What you’ve deemed quite simple all your life may prove to be so difficult that it may claim your entire day; and you’re left bewildered, feeling like a fool. We’re in Vietnam at the moment, which may explain why we feel we’re losing grip on our life more often nowadays.

The hotel we’re staying at didn’t want to offer their laundry service at a reasonable price, and me being the kind of person that couldn’t settle for anything but strictly the “local rate,” we agreed to go get it done at a local laundromat.

The day before our laundry day, we dropped by a local supermarket for a couple of laundry nets. For some reason, a loud speaker was blaring club music outside, and I was massively distracted and realized just in the nick of time that something spiky was scratching at my toes. As it turns out, I had stepped on a three centimeter-long screw nail. As soon as we stepped foot inside the store and put our backpack away in the locker, the electricity went out as if on cue. Wondering why the music was still blaring in the middle of the power cut, we went about inside the pitch-dark supermarket, looking for laundry nets with the mobile flashlight on. We didn’t get frazzled at all; we previously experienced occasional power outages in Beta Store, a Kyrgyz supermarket. By the way, their biscuit section is still fondly remembered.

On the day we set our mind to go to the laundromat we had earmarked, the rain clouds gathered around the town, and the moment we stepped outside, it started to pour down like we were living out a cartoon. We promptly retreated back into our room and watched an episode of a woodworking show on Channel 4 over a cup of tea with a dash of Da Lat milk we sourced with great difficulty the other day.

We stepped out again in an hour and walked on the beachside path for 15 minutes to get to the laundromat. What struck me more than anything upon arriving was a minuscule rat scuttling along the edge of the shop. We agreed to come back for the laundry in a couple of hours, and went off to a coffee shop nearby.

In less than an hour, the rain started to come down again. Observing dozens of mopeds covered in ponchos going about in all directions in the pouring rain made me feel almost melancholic at one point, but then a guy on a moped came into sight zooming down the street, carrying about forty Coca-Cola chairs stacked up and tied together. Impressive.

We went back to the laundromat slightly earlier than the agreed time, and was told that we had to wait for 15 more minutes. As it was located at a busy intersection, we went back to the beach to stroll about. Although it was a steaming hot day, two stray dogs were frolicking around on the beach.

We picked up the laundry as it started to chuck down again, and got in a taxi as the nice lady at the laundromat waved at us, smiling. It was almost early evening by the time we returned to our hotel. Relieved that we got there in the end, we agreed nonetheless to get the laundry out of the way first thing in the morning next week onward.