Review 5, Nightmare Series & Contemporary Vietnam

On Friday (23th), from Higashi-Umeda, I walked to Umeda subway station, a short and familiar distance, and went on to Namba. The view of Namba was pretty much changed with a large commercial complex up at the former site of Osaka Stadium. On an upper floor, there was a “gallery” for the memories of the Nankai Hawks. The display was new, different from what I saw in a few online photos. Cheap gallery. Not much to talk about it. A big disappointment. Eventually, the place will be gone.

Back from Umeda in the late afternoon, I met a friend from my client company who was transferred from Tokyo and whom I had met in Singapore twice. We had a nice time together walking around the area.

*

The way I sleep, or don’t sleep, is terrible again for the past few days. Series of vivid nightmares. Old jobs and old bosses. All from images from the past. Exhausted when I get out of bed. What is this? Awake or asleep, never feel relaxed.

*

I finished “Shadows and Wind” by Robert Templer. As the author writes, the majority of books about Vietnam have talked about the war and very little about the contemporary aspects of the country. I say this book is the best among those I have read, English or Japanese. Regrettably, it has been ten years since “Shadows and Wind” was published. Although I only spend about a month in Sai Gon, from what I witnessed there, things have further changed and the society seemed to me much more open.