xin chao, , did I tell you I went to Vietnam?

TRAVEL STORIES TIME!

I can't give you every single one because I don't want to bore y'all but here are a few that I want to write up for memories...

Did you know Da Nang is like a port town? It reminded me of Busan, or Hong Kong (other port cities that I love) - lots of seafood, lots of open ocean and the beach was not too bad!

We ate a small aquarium's worth of seafood - literally, this place we went to makes you catch your own seafood which was a bit intense. BBQ'ing them took way too long and a bit too much admin - only afterwards did I realise you can ask them for a hotpot to cook stuff in. Whoops.

Anyway, the next day, we went somewhere else the next day where they PEEL your prawns for you (LOOK AT OUR MVP WAITER WHO OFFERED) and you don't have to actually catch the seafood yourself. YUM YUM.

Ba Na Hills is the...Disneyland of Vietnam? And by Disneyland I mean some Vietnamese dude probably went to see Disneyland in America, took all the memories he had of the place and tried to build his own version of it. The theme is WILD; and by that I mean THERE IS NO THEME. There were performances from Roman gladiators, there was a whole slew of carnival games inside the building, there was a toboggan thing, there was a big beer brewery, there was a POP MART IN ONE OF THE BIG CASTLES - I mean, it was one of those 'Great Idea But Awful Execution' scenarios I think.

Also, I heard there would be a cable car lift, but I was not told that it was one of the LONGEST in the world and that it would be over these big ass mountains! Have I told you I'm kinda afraid of heights??

I HELD ON FOR DEAR LIFE. I had to find my happy place as you can see above, and my friends had a very good time trolling me all the way up. And down. And up again. And down again.

I understand exposure therapy, but this was a big exposure for not a lot of therapy. We had to go on like 4 or 5 different cable cars to get around to the different areas so - facing fears is good I guess.

Also, here's a photo of the line that we skipped because we had a WOWPASS (which costs $17 - it's so powerful!!)

The Saga of the Hoi An Loafers - after spending a day in Hoi An and watching the rest of the crew go to a leather shop to get fine leather goods, I made a last minute decision on our last day in Hoi An to get loafers made for $70 AUD (which is a steal). I got to one of these places at 2pm, and the shopkeeper told me to come back at 8pm (WOW the speed of work here...). Went back, they weren't ready. At 8:30pm, they were brought via motorcycle to the shop, but they didn't really fit. The shopkeeper tried a few things to make it fit, but after a while decided to instead come to me and say 'strap on this helmet we're going to the factory it'll be quicker'.

Anyone remember that classic John Mulaney bit? NEVER GO TO A SECOND LOCATION - but considering I'm a dumb tourist and I wanted these shoes, I decided to go.

What could go wrong?

Turns out the factory is like 10 mins outside of Hoi An and looks like this. They all just want to make a buck; a bunch of people were still working on shoes, and I had to wait while they fixed my shoes for me. Insane hustle culture.

Don't worry, I survived and have some cool shoes.

Anam and Pot au Pho- one of the only places in Vietnam that has a Michelin star. The chef, Peter Cuong, opened two restaurants that both make crazy cool food - one for wider Vietnamese flavours, and one specifically based on Pho. Pho jelly, pho pastry, pho gin, chicken pho, beef pho, pho dessert - it was so interesting! I don't remember all the dishes but here are some highlights.

Eat with your eyes.

This is the famous Ben Thanh markets where I thought it would be just like the HK markets, and went way too hard on bargaining with people. It got to the point that market stall sellers had started gossiping and when they saw me with the group, they were like 'we don't wanna do business with these disrespectful tourists who are haggling over $5 AU'. I literally had to walk away from the group for most of the time we were there so they could actually buy stuff.

Welp, lesson learned I guess.

There's this place that was raved about during the course of the whole trip - PIZZA 4P's ("for peace", geddit?) - where the pasta and pizza was supposed to be amazing. And truthfully, it was a great Tokyo-style Neopolitan pizza which was DELISH (sidenote: Tokyo-style is where they pull bits of the crust out while shaping it to keep the crunch, which makes it look a little bit like a star). They had some great vietnamese-style pizzas , but for me, the standouts were the pasta - a crab curry one and the carbonara were close to PERFECTION - even in Vietnam! Very worth the carbs - lots to learn to get to this level though :D

Chat soon :)

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✔️Real Life Recommendations

1. Project Hail Mary - 4.5 stars - the execution is great, the adaptation is faithful, and yet I still don't really buy how an alien is gonna learn how to undestand English whereas humans need computers. Arrival taught me how hard it is! And there wasn't even cool time travel involved. But the visuals are GORGEOUS. The tone is a bit jokey, a bit comedic (and Ryan Gosling does it really well), but that made it entertaining for me. Highly recommended - IMAX if you can :)

2. Chaozhou Malaya Bistro Cafe - continuing our HOPEMAXXING era by going to a Chaozhou restaurant in Balwyn run by a mother and daughter - they were rushed off their feet making some DELICIOUS food for us; though the service was slow, the love for the food was apparent. Some standouts for me was the Pig Maw Pepper Soup, the Fried Quail and the Orh Nee which is this taro paste dessert that was exactly the right savoury dessert to finish off a fine meal.

🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. Translate to LinkedIn speak - does what it says on the tin. Fantastic.

2. Runners are making butter on their runs. It's suprisingly simple - maybe I'll take up running just so I can make butter.

3. The Era-Defining Aesthetic of “In the Mood for Love” | The New Yorker - my my my, it's so beautiful.