“What’s the main difference between Vietnam and Singapore?” I asked Gracelyn shortly after we arrived in Saigon.
“Motorbikes!” she said “Vietnam has a lot of motorbikes. Everywhere!”
By now, after 5 months, if you ask my kids, that remains their most favorite mode of transport. Every morning, I would indulge them by riding them to school – a mere 500 meter distance – on the bike and they would always fight who gets to sit in front (“It’s refreshing”! as Lucas put it).
We have also mastered the art of balancing all 4 of us on longer journeys. I would gently squeeze my inner thighs against my little boy’s tiny butts to secure him a bit more. Gracelyn, sandwiched between me and Emily, would keep calling out to Lucas. “What’s the number, Lucas?” “It’s 28, jiejie!”
“I always feel we are so close to one another on the bike.” Emily would point out. I mean, yeah, literally.
I love that intimacy. It’s such a new currency that a car ride couldn’t afford.
Until Lucas starts dozing off in front.
Keane Nguyen 