I didn’t want to carry the regret with me for the rest of my life, so I dug out a few coins and stepped inside the little shop.
Traveling in Indochina years ago, I came across a bottle of “Premium Champagne” in a government-run store. Taking it off the shelf, I saw words that made me chuckle: “Manufactured by the Vietnam Fertilizer Corporation.”
When I got back to Taiwan, I kicked myself for not buying that champagne. Even if I never drank the contents, the bottle and its label would’ve made a great souvenir.
This time around, I was standing in Chukuangkeng (出礦坑)