russian. There are times when she would tell me about what's going on in Chiang Mai and some small anecdotes about how her and her husband are fairing with the company. I updated her on my little hobbies and the city life in Malaysia.

After a couple weeks of back and forth communication, I wanted to talk shop with her. She's the brains and the back-end of the company, after all. They're both young entrepreneurs who really aim to form a community of artists around the world. Their start-up business is obviously going to take a lot of manpower, and I thought it would be an interesting part-time thing for me.

I ended up speaking to her husband about how they're organizing their company and what admin stuff they needed to be done. It seems like they're a bit disorganized and in dire need of trying to structure themselves. I thought it would fun to have a short contract gig and asked them if they are up for a chat via video call.

--

The Google Meet talk was pretty seamless. As we chatted, we had nice ideas bouncing back and forth. He seemed pretty keen on taking me on for a very no-stress, part-time admin position, and I was invited to have an all-expenses-paid trip to go to Da Nang and Hoi An for a week. He told me about an artist friend he had and that I could help assist in a 3-day photo shoot. He also said that I could help him with replenish his inventory of agar wood at a small little shop in the Old Town of Hoi An. I talked it out with his wife and had consulted several friends and family members first before accepting his invitation to go to Vietnam for the week.

I've never been to Vietnam, so why not?

As I sat on the floor of my apartment, packing my backpack for my upcoming trip, I found solace in the company of my friend who had graciously decided to stay over for the night. We had just finished a night of blues dancing and I let her stay with me since the trains weren't running at all. I wasn't going to let her ride in an expensive taxi back to her place. I was super excited about my first visit to Vietnam.

My friend wished me well and safe travels as she dropped me off at the train station. My flight to Da Nang took off around 9:00 AM and I decided to take a nap while sat on the aisle seat.

--

I was greeted warmly by WG when I got out of immigration. As we were walking outside, he said that he didn't sleep at all because he was so excited about Vietnam. It was wholesome to hear that he was anticipating this work trip- his wife had arranged the travel plans and was urging him to go since he was pretty stressed. Having a quick beach trip wouldn't be so bad. However, I was a bit concerned about his lack of sleep, but he seemed alright for the most part. He had arranged to get a scooter and drive us over to Hoi An.

"By the way, the artist friend I have," He said to me as we were weaving around traffic on the road from Da Nang to Hoi An, "he had to delay the photo shoot because he's training for a marathon."

"So what does that mean for us? When are we going to do the photo shoot?"

"On Saturday. It's okay, it's only Wednesday. For the first couple of days we can just settle down here and make something out of nothing. We'll find models and shoot at the beach. I've got my camera equipment on me. And I'm covering this whole trip, so it's totally fine."

🚩

Even though my trip was getting paid for, I didn't want to be too fussy and ask for much. They're a brand new company and I didn't want to take advantage of the free accomodations. I told them that I was fine with staying at a hostel and didn't have a preference on where we were staying. WG arranged the hostel, right next to the beach. I took a cursory glance at the Google Maps photos (there isn't Google car coverage in Vietnam, knowledge thanks to GeoGuessr) and saw the bunkbeds and thought it was fine. We left the airport and drove over to Hoi An.

We arrived at a massive property, walking distance of the beach. There was an outdoor food truck/mobile bar that was parked outside of this dirt area, adjacent to the hostel. The hostel was something way different than I was used to. Actually, imagine being whisked off to the set of Love Island.

Literally, it was basically the villa, but make it hostel and backpacker-friendly. I felt so out of place because everyone there was British. The property included an open-plan seating area with all these lounge chairs and sofas, and an outdoor dining area where guests can enjoy meals together. To be honest, I looked more similar to the employees that worked there compared to the typical backpackers that stayed there. The workers didn't really smile at the other guests, except for me. I guess I really was the odd one out.

Photo of the Love Island hostel. There were a lot of Brits catching the rays and "having a lie-in"

When we received the keys from the reception to the dorm, we headed towards the shared dorm rooms. We walked into the outdoor pool area. WG turned to me and said something pretty out-of-pocket.

"Oh by the way, me and my wife are in an open marriage."

I was so confused by him saying this out of the blue. We're supposed to have a professional working relationship and he suddenly drops this nugget of information.

"Okay? Why should I know this?"

"Oh! Just in case, you know, if you see me flirting with other people around the hostel. My wife knows. She's cool with it."

🚩🚩

It seemed like an odd time to bring this up. Perhaps he was just thinking about how me and his wife are close and that it would be strange for me to see him hitting on other girls?

With the delayed photo shoot and announcing his open-marriage arrangement with his wife, I felt a little bit hesitant around him. Even though I didn't have a issue with his lifestyle, and it seemed the photo shoot delay wasn't much of a problem (or a priority for that matter), it just seemed a bit suspicious. Looking back, maybe I was too naive. At the time, I chalked it up to: maybe I didn't have space to process all this right away. I shrugged it off and tried to roll with the punches.

Maybe business is mercurial and fickle as people?

The dorm was pretty cozy and had a nice view of the pool area from the balcony. WG had the top bunk and I had the bottom bunk.

We both got locks for the lockers and settled in. We actually made conversation with the girls in our room, a hippie-looking girl from Amsterdam and a tall girl from London. WG opened up his jewelry case and showed off the different necklaces and bracelets to the girls.

"If you guys are down." he clipped on a blue bracelet onto the Dutch girl, "We're in need of models and you guys would be perfect for showcasing the latest collection."

At the time, it seemed like a good idea. However, I was a bit weary. This whole situation seemed too good to be true and altogether sounded kind of sus. The girls looked at me, looked at the jewelry, and looked at the cameras, and nodded with an enthusiastic "yes!"

🚩🚩🚩

After chit-chatting with our roomies/potential models, we went across the street and talked compensation. At the time, I thought it was cool that we were having a business negotiation while we were looking out at the sea. We ordered a giant glass of bitter Hanoi Beer and talked shop. It was a good chat. After we settled on the duties and responsibilities of my role in the company, we shook hands and enjoyed the rest of the beer. We were going to sort out the paperwork the next day.

--

Our first stop was going into Old Town put in an order of the agar wood. The Dutch girl came along with us and we stopped at this nice little store settled next to a bunch of tailor shops. The owner was this Vietnamese auntie who was pleased to see WG. It was apparently a very 'boss move' to come in with two women at the shop (I was not familiar with negotiations like this). They gave us a bunch of treats.

Evening was approaching and we wanted to celebrate our newfound business relationship with a night out in Hoi An Old Town.

When we got back to the Love Island hostel, I got ready for the first night out. After 10 minutes, I found WG asleep on the bunk bed. The man didn't sleep a wink and he finally got a rest, but he wore his shoes on the bed. I decided to go solo and planned where to go in Old Town. However, don't know what came over me, but I tried to shake him awake and gently asked him if he wanted to take his shoes off. He immediately shot straight up and said that he was ready to go out.

"But you didn't sleep at all, don't you want to take a rest? I could just take a Grab into town, it's fine."

"You underestimate how little sleep I could function off of."

🚩🚩🚩🚩

I suggested that we take a cab in, but after watching WG drive around the block and being convinced that it was alright, I relented and hopped on the back of the bike.

He took a detour at one of the rice fields and stopped in the middle of the path in between two rice paddys. We both got off of the bike and he took out a cigarette, while I looked along the edge of the water stream.

"You know, I think we [wife and I] needed your support. We need someone systematic to help us with this organization shit." he took a drag out of his cigarette and kicked some stones away from the bike, "We really appreciate it."

"No worries. I think once things get off the ground, you guys will settle in and make a profit." I tell him, as I watched the stars above.

It was a very wholesome moment actually, before he said-

"Oh yeah, it's a little hard to get some support these days. Some of my friends, who are going to pay for some of the jewelry, are in jail right now..."

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

I shifted a little uneasy and quickly changed the subject to the rest of the night. It seemed to lighten up the mood. I think I just wanted to go where there was more people around.

We managed to get to the other hostel all in one piece, and I had to endure the most horrible music pub quiz ever. I was given a bingo sheet with all the pop songs written in the little squares. I was upset because some of these songs weren't really well-known international hits- they were mostly British songs that an outsider of the UK wouldn't even know. (Out of the UK hits, I only recognized You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry & The Pacemakers only because I caught some Premier League matches whenever I'm with football fanatic friends)

--

"Wow, I just don't want to be here," I muttered under my breath. I was a sore loser for failing the pub music bingo game. WG was about 5 pints of Hanoi beer in and had told me that he drank 2 shots without my knowledge. I was getting a bit worried that he was getting too tipsy and couldn't drive the bike, so I suggested we just go by foot. We decided to ditch the pub quiz, leave the bike at the hostel, and walked down the street to the rest of the nightlife.

We walked down the street and looked around the nightlife. After a quick bahn-mi stop, we were invited by a bar promoter to go to this four-story bar.

While sitting near the window, I was fine, sipping on another pint. It was a big night and I wasn't really feeling the nightlife today and chalked up the discomfort as first day arriving in a new country. My companion of the night decided it was a good idea to purchase whippits at the pub and offered a balloon to me. I declined and suddenly he started going off,

"You have been doing this all night, cockblocking my energy and good vibes. I think you should reevaluate why you're here with me because I hate the bad energy you're putting onto me. You're just a negative person right now and you're giving me nothing. How can I be around you if you're acting like this?"

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

I was really relieved that I finally had the chance to escape. I figured that the wisest thing was not to argue with someone who was clearly intoxicated, high, and sleep-deprived. I took a crumpled up napkin and wrote in pen, "I'm going back to hostel now. Bye." and gave it to the guy. He slowly read it, took one inhale from his balloon, and started yelling at the girl next to him.

I immediately ran outside and talked to a bunch of Vietnamese locals to take me back to the hostel. I looked behind me to see if he followed me downstairs (he didn't), and then quickly haggled a reasonable price to get me the hell out of there.

--

After such a hectic night, I really felt like I needed to leave that hostel. I didn’t want to sleep in a bunk bed underneath that madman. I returned back to the beachside part of the town and immediately starting plotting my escape plan as I walked along the sand. I remember taking a giant sigh of relief and cried for a good two minutes. I took my shoes off and let the waves wash over my bare feet. The tears fell into the ocean. That's one of my favorite things in life actually- crying into different bodies of water. At that very moment, I finally felt alone and comfortable enough to just let it all out.

--

Around 11:30 PM, I immediately returned to the Love Island hostel. I witnessed a couple of knackered British people crawling back to their dorms or lounging on the lawn chairs after their night out. I packed my large backpack and locked it away in the locker. I was going to come back for it the next morning while everyone was still sleeping off their hangover from the night before. I only had my smaller backpack and my purse and made my way into the night with an almost-dead phone, barely hanging on with 12% battery left. With a charger + adaptor combo in hand, only one pair of shorts, and a sudden surge of willpower, I made my way back into the night. I just wanted to get the hell out of this place and away from that guy. I wasn't going to sleep bottom bunk next to a man who threatened me, right?

Of course I updated my friends on my whereabouts around Hoi An. They were worried for my well-being, but I reassured them that I was away from that guy and was searching for a new place to stay for the night. While I was frantically texting my loved ones with 10% left, I ditched the Love Island hostel and teetered down the road with my bags, hoping to find a new and nearby hostel as refuge for the night.

Right next to the Love Island hostel, a truck/cocktail bar was parked in the middle this giant gravel area. I was very tempted to stay for a spell, as the atmosphere was quite warm and inviting. Moreover, I was also pretty dehydrated. My mind raced around like a jockey horse on cocaine- I really needed to collect my thoughts and remain calm during my escape. After some moments of hesitation, I continued down the road. I was trying to evade an obviously inebriated American fellow, and it seemed way too risky to stay around the area near the Love Island hostel. I walked for a good 15 minutes and had to cross a busy street with motorbikes whizzing by. The dim streetlights guided me to a small residential area. In front of me was a 4-story house and a little swimming pool. I looked at this charming little abode and felt instant relief. This was going to be my Hoi An accommodations for the next couple of days...

I approached the gate. Fortunately, somebody didn't lock it and I went straight inside and to the lobby. Google Maps told me that this homestay had 24-hour desk service, but there was no one manning the reception at all. I looked around quietly, trying to hear any shuffling of feet or rummaging of bags - any sign of someone awake. I just needed a place to stay for the night.

The only person awake was one of the guests that was getting ready for bed. I was sitting on the couch with my backpack and phone in hand when I saw a girl, maybe a little bit older than me, quietly descend the staircase. I gave her a polite nod as she slipped into the bathroom. I immediately found an outlet and plugged in my charger to get some juice for my almost-dead phone. As I was attached to the electrical outlet, I prepared what I was going to say when she gets out.

"Hi, I'm so sorry, I just arrived in Hoi An really late... My flight was so delayed and I didn't have any battery or phone service, but I managed to get a motorbike to take me here. Do you have any idea where the hostel staff is?" I tried to be one part calm and personable, other part slightly panicky as I was lying through my teeth about the situation I was in.

My intention was for her to look at my sad doe eyes and take pity on me. Clearly, I'm a disheveled mess trying to run away from a lunatic, but I wasn't going to share those nitty gritty details during the first conversation. I was trying to make a good impression and was hopeful that she would let me into the dorm room. Just spare a pillow for me so I could sleep on the floor. Anything is fine by me at this point.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, love." I heard a warm Irish accent through her words, "Did you happen to get the WhatsApp number at all when you booked?" (I did not reserve the hostel room yet.)

"Oh no, I literally just arrived!" I was about to bust out the waterworks if things went awry. "Well, my booking went through, but it said that can pay on-site. Oh! But I didn't get any contact info from the booking... Would you mind sharing it with me now?"

--

I'm the luckiest girl in Hoi An right now. I got the phone number from the Irish girl and immediately sent a text. She clasps my shoulder and gave me a reassuring look before she went off to bed.

I went back into the street and tried to figure out what I was going to do for the night. Will I resort to desperate measures?

I walked back to the cocktail bar/truck area next to the original hostel I was at. There was a skinny local guy named Roy, who was the guy in charge of the cocktail truck. He and his crew were serving drinks to the tuckered-out tourists and late-night Vietnamese locals. I watched as the highballs and beers get poured and passed around the fire. I approached the bar and asked them if I could get a bottle of water and just sat there alone away from everyone else. I needed some time the think and needed some space to breathe.

I think Roy took pity on me and asked me what was up.

I told him truthfully, "I was wondering if there is an available hotel or hostel for me to stay just for one night? I'm trying to avoid someone at the one nearby..." Frankly, I was just passing the time and was trying to figure out if I'm able to just nap on the beach chairs for a while before finding a suitable place for the rest of my Hoi An adventures. Thankfully, there were no questions asked about the person I was trying to avoid. I didn't want to explain what happened.

Roy noticed my desperation. He told me to "hold on a minute" as he went to go talk to a buddy sitting right behind him. After a couple of minutes of discussion, he came back to my lonely table and said, "Okay, you can stay with this guy. He's a nice guy we know him around here." He pointed to his friend, a very mellow Canadian guy with a baseball hat and a bottle of Saigon beer in his hands. I guess that was enough social proof for me to accept this kind offer.

He joined my table and we made idle chatter.

"Yeah, you can just sleep on my couch. Just to warn you, I have a cat." Amazing.

I found out that he's from Toronto and he just came down to Vietnam after his years of traveling to help open and manage some of the beach club businesses around the seaside area of Hoi An. He's really nice, likes to smoke cigarettes, and talks fondly about Canada and SE Asia.

We went back home a little after midnight. He gave me his helmet and we took a 5 minute drive back to his house on his motorbike. It was a really nice place, with a small gate and a garden in the front. He sleeps on the first floor and his roommate sleeps on the second.

We entered the living room to his house and it was a very quiet and peaceful night. He gave me a giant blanket and asked me if I needed any water or anything. I sat on the couch, charged my dead phone, and pet his cat, Tigger.

My kind host wanted a smoke before he went off to bed. I joined him outside in his outdoor patio and talked about our travel stories. He told me about his climbing friends back in Canada and how they do ice climbing. However, our discussion was interrupted by his roommate coming home. Enter roommate, whose arrival shattered the quiet ambiance of our conversation. It wasn't terrible though. It was a delightful change of pace, actually.

Accompanied by an Australian companion on a motorcycle, the roommate sauntered over to the wooden patio set, where we were just hanging out. She's from the UK and was sloshed off her tits. The Aussie gentleman was laughing and helped her get back on her feet, before cracking a joke and departing on his bike.

Tired from her escapade, she confided in me and her Canadian roommate. Her drunken stupor was an obvious a veil for her vulnerability, because apparently she really wanted to sleep with that Australian guy. It was a moment of raw authenticity amidst the backdrop of our transient encounter.

"His nickname is 'Fingers'... I just want to know what that means." She is so real for this comment. After some back and forth banter of "yeah you should summon him back!" comments from me and her going "noooo I don't want to be so desperate!" she concluded by saying, "Ok, I'll ask him to come back and that you guys are gone..."

But life, as it often does, unfolded its own narrative. Her advances rebuffed, she faced the sting of rejection from the Australian fellow and she was really bitter.

"*You know, when I wake up in the morning, I think sober me is going to thank current, drunk me for not sleeping with that man. This is horrid."

We all retreated back into the house and went to sleep.

The couch served as my makeshift bed. I was jolted awake by an unexpected sight – the Canadian guy with two boxes of pizza. Hunger knows no curfew.

Come morning, I stumble my way back to the Love Island hostel.

~ an escapee,

<3 K

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