Relaxing Weekend with my Friends

The great thing for each of us is to have friends to share our joys, hobbies, and confiding in unhappy times. Each person has a job, a personal life, and there are things that cannot be done with family members. I am also very fortunate to have great friends, and every day when I am done with work, I have a short time left to do a sport or an activity in nature. Of course, I still go alone most days of the week. Some other days I would invite friends to go somewhere close to where we live not too far away.

The city we live in is not big, it can be considered small with a radius of about 10km from the center, but when we go together, it is very large. Not because of geography but because we constantly find unexpected beauties in that small city. Perhaps we are too dependent on the recommended destinations that are advertised a lot without noticing or searching for isolated, less frequented places even if it is right near our house. Beauty is often overlooked than discovered.

One of such relaxing activities during the week is rowing sup. I usually finish my work by 4 p.m., and I have about two and a half hours before it gets dark. The friend who often goes with me at times like this is @trangbaby and a few other friends who are not on the Hive community. In this article, I talk about a small branch of the Han River located more than 3km from our house. This tributary is located in a rather hidden location and on both sides are two golf course projects and a villa area under construction. Perhaps that is why very few people care and know this part of the river.

I invited Ms. Trang to ride a motorbike there, we found a cool tree and left the car, we brought the sup boat, backpack, and folding table and chairs down near the river's edge and pumped up the sup. Time is also not much and we leisurely paddle to enjoy the scenery on both sides of the river and if we find a nice flat lawn, we will go ashore to set up tables and chairs to sit and relax. 🙂

Thanks to the lush green landscape of the golf course extending to the opposite bank, we whispered about the lives of the rich. But we also feel rich with the opposite bank with rows of coconut trees and flowers full of life. Along the shore there are also pitcher plants that are starting to ripen, this fruit, soaked with sugar and a little milk and shaved ice, is delicious on a sunny day. Many overripe fruit fell into the river and the birds ate the fruit, I often picked a few to eat. This section of the river is quite quiet, the water surface is calm, sometimes we encounter people's small boats to remove the nets. They also told us not to go too close to the shore so the sup's fins wouldn't drag their nets away. It seems that it is almost late in the evening or early in the morning when there are many people playing golf, when we go, we only see one or two playing. They looked out over the river and saw us smiling and waving. Everyone is enjoying their own sport and time, right?

Rowing for a while near the end of the blocked river for a water channel project, we discovered a beautiful blooming lotus pond. The color of the lotus petals is gentle in the sunset, and the lotus is also a symbol of the beauty of Vietnamese women. Ms. Trang is not only excited by the discovery of beautiful lotus flowers here but also wants to have a chance to take a photo with lotus flowers in a traditional Vietnamese dress, ao dai. It must be very bright and should be prepared to do it soon before the lotus season ends. Set up picnic tables and chairs, then the two of us sat and chatted, watching lotuses and waiting for the sunset. It was quite cloudy in the west, so the sunset was not very good that day (I have some more photos with other friends on other occasions when the weather is more favorable).

Around 6:30 p.m. the white floodlights lit up the whole river on the golf course side, which helped us row back out of the darkness. It was interesting to watch the little fish jump out of the water as we paddled past making noise. The shimmering silver color reflected by the light on the opposite side is so beautiful that there is hardly a similar opportunity. Both travel and return have their own beauty thanks to the light so we quite like this place and sometimes we come back about twice a month. With such simple experiences together and self-organization, it also somewhat balances the mood after a whole day of work. The anxiety and pressure are relieved to help the body become stronger, the mind clearer, sleep better, and have the energy to recover for the next day.

It's a way to relax with my friends, do you have any plans for your next day?

Thanks for reading my post and wish you a great weekend.