Temporal effects on design

An important part of design is understanding the contexts of use, as the use of products rarely occur in perfect or isolated settings. I had an experience which got me thinking about the effects of time on one's interactions.

In particular, I opened a door in my office building, which only swings one way. I pushed it open, and thought to myself how, with that knowledge of recently having pushed the door to get in, I can infer from that information that to get out, I should then pull it.

Doors are a common target for Don Norman. Designers seem to get them wrong so often. I was noticing how the handle was identical on both sides of the door, so it shouldn't have been able to communicate different messages. That is to say, if both sides are identical, barring other factors, how do you (uniquely) communicate "Push" vs "Pull"?

Duration between uses

It should be the case that other factors play an important role, be it the position of hinges, stoppers, fire safety standards, window placement, and so` on. These fall under physical traits or cultural conventions. I would like to highlight the temporal factors, or the effects of time on your interactions. It can be as simple as being unable to perform a task because you haven't done it in a year.

These processes are quite common, like filling forms that are only required once a year (taxes, maybe), or every 4-5 years (voting). Appropriate design considerations need to be taken with this (in)frequency in mind. Fire extinguisher and defibrillator usages are few and far between. When it comes to it, you have to know how to use them or die trying.

Sometimes, you repair something that occurs infrequently enough that you forget your original solution. People who make a living performing repairs benefit off this effect. You may take a few hours to figure out how to repair a burst pipe, and more to get the required tools and materials, but a plumber has everything on hand, and is skilled enough to know how to do the job once, and do it right, in less time.

User, experienced

Naturally, you can also design interactions around the assumption that the user is going to be learned and practised. Some things come to mind, like cars and keyboards. There's a reason why expert keyboard enthusiasts may opt for difficult configurations which may improve typing speeds.

Some products are terrible, apart from ugly, because they aren't designed with the user's growth in mind. Those desk mats with excel shortcuts just don't look right.

Not only is it ugly, it's a product that gets more useless the more you use it!

While it is typically good design to offload the user's memory load into the environment (as described in Molich and Nielsen's (1990) heuristics), this comes at an aesthetic cost. Correct me if I'm wrong and if this sort of product actually helps, but I'll still dislike it on aesthetic grounds.

Just-done actions

Back to the anecdote about the door. There's a case for designing interactions around the method of elimination. The thought process of the user could go something like this: "I just pressed this button to do X task, so I don't have to press that again. If I want to do Y task, it should be one of these other buttons."

The consequence of this is that you can compromise on design, if there are any constraints in budget or space. For tasks that require interacting in specific sequences, exhausting certain options help reduce the cognitive load as well.

I should offer an example. My portable monitor (Arzopa brand) uses a single switch to adjust the brightness and volume. The switch goes up or down, which translates to adjusting the brightness/volume up or down. Your selection depends on the first input: move the switch up to start adjusting the brightness, and the other way for volume. Or vice versa. I don't remember, but that's my point.

I seem to always get it wrong. But having done a mis-input, my next move is usually correct. I'll want to adjust the volume, and move the switch up, and it starts adjusting the brightness instead. I lower the brightness back to its original value, then wait a while for the window to time out. Then, I move the switch down, which starts the volume adjustment.

This interaction is very similar to plugging in connectors like the USB-A. If you get it wrong the first time, you'll get it right the next 1-2 tries (1 try if it's an execution error, 2 if it's an evaluation error).

In the case of my portable monitor, the switch has a dual purpose probably due to hardware constraints. The tradeoff is, in my opinion, worth it, as volume and brightness adjustment are rarely critical operations that require the user to get it right the first time. Anyway, there are labels on the side which I never look at.

"There are no simple answers, only tradeoffs" - Norman, 1983

Related: States in design

I thought about this while operating my air conditioner's remote control. The power button is responsible for sending on/off signals to the aircon. Based on my own conceptual model of the system, I don't think it sends a "toggle" signal, but distinct "on" and "off" signals. That means if you send an "on" signal to an aircon that's already turned on, it won't toggle off. It might still change its state, because it seems the signal also carries other information, like the target temperature.

From a hardware designer's perspective, it is intuitive to have one single power button that acts as a toggle, because that's how devices worked traditionally. Both your TV and your remote have one button that toggles on/off. If you point the remote at your TV and press the power button, it toggles the state instead of acting like the aircon remote. It can thus be jarring if you perform an action at the aircon and it doesn't react, or worse, responds in the opposite manner of what you want.

The aircon remote seems to work differently, because (I assume) it changes the state stored on the remote itself, then sends a whole payload of information to the aircon, rather than separately adjusting parts of the aircon. That is to say, the remote itself keeps track of its current state and overwrites the aircon with it when the signal is received. The TV remote doesn't seem to keep track of any state, and just sends discrete instructions.

I wonder why these two remotes, similar in usage, and ubiquitous in our lives, differ by so much. I still recall having a discussion once with my friend on our conflicting conceptual models for how aircon remotes work. I'll probably talk about it another time if there's any merit in doing so, because there's probably one correct answer that I would need time to research.

Anyway, it seems it sometimes boils down to constraints. You can't always fit all the information you want on your interface if it's physical/hardware, so you have to make do with what you can do, and make some assumptions about the user and their environment.

The case for playing music out loud in public

Recently, I've been seeing some discourse on Twitter on people using their devices in public areas, like on public transport or restaurants, but with audio playing out of the speaker, instead of using headphones or muting their devices.

This is widely viewed as antisocial behaviour, and one of the annoying things that have been exacerbated by the prevalence of short-form video content... Having to hear the same repetitive, pitched-up or slowed-down audio sample multiple times a day can drive one crazy.

How technology drives this behaviour

Aside from everyone using TikTok nowadays, there's also the fact that wireless headphones are the default option for audio devices. I deplore the fact that phone manufacturers no longer include an audio jack in their newer models, and it's still something I seek out when I look for a phone. See, wired headphones don't run out of battery — they don't have one. Wireless headphones do, and that could be a reason why most just choose to use their speakers, not to mention the difficulty of connecting bluetooth speakers sometimes...

It's not just playing audio and video out loud. Before that, the gripe was focused on people taking calls on loudspeaker, let alone calls at all, in public. This is an older faux pas, and Twitter user @ratlimit puts it well:

https://t.co/FbfAd2wGfk pic.twitter.com/15LGxrmqns

— @ratlimit (@ratlimit) April 21, 2025

I don't get it. I'm still one to prefer texting over calling; it's just far more convenient and legible, although without real-time responsiveness. Anyway, it's not so much the action itself that's antisocial, but the person. It's just better if you're taking a call or listening to something that you at least bear other people in mind and minimize the volume.

Some people have chimed in on this discourse with the counterpoint that this line of thought is fascist and disproportionately targets poorer people, who tend to ride public transport and may not even be able to afford earphones. I still think one has an obligation not to create noise pollution. If you don't have earphones, I think you can at least afford to go without sound when you scroll on your choice of short-form video content platform... or put the damn phone down for once! (Maybe... the boomers were right?)

The case for cyclists

I don't know if it's just me, but just about every cyclist (rather, PMD user) finds the need to play their music out loud. Now that delivery riders are a common job, I have noticed more and more of them in public. Hard not to, anyway.

I cycle sometimes to get places that aren't worth a bus short bus ride (~$1 one way), like going to the market. Well, I've also used my bike for longer commutes, like 30 minutes one-way to the gym or to my part-time job. Those days when I had more free time were the best, and it was plenty good for my health too. My bike cost me $300, which I bought in 2018, so I think I've more than made up for the cost of petty public transport over the past few years.

I like to ride on sidewalks. I'm not too big on riding on the road, and I try not to be "that" entitled cyclist; I give way to pedestrians and slow down when I have to. When I lost my bicycle bell (actually it was a squeaky rubber duck) and a spare one broke, that was when I realised how much they aided my commute. The hardest part of not having a bell was having to get around people on shared pathways. You don't notice how little space there is or how much space you could be taking most of the time.

I'm rather softspoken, so it was hard for me to call out to people in front of me. I did sometimes, but even then, some may have their headphones in. What I did was to cycle over drain covers, and the rapidly approaching rattling noises would signal to people that there's a bicycle behind. That did the trick 90% of the time. The other times, I just slowed down and tried to find an opportunity to go around. I eventually got the bell replaced.

Music on the bike

Having these experiences, I see the point of blaring music out loud when cycling. It's a constant signal of your approach, and together with phenomena like the Doppler Effect, one can pretty easily triangulate not just how far away you are, but also the direction you're approaching from. This sets it apart from bicycle bells; you can't exactly tell where the sound is coming from, one just assumes it's from behind you.

And with the delivery riders that are always playing music, they commute for a living, so it makes sense that their music is on all the time, because they must encounter pedestrians more often than the average cyclist. I don't quite like their taste of music, which is usually Manyao, but I get it. These genres of music, which are EDM at its core, are typically part of hours-long playlists, designed to be played in the clubs with a consistent underlying beat. That consistency aids the listener in detecting their presence. Of course, I still think the reason they play it is because they enjoy it.

I enjoy music and singing along in the car or on the bike, so I get it. I'm in no position to judge. If I'm spending that much time alone on the job, the least I could do is to enjoy it. And, fine, I do enjoy my fair share of EDM on the bike, particularly Dom Whiting's Drum and Bass on the Bike.

Human-Redundant Design

In contrast to Human-Centered Design (HCD), which is a design approach that focuses on the users' needs and context (you may refer to the ISO definition), I would like to discuss what I term Human-Redundant Design, which is a different approach to design systems where the users, and all their differences and variations, have little-to-no effect on the design of the system.

I don't believe this approach runs in complete opposite of HCD, and perhaps could be complementary. In scenarios where consistency is needed, or that users could vary widely, the right solution could be to employ a "one size fits all" approach that seeks to factor out individual differences as much as possible.

HRD already exists in certain systems which I shall use as examples. I hope my analysis of it could be better formalised through writing it down.

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An Illustration - McDonald's

The "redundant" aspect implies that as far as the user is concerned, they are only there to "push buttons", and their unique traits do not affect processes. This is not to be read with pessimism. In certain tasks, the is little need for personalisation.

Take, for example, the process of making fast food. In my teenage years, I spent a few months working in McDonalds to earn a little pocket change. Their processes are quintissentially human-redundant; anyone from a child, a person with Down's syndrome, to an elderly person, could perform the tasks... and you may very well find such a combination of people working the same shift in the kitchen.

While the kitchen looks a little different now, this scene from The Founder (2016) captures the secret sauce that made McDonalds the definition of fast-food today. Even a proprietary tool is used to give a "precise shot of ketchup and mustard". Not much is left to the user's discretion, unless you ask for "no salt" on the fries.

Acknowledging User Error

HRD is complementary to the following saying: "There is no such thing as user error." Don Norman, in his works, addresses the concepts of errors in details, but by-and-large, I agree with this saying. Many things can be boiled down to design errors, and errors in design are where errors in usage are enabled.

Acknowledging that users can and will be forgetful, intoxicated, distracted, and so on, one approach to designing around "unsuitable" users is to decrease the factor of impact the user has on a system. If you have heard of fast food workers showing up high on marijuana or hungover, you should by now agree with me that fast food systems are good examples of human-redundant systems.

Universe of Users

HRD is just as important when your possible users are ill-defined. Because you still go through the hiring processes to be placed behind the grill at McDonald's, there is a degree of control to the possible users of the system. There are times where the user is just "anyone and anywhere". Take for example, an ATM. Placed on any given street, you could encounter a regular person (already ill-defined from the get-go), elderly, disabled, hearing/sight-impaired, a tourist, etc. How do you make sure everyone knows what to do?

The focus of design research in this use case should then be less on users and more on the process of interaction itself. There is also no distinction between an expert user and a new one. ATMs will walk you through each step, pausing each time and leaving no instruction implicit.

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Non-human Agents

I foresee that processes in which humans are redundant could just as well be automated, which also implies that the "user" is irrelevant to the equation. As a matter of fact, in scenarios like factory work and even food preparation, certain tasks are things that machinery will only continue being better at. I do want to know, what is it that has stopped McDonald's from being fully automated?

As advancements in artificial intelligence continue to progress, automation of tasks is not the only area where innovations are made, but also re-designing systems to facilitate automation. That is to say, the domestication of technology^[1].

Take, for example, the re-modeling of code documentation from the form of a human-readable manual, into a machine-scrapeable, tokenizable document for large-language models (LLMs) to parse, through which humans are expected to interface with^[2].

What about us?

Automation is slowly being injected into processes worldwide. In a sense, we are designing ourselves out of the equation. When searching for a job, it is no longer recommended that you make a flashy or non-linear résumé; first contact with them are no longer made with human eyes, but with automated systems that will benefit from an intuitively-structured, semantically-labeled document.

We should seek to achieve a balance in design and be careful not to write us out completely. We are at the stage of technological domestication where a human touch is cherished, like with handwritten postcards instead of email, the barista asking you "the usual?" over ordering through an interface, or getting a free beer because you've been a regular at the bar. It's the little things that make us human.

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."

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Footnotes

^[1] I recall having read some articles where this topic is discussed in detail, but I don't have any sources right now. Perhaps some of the works cited here could be enlightening.
^[2] While I myself personally do not make use of generative AI or LLMs as much as the next person, I acknowledge the advancements made thus far, especially in the realm of programming.

Range of Motion (ROM) constraints as a design element

One of the principles of interaction design as laid out by Don Norman is constraints. It is easily overlooked, because it restricts interaction instead of facilitating it, and is quite often ingrained in designed systems and taken for granted. In short, constraints guide you toward the ideal way of interacting with objects by eliminating the possibility of unwanted interactions.

I shall be talking about physical constraints, which are primarily implemented through limiting Degrees of Freedom (DOF), in which you have an object that can only go a set number of ways, like a knob can only be rotated, not moved, and a switch only goes up or down, not sideways or rotated.

Knobs and Switches. I own an Orange amp, and it's one of the best things about interfacing with it.

Part of why physically constrained interfaces work on automobiles, through knobs, switches, and even the gear shift itself, is because it takes the need for precision away from the hands of the user, and is baked into the design itself. Just imagine if you had to precisely line the gears up yourself in a manual transmission car. Having to take your attention off the road can be costly. This is also why I am not a proponent of screens as car interfaces, like you might see in Tesla cars. Even something as simple as adjusting the air conditioning in a car can be made more difficult without the use of physical constraints. Imagine: A knob only goes one way, and you don't even need to look. A screen, however, lets your finger go anywhere, even off-screen. How do you know you're tapping the right on-screen buttons if you don't look? (Granted, these self-driving cars may assume you aren't focused on driving...)

It's infinitely useful how there are grooves for the stick to line up into.

Restricting Range of Motion

There are many ways to engineer physical constraints into designs, as illustrated above. I would like to examine Range of Motion (ROM) as another oft-underlooked avenue that complements DOF constraints.

If DOF defines how many ways you can move an object, ROM defines how near or far said object can be moved. For example, some rotating joints can all be said to have 1 DOF of rotation, but ROM could differ between objects that freely rotate about the axis (like a wheel), or with limited range of angles, like a volume knob that only goes from 1 to 10.

These go to 11.

Some examples occur so often in daily life that you might wonder why such design isn't more common. For example, soap dispensers. Have you ever gotten a haircut, and taken a shower after, only to realise you've pumped too much shampoo out for what little hair you had left? That's exactly what I'm talking about. While I don't think we actually need soap pumps that gauge just how much shampoo you need, I think there's room for design consideration here.

To illustrate, suppose you need 5mL of shampoo to lather your hair appropriately, and suppose your sister needs 10mL of shampoo to lather her hair, seeing as she has more hair. One shampoo bottle dishes out 10mL of shampoo in one pump, so your sister presses the pump to get all the soap she needs in one pump, while you modulate your press, making sure not to use too much force, and stopping halfway, trying to estimate 5mL each time you use it. Another shampoo bottle has a shorter pump, and gives 5mL of shampoo in one pump. You simply take one full pump to get the soap you need, and your sister takes two pumps, and every time you shower, you know you have the amount you require.

I should note: some households (like mine) find it useful to dilute the soap such that a full pump gives you the appropriate amount, now that the concentration has been lowered.

With that illustration, it's obvious which is the preferred design for this scenario. There are many like this. You may have seen illustrations on your toothpaste tube recommending you to use a pea-sized amount. If I'm not wrong, it's only a recent development that they started recommending toothpaste amounts. In any case, I believe it's the case that many advertisements showcase excessive use of products (soap, toothpaste) to nudge the user to use more product. If nothing else, this has an economical effect, as you cycle through products more. "Pea-sized" is ambiguous, but if toothpaste tubes somehow squirted the recommended amount each time, that would solve the problem, even for people unaware of the "pea-sized" recommendation. Understandably, such designs come at a cost to the product manufacturers.

A figure from the above linked study. Consistency is harder to achieve when human error and ambiguity are factors.

Another scenario: toilets

Another occurrence in which design can be considered is with bidets. Many times I have encountered bidets with far-too-high water pressure, and I say with minimal exaggeration it could clean the gunk off my skin and take the skin with it too. Many such bidets use a trigger, and in cases where the valve is inaccessible, the solution could be to press the trigger half-way to modulate the amount of water coming out... which as you might imagine, is a difficult task to do. Should the solution be to make it such that a fully-pressed trigger gives the right water pressure – a gentler water pressure?

When I write, I have these in mind, which are widespread throughout Southeast Asia.

But then, a problem presents itself. I also use bidets for cleaning. If it isn't aimed at myself, it's aimed at stubborn stains and dirt in the toilet. I'd then want a higher water pressure. The ideal solution to this, in my opinion, lies in adjusting the flow of water through the valve rather than through the trigger. That, or having multiple settings, like with some shower heads. The dual-flush toilet is one such invention that encapsulates this design idea (sort of). If you only had one flush button, and you wanted to save water, you'd probably press it lighter or shorter if you only had liquid business to dispose of. Why bother with that? Have a big button and a small button you can push all the way, and save yourself the trouble of having to be precise.

Adjust the water flow here, and then press the trigger fully.

On a side note, the place I'm currently staying at has a very weak flush. Big stuff takes one or two flushes... so in designs like these, it is important to investigate requirements or the usage falls short of expectations. Flushing the toilet isn't like pumping soap. Two small pumps of soap effectively gives you double the amount, whereas two weak flushes may still not get the job done like one strong flush.

Conclusion

Where usage requires precision, the obvious choice is to enable precision through design, rather than expect the user to be sufficiently skilled or conscientous. In many cases, the consequences could result in product waste at minimum, or be significant to the point of having an effect on one's health.

We should look to designs like dual-flush toilets, which bakes the act of "modulating amount of water used" directly into design instead of placing the responsibility on users' hands. As an effect of widespread use (these are the de-facto default in Singapore), I have no doubt that many liters of water are saved daily. Likewise, we could reduce needless consumption of soap, toothpaste, and perhaps there might be other applications of ROM constraints in design beyond portion control which I have not explored here.

Review: Swedish Design by Keith M. Murphy

Title: Swedish Design: an Ethnography (published 2015)
Author: Keith M. Murphy
Finished date: 28 Mar 2025

Overview

I picked this book up, I believe, at a thrift store or something like that. Thought it looked interesting. Finally, after like a year or two of sitting on my bookshelf, I finally took it for a spin. It's a book about Swedish design — not so much on the visual elements, but the politics that surround it.

Review

The author is a professor of Anthropology, but he also tackles the topic with philosophical and (socio)linguistic concepts. I noticed he mentioned Deleuze a lot. I'll have to say that most of these concepts flew over my head, but I understood enough to be able to draw some insights without having to dig too deep down his citations.

In summary, what you might find in this book is a dissection of the processes involved in shaping Swedish design... and the other way around, of how Swedish design shaped Swedish culture. I thought one of the more salient points was how Swedish design was used as a means to bridge socioeconomic gaps... because modernist furniture is simple to construct, which meant it was easy to mass-produce at affordable prices. Good taste became a thing not just for the rich, but for everyone. IKEA is the epitome of Swedish design in that regard; it's affordable and regardless of your social status, you'll be delighted to have a piece of their furniture in your house.

Conclusion

Rating: 4/5
There's really a lot of merit in reading non-fiction, and this academic work, which is built after years of immersion in Swedish culture, is an inspiring one.

Hanoi, Sa Pa, and climbing Fansipan (29 Jan to 4 Feb 2025)

Over the lunar new year holidays in 2025, I went to Vietnam for a week; with my family for the first 4 days, and solo the last 3 days. I'd like to take some time to reflect on the trip. With Hanoi being a popular travel spot in SEA, I hope this information could be of use to interested travelers.

An ingenious idea... Constructing several "peaks" for the masses to take photos with.

The Planning

Itinerary

I planned loosely around the main thing I wanted to do: Conquer mount Fansipan in Sa Pa. Everything else, I just made sure I was hitting certain locations like the old quarters, but no specific spots for food and shopping.

-- With family --
• Day 1: Exploring Hanoi Old Quarters, night train to Sa Pa
• Day 2: Exploring Sa Pa Centre
• Day 3: Go up Fansipan, night train to Hanoi
• Day 4: Exploring Hanoi West Lake and Old Quarters
-- Solo --
• Day 5: Exploring Ba Dinh area, Old Quarters
• Day 6: Day trip to Ninh Binh
• Day 7: Lunch with Hanoi friend before flight

Itinerary-wise, this was rather tight. A night train meant we had a whole day to explore the area, which was plenty of time, all the while saving on a night's worth of hotel fees. However, it also meant we had no hotel room to rest or refresh ourselves. In particular, having to wait for the train to depart at night, and having hotel check-ins in the afternoon meant no proper showers for a long period. I made a mistake planning a train back to Hanoi the night of my Fansipan hike, which meant I went a day without showering after my hike. Thankfully, the weather was frigid with strong winds, especially at the summit. I didn't stink and didn't sweat.

Since we arrived during the lunar new year, or Tết, many shops were closed on the first few days. It was a completely different Hanoi when we first touched down versus the last few days (Tết celebrations ended on Monday, 3 Feb, and most businesses resumed then). I expected we would see a unique side of Vietnam with Tết celebrations, but we didn't encounter much. What we did see were loads of families dressed to the nines crowding the busy streets, and that was a sight to behold. Everybody looked so good. Perhaps I could have planned better to seek out festivities, but I wouldn't say it's worth going during this specific period as shops are closed.

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Climbing Fansipan

On to the main event! I climbed Fansipan in a day, which means I started early in the morning (around 7?) and reached the summit at noon. Despite its relatively low elevation of ~3k meters, it's extremely steep. Each step took the wind out of me. For my Hmong guide, it was a regular weekday. I thought it would be easy, but I got Hmogged by him.

"We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy."

It was only later when I told my friends about the trip that I realised how much of a feat it was to climb it in one day, let alone by noon. Most climbs up Fansipan take 2D1N. There are two rest stops along the trail, where you have lunch on the first and sleep in the second, resuming the climb the next day. For me, I skipped the first rest stop and had lunch at the second. This took about 3-4 hours, and the remaining climb another 2-3 hours.

Once you reach the top (but not the summit), you'll be at the base of a very large temple, where the people come exiting out of the cable cars. There are steep stone stairs up to the summit, which are another half an hour. I was buffeted by strong, icy winds at the top, and it was too cloudy for a nice photograph. Oh well, I made it, and tasted victory, which tasted like... Chocolate, actually.

Who thinks of selling ice cream in cold places?! ... and who thinks of buying?

Guide

Information online is conflicting. Climbing Fansipan is no joke, and you need to have a guide. The route was rather straightforward, but the guide will help sort out your permit and rest stops along the way. Also, because of the cable cars, you hardly see anyone on the trail. I ran into only a handful of people along the way. It's no good to be alone on a mountain. I was recommended Sapa Trekking Hiking Tours by my Vietnamese friend and they delivered. Fast to respond, English speaking, and they settle everything you need, also including taxi before and after the hike, and cable car/funicular tickets if needed. I requested for them for my family to join me at the peak, and I wasn't going to climb down on foot, so I also got myself the tickets.

Altogether, I paid about $230 USD, which would have been cheaper (per pax) if I had gone with a group. $90 for 1 pax hike, $35 x 3 for cable car, $7.5 x 3 for the funicular, and $5 x 2 for the transportation.

Supplies

Hanoi has several winterwear shops of questionable authenticity. Fortunate for me, because I desperately needed more coverage than had I packed. Even Hanoi was unbearably cold for my ever-loving tropical sunshine self, so Fansipan would have killed me. I wore three layers — of which two were purchased from Hanoi — during the hike and it still wasn't enough to stave off the cold completely, which was intensified by the dampness.

I did have a hearty breakfast before departing, but I should have brought more snacks for energy. I was very much winded up until we reached the 2nd rest stop at 10am, where the guide prepared instant noodles with egg, and gave me fruits, Oreas, and soy milk as well. Having warm food when I was already half freezing to death kept me going for the last leg of the climb.

Salvation!!

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Experiences and Recommendations

Hanoi

I did enjoy the shopping at Hanoi (primarily the old quarters). Sue me for buying counterfeit, but a part of me believes the goods touted are actually genuine, from the same factories, but somehow bootlegged out into the stores... Surely, someone along the way must have thought to smuggle some goods out of the factory line right? Nonetheless, they are quite convincing fakes. I'm not a good haggler, never will be, but I was fortunate to have my brother present to do the talking for me.

After a while spent in Hanoi, things in the Old Quarters got repetitive. I had wanted to buy some nice-looking propaganda posters but the nice shops were closed and the not-so-nice prints I didn't bother.

I did spend some time out in the West Lake area, but didn't really explore that much. I will have to say the bookstores are nice and there are always nice cafes for you to visit. My Vietnamese friend informed me that it was a place where expats congregated.

If there is one thing you must do, please go watch a water puppet show. PLEASE! It was the highlight of my trip, despite costing so little and being so short in duration. It truly was so creative, unique, and funny. I felt connected to the culture through the theatrical experience, I was almost brought to tears. I opted for the translation device, which has a little earpiece that doesn't directly translate the dialogue at all, but rather gives you background knowledge on what is being shown. I went to Thang Long Theatre.

Also, do go check out Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum while you're in town. It's a fairly orderly site where you follow a line and get to see Uncle Ho. It should go without saying, but dress respectfully, no hats, and no photographs either. He's very well respected by his country. Within the compounds, you also get to see his old house. It's actually quite nice. I don't think I had to pay for anything. I didn't enter the museum, however.

I stayed at Hanoi Marvelous Hotel and Spa while in Hanoi, and it served my needs well, being rather near to the old quarters and Ho Hoan Kiem. The breakfast was rather limited; you could have two servings of pho, pancakes, french toast, or eggs... Every morning, I had pho (different meat each time), and eggs/toast. There was also a small buffet section where I helped myself to sausages, cheese, bread, and the occasional vegetable or Vietnamese food (I don't recall the food being something to write home about). The hotel service was overall great.

The first night, my mom and brother stayed at The Oriental Jade Hotel, also near the old quarters. I took a later flight so I didn't stay with them, but it seemed nice when I went in to take a shower minutes before checkout. They gave us some Vietnamese coffee and the accompanying drip filter (Phin), which I put to use back in SG!

Food

Here are some nice food places I personally tried.

• Bún Chả Que Tre - Really good Bun Cha.
• Pizza 4P's Bah Khanh - Every Vietnamese friend told me to try Pizza 4P's so I did. You also have to get a reservation. The pizza was delicious of course.
• GoodTime Burger Bát Đàn - The burgers were nice, and you have to try the Dream fries. I seriously need to reverse-engineer the spice mix.
• Banh Mi 17 - On my very last night in Hanoi, I had Banh Mi, a Burger, fries, and a beer. It was the best way to close off the trip.
• Banh Mi Paté Cô Hà 1 - Fast service and all-around good Banh Mi.
• Take Taco II - Tacos were great, but I really LOVED their spring rolls.

Sa Pa town

I was enthralled by the town. It has a little old-timey vibe and gets really beautiful at night. However, I was put off by the Hmong people who peddled their wares. I know they are an underprivileged group in Vietnam, but it pained me to see them trying to earn money in whatever ways they could, even having the children dance on the streets. It just felt so demeaning (also, is child entertainment worth as much as child labour if they wanted to have their children work for money? Food for thought).

In any case, I bought a Đàn môi as a souvenir, and my mom got some pillowcases. Some of them will try to get you to follow them to their village, and if that's something you'd like to explore then go ahead. They aren't very pushy.

Next time, I would just get a hotel near the town. It wasn't too difficult getting a taxi, but it was troublesome having to drive so to-and-fro the town, where all the action is concentrated anyway, unless you wanted to be closer to the Hmong villages or quiet nature.

Food

I don't have much in the way of food recommendations, but the Sa Pa night market is a must-visit. Affordable and delicious food, primarily BBQ, and some dried meats. I bought some buffalo jerky and got to try horse and deer, among others? I lost track. There are some carnival games and shops that sell clothes, toys, and souvenirs too.

We wanted to visit Banh Mi 911 but it was closed (or out of Banh Mi) the day we wanted to visit, and we were out of town the next. My personal 9/11.

We went there twice.

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Ninh Binh

I had a bit of extra time in Hanoi, so I decided to book a day trip to either Ninh Binh or Ha Long Bay. I chose Ninh Binh, and I took on my hotel's services of arranging a trip, which led to me joining a tour group. Given that I requested this on short notice, I was quite happy with the services, although I was a little bored with Ninh Binh.

A bus picked me up at my hotel at 7AM, and we headed out first to Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. This was followed by some cycling around the area before we stopped for a buffet lunch at one of the hotels/homestays in the area. I quite enjoyed the cycling, for the weather was perfect and I liked the peaceful scenery, something different from Hanoi. The latter half of the day, we went to the river, and then the Lying Dragon Mountain.

The river trip was BORING. I spent 1.5h on the boat being ferried and after a while, I was getting cold... At the end of the trip, they ask you for tips. I was at the tail end of my trip so I was only carrying spare change. Needless to say, the lady was quite pissed off. Sorry.

Some of the boaters rowed with their feet, which was quite interesting.

The dragon mountain was cool. It wasn't very high, not a challenge at all. Interestingly, it overlooked the river which we had just gone to. Anyway, for a day trip to Ninh Binh, it checked all the boxes for places people would want to visit, but I found it underwhelming. We were dropped off at our respective hotels around 8pm. I can't imagine how I'd have planned it differently anyway, so it was nice to just say I've been there, and move on.

Others

Trains There are two options for night trains: King and Chapa Express. We took King from Hanoi to Lao Cai, and Chapa on the way back. Chapa is just better in my opinion. First of all, there are charging ports in the cabins. Chapa also had an on-train menu, and we got some beers and snacks from the trolley. You can even rest at the Chapa lounge at Lao Cai station. They were both clean and comfortable. As I've mentioned, these sleeper trains save you a night of hotel's stay, but you will be out of a place to freshen up unless you have early check-in, so do take note.

Clothing I don't know if it was because of Tết or if uncles just have that much drip, but just about every uncle I saw was slaying the house down in their suits. Vietnam is known for some of its tailors, whose services are pretty fast and affordable. I hadn't planned to tailor a suit, but I feel I should have. All those uncles must have gotten their suits locally, and they were walking advertisements to the quality of suits in Hanoi to me.

I also met this weird guy at my hotel. He approached me at breakfast and spoke in an unsure, muffled manner, but I could tell he was from China and so I tried to speak Mandarin to him. Even then, he didn't speak very clearly. All I could gather was that he was there for parties... Maybe a sex tourist? Hahah. I never really got a proper answer. He did weird out the restaurant staff who afterwards asked me what his deal was.

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Hanoi's great. As a Banh Mi lover, I was disappointed, but apparently they're more known for their Bun Cha, with HCMC being the place to go if I want to explore good Banh Mi. I suppose it's a great stop for clothes and food. As my first foray into Vietnamese culture, it was a pleasant one. P.S. With the Vietnamese language having Chinese influences, I thought about how the written language is basically permanently in Hanyu Pinyin.

Review: The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin (Translated by Joel Martinsen)

Title: The Three-Body Problem (originally published 2008)
Author: Liu Cixin (Translated by Joel Martinsen)
Finished date: 09 Mar 2025

Overview

This is the 2nd book in the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" series, otherwise known as Three-body, after the first book. After the reveal of extraterrestrial intelligence... with technology far surpassing that of Earth civilaztion's, how will the humans respond to their hostility? Again, I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free.

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I decided to start reading this immediately after I finished the first book. My progress reading this was a little slower as I went on holiday. This was also a bootlegged copy, and I thought the lack of proper chapters was an error on the bootlegged copy's part. However, this is really a quirk of the book. The parts are instead sectioned by YEAR... and that means the first part spans about a third of the book without any proper breaks, all happening within the same year. Also, I believe there are also large differences between this and the original Chinese version. Apparently, the original made reference to another of Liu Cixin's stories, Ball Lightning.

Review

I really enjoyed this book! Although it introduced new characters in the beginning, I grew to adore them. The book is a bit of a slow burn, but the payoff is worth it as it slowly unravels in the end.

Once again, the author extrapolates existing science into an imagined future rooted in realism. Midway through the book, the story fast forwards some centuries into the future. Everything that is imagined is conceivably the natural progression of the technologies... some things like wireless charging, ubiquitous computers, screens everywhere, personalised ads. I personally felt the future described in this book wasn't necessarily dystopian, but I wouldn't want technology to progress in that direction: flashy and far too integrated into the fabric of society.

This sci-fi book reads very much like a detective mystery with the introduction of the Wallfacers, also the name of the first part of the book. Cixin effectively wrote the story on two, maybe three levels, revealing a lot beneath the surface... really, much like the Wallfacers.

One gripe I have is with how the characters are motivated by their actions. There's really no reason the protagonist alone should be the protagonist, and I think he too shared the same sentiments of why he was thrust into so much responsibility.

For those familiar with the Dark Forest hypothesis, you might be able to guess at some of the concepts that drive this book. I was pleasantly surprised to learn, however, that this book is the namesake for the hypothesis!

Conclusion

Rating: 4.5/5
Better than the first book! While you might be dissatisfied with the motivations for the characters like I was, this is still an interesting take on the sci-fi genre that really also plays like a mystery novel, which brings delight in discovering the sci-fi concepts as they are unveiled.