The messy night at Birdcage

3-Mar-2018

A few weeks had passed from Tết and the teaching rhythm had well and truly settled. With the exception of a kid in Cự Khôi throwing lego at his fellow students, things were going through the motions; Ly in An Hưng was a delight, Sophie Filer was still late on Wednesdays, misery loved company at Cổ Nhuế, and Kim Giang was noisier than a jet engine. A few lakeside Bia Hoi meet ups, some Tuesday football and tasty street food broke up the week. Plans for St Patricks Day were already in the works, but until then, there were simple plans just for drinks in town.

Friday came and went, though I was covering a class in the morning in Đông Thái. At this time BME was trying to get us all to cover classes to cover our supposed absences during Vietnamese public holidays. Most of us saw it for what it was; more interns teaching pricey classes while paying intern salaries. It did not go down well for some, who e-mailed Nathalie about it. I kept on trucking, but I should have been more vocal about it.

Returning to House 5, it was clear a party was brewing. I did the usual and bring cans around from Circle K, but also got Kelly some Alligator vodka from a vendor in the laneways. While Laura and Kelly were having pre-drinks with Sadie, I found out in the group chat that Megan was eating at an Italian restaurant, likely with Beth, Miles, Carrie, Maddie and Eoin. Sarah, Diane and Andy were stuffed from eating out earlier. Alex was on Board for whatever madness was in store, but she was partying in one of the other houses. Then, by the table downstairs, we all agreed on a place to head to.

The Birdcage

Up to this point all I knew about the Birdcage was that it was in the middle of nowhere, but all the teachers that returned from there had the party of a lifetime inside and great themes for music. No doubt it was intriguing, but it also seemed like the sort of place where you bring what you have with you, as once you are in its hard to get out. I decided to join in. The adventure element alone seemed worth it.

The taxi arrived around 11, and we got in. After a drive through the city, we wound up circling the large Tay Ho lake before heading further north. We passed the Trấn Quốc pagoda on the way, and the Tay Ho district itself. Instead of turning left into the district, the taxi headed straight to the flower market, and turned right. From here, it was a bumpy road through the night as the taxi hit a dirt road for a while, then turned again into another dirt road, passing what looked like a graveyard, and finally to the Birdcage.

Getting out of the taxi, it seemed like a daunting task just getting back to the main Âu Cơ road, let alone Cầu Giấy, which seemed a world away from this place. Looking back, it seemed so weird to think it was only 5-600 metres away from the main road, and maybe just under 10km worth of walking to House 5. In Ireland I would gladly stagger these distances and then some home, but in this strange new world, maybe not.

The birdcage itself was an interesting club (as if the location wasn’t enough). There was plenty of bamboo around the walls, lighting and sound was all focused at the main dancing area, while the bar was just beside it, protected by palm tree leaves and serving plenty of spirits and surprisingly pricey beers. For a club, the seating was surprisingly plentiful, though not enough to discourage mad dancing. Going counterclockwise, there was an outdoor drinking area with toilets, and further still, you would find a small room with a PS1 and Tekken on. Actual birdcages hung from the ceiling, though the feeling of distance from anywhere else gave Bircage its name more than any ornamental decoration.

Drinks and balloons were all the rage through the night, but I was having plenty of rum and ginger ale. It had been my first true night on spirits since arriving into Hanoi, and they were going down really fast and really easily. Up to now I had been on Viet Ha, various Hanoi beers and Bia Hois. Megans group arrived, along with a few other houses, and the party was really kicking off. Music was in excellent taste, and we were bouncing up and about. Dancing was all I was thinking of, and I was moving like I was 21 all over again. If you play noughties throwback anthems, I’ll do that! Not quite at worm dancing territory, but I was spinning limbs in all directions and stomping my feel on the floor.

Then something happened….I got absolutely hammered.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since these were my first wave of spirits in 3 months, but it came out of nowhere and was a shock to the system. All of a sudden, the world was spinning, I was all over the shop, and not sure what was going on. I headed to the toilets and did an impromptu spew in the jacks. It was not pretty, but it got most of the builtup gas out of me and was able to continue on, or so I thought…

For all I knew, an hour had passed and I was still on it. By 2AM I was exhausted and incredibly drunk. I headed to the toilet again and this time it was far less civilized. I was in there for quite some time, heaving away, and despite trying to be discreet, the toilets left little in the way of privacy. 3 or 4 other lads were taking a piss, and heres me going all in with getting it all out in front of them. ‘At least it wasn’t Laura or Megan seeing me‘ I thought to myself. Then out of nowhere, a lad showed up asking if I knew Laura. Confused, I asked why? It turns out the group were looking for me when Laura overheard a man say ‘Someones getting real sick in there‘. She had asked someone to go back in the toilet and see if someone called ‘Paul‘ was in there. Dear oh dear. Well there went any chance of redeeming my image I thought! How embarrassing can you get?!

It was fortunate that even in my terrible state people had my back. The club had no wi-fi signal so I couldn’t call a grab from there either. Fortunately by then people were going back. I got in a taxi with Maddie and Beth, and was incredibly relieved when I saw familiar landmarks on the way back. However, even getting out of the taxi by BME accommodation wasn’t quite safe haven. I still threw up on the street one more time before heading to house 5. It was incredibly messy.

Thus ends my first taste of the Birdcage. The first night to involve spirits did not end so well, but for the fleeting moments where I was dancing, it was great! Truly great Hanoi nights out would need me to adapt more to spirits and at a slower pace in future. Those would be had, but this was not that night.