that morning, after a night's rest at the hotel facing the beach, my mother watched the pedlars peeling the pineapples. they sliced the thick skin and then cut out the eyes row after row, without haste. she commented how wasteful sgreans are when they cut out the skin together with the eyes, leaving less flesh intact.

in hanoi, on my way to the bus stop along the railway, i would sometimes meet a pedlar just a few years older than me, selling pineapples. almost everytime i stopped to buy a piece from her. once, while chatting, she asked if i'm interested to cut the pineapples. she taught me how to cut the eyes - two in a row with a depth that's just enough for the eyes to be cut out. they like to eat the fruit with a pinch of orange salt.