[OL - FB] Hoang's Coffee House, Jiangkai

[Khorne]

Ever since Achille and his units of lancers had been transferred from Terraversa to El Oleonda, to defend Oléon's possessions there, he had become a regular in the coffee house. The Oléonese lancer watched the passersby in Jiangkai's main thoroughfare as he sipped his fresh cup of coffee. It was a colorful parade of people from all walks of life and an interesting melange of cultures, testament of Jiangkai's unique nature as a Lotii enclave within Oléon's colonial empire. One such specific example was a passing rickshaw, carrying what looked like to be an Oléonese business man, being guarded by an ex-Lotii Monomonto samurai mercenary now having found a new master. 

In the aftermath of the war on El Oleonda and the subsequent transfer of power in Jiangkai from the Lotus Empire to Oléon, the local colonists had started to rebuild the city and more Oléonese were beginning to arrive, looking for opportunities or their curiosity merely having been piqued by this peculiar port city and the stories of its inhabitants.

A well-known economic reality states that one needs to cater to the needs of the market in order to make a profit. A lesson Hoang learned well. Having gathered the necessary funds, Hoang and his wife Ai established their own coffee house so they could serve the Western newcomers with drinks from Oléon. However, they mixed the ritual surrounding the beverage with Lotii traditions, making the drinking of coffee a special occasion. A small break from life's race - served with a variety of delicacies, of course.

 

Open the spoiler for more pictures:

Spoiler

 

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Notes:

I've been wanting to build something in Jiangkai for sooo long and I finally got around to doing it. There is room for an interior, but I didn't find the time I needed this week and decided to post it as it is. Maybe I'll add an interior later and then update this topic.

The main inspiration for this MOC are the buildings in Hanoi's old quarter. In fact, yellow buildings can apparently be found all over (ex-French) Indochina. I was intrigued by the mixture of local architecture and European style architecture (and also the unique yellow color), which led to this. The story is influenced by real life too. While looking up pictures of old Hanoi and digging in to the history of Indochina and Vietnam in particular, I learned that they have a very dedicated coffee culture there. It was brought by the French when they colonized the country. It was something I didn't know and I found it a peculiar story, very local to Vietnam apparently.

The "sticker" is added in Photoshop. If there are Vietnamese people here, I'd like to apologize for a - most likely - butchered translation. I got it off Google Translate. The Asian looking glyphs are in fact, Ninjago letters I used . I wanted to keep it 'LEGO-y', hence the use of the Ninjargon alphabet. It simply reads 'Hoang Coffee'.

Licensing-wise, I think this counts as a Small Commerce?

[NOD]

Nice coffee house that was built in cheerful colors. Good detail that the name Hoang and Vietnamese letters (Ninjago letters) are written on the sign. I really like the rickshaw with the matching minifigures.

Edited January 8, 2022 by NOD

[Spud The Viking]

Lovely build and colour choices! I really like the atmosphere you create with your builds/photography. 

[Ayrlego]

It's a bold choice of colours with the yellow and contrasting azure but it works really well with both the colours and style being instantly recognisable to south east Asia. I've not been to Hanoi but I can vouch for the uniquely French influenced architecture Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (here's Allcock showing off in location!). I love the detail of the SNOT work in the columns at the front - it gives a really unique look to the building. The SNOT roof sides are also a great way of getting a different angle on the slope and one I will likely borrow at some point. Anyway great work as usual, I always love seeing a new MOC from you!

I have wondered if Oleon would change Jiangkai to something more... well Oleonese (like St Axel or something). I guess you guys have decided to continue using the Lotii name after all!

[evancelt]

Great job. Nice bright colors! I second Ayrlego that the SNOT roof side slopes are really ingenious!

[Ross Fisher]

A fantastic build. Really nicely done.

[Khorne]

14 hours ago, NOD said:

Nice coffee house that was built in cheerful colors. Good detail that the name Hoang and Vietnamese letters (Ninjago letters) are written on the sign. I really like the rickshaw with the matching minifigures.

Thanks, man! I made the sign with Chinese letters first, but I thought it'd be more fitting to use LEGO's own "Asian" alphabet.

13 hours ago, Spud The Viking said:

Lovely build and colour choices! I really like the atmosphere you create with your builds/photography. 

My builds usually aren't that big, so I try to compensate with visuals and story telling .

13 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

It's a bold choice of colours with the yellow and contrasting azure but it works really well with both the colours and style being instantly recognisable to south east Asia. I've not been to Hanoi but I can vouch for the uniquely French influenced architecture Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (here's Allcock showing off in location!). I love the detail of the SNOT work in the columns at the front - it gives a really unique look to the building. The SNOT roof sides are also a great way of getting a different angle on the slope and one I will likely borrow at some point. Anyway great work as usual, I always love seeing a new MOC from you!

I have wondered if Oleon would change Jiangkai to something more... well Oleonese (like St Axel or something). I guess you guys have decided to continue using the Lotii name after all!

I haven't been to southeastern Asia myself yet, but it definitely on the "to-do list" sometime. Glad the style is recognisable! The SNOT roof sides were mostly out of necessity since I don't own other slopes in yellow, but I do like the clean angle they give.

Regarding the name: changing the name has been on the table, but in the end I think we just decided to keep it as is so that the settlement retains its unique vibe within the realm of Oléon. Oléonese citizens will probably butcher the pronunciation, though .

12 hours ago, evancelt said:

Great job. Nice bright colors! I second Ayrlego that the SNOT roof side slopes are really ingenious!

Thanks! It was fun building in other colors than the usual.

10 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

A fantastic build. Really nicely done.

Thanks, Ross!

[Jeff of Clubs]

Nice use of colors and part orientation! Love it! I'd drink there!

[blackdeathgr]

[Thomas Waagenaar]

Woah, this looks amazing!

The colours, the set-up. It really reminds me of the holiday to SEA I've never been to!

However, the carriage is definitely stealing the show here! I don't suppose you got more pictures of it? It's so cute 

[Khorne]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you all enjoy this small addition to BOBS.

5 hours ago, Thomas Waagenaar said:

However, the carriage is definitely stealing the show here! I don't suppose you got more pictures of it? It's so cute 

I don't think I've got some more pictures of it saved right now, but I can definitely make some more in the weekend. I've still got the rickshaw built, so it's only a matter of setting up the light box and snapping some more pics. It's semi based on stuff I found online, but I put my own spin on the design.

[Jeff of Clubs]

Seconding the rickshaw photo request.

[Brickwolf]

Wonderful build.I like the colours. You really captured the Vietnamese style. Great story, very well researched, tying into french colonial history.

[Khorne]

On 1/10/2022 at 4:30 PM, Thomas Waagenaar said:

Woah, this looks amazing!

The colours, the set-up. It really reminds me of the holiday to SEA I've never been to!

However, the carriage is definitely stealing the show here! I don't suppose you got more pictures of it? It's so cute 

On 1/11/2022 at 5:29 PM, Jeff of Clubs said:

Seconding the rickshaw photo request.

A bit sooner than I expected, but here's some more pictures of the rickshaw without figs. The black is difficult to photograph, but I think everything's clear enough to make out the different parts. If you add another pair of skeleton arms and perhaps some custom cut fabric, I think it's possible to make a foldable hood that can actually cover the occupant.

 

On 1/11/2022 at 11:15 PM, Brickwolf said:

Wonderful build.I like the colours. You really captured the Vietnamese style. Great story, very well researched, tying into french colonial history.

Thanks! The colors are a favorite part for me too. Glad you like it.

[Thomas Waagenaar]

That's amazing, thank you!

If I ever get to building something Asian themed, I'm definitely using this design! :D

[Jeff of Clubs]

Thanks for the pics. Very clever!