A Vietnamese surprised at my second helping, and a friend from my Russia days after four years.
Hair flattened by a helmet
I woke up at 8:00 today. My Vietnamese friend and I had planned to go eat morning crab soup noodles together, so I went with them. But I was really sleepy, so we ended up agreeing to meet at 9:30. I headed there by motorbike taxi.
I had just washed my hair and then put on a helmet, so when I arrived my hair was flattened. I wondered how people deal with this in Vietnam. I desperately used the camera's selfie function as a mirror to fix my hair. It was really lame.
Bun Rieu that surprised them when I asked for seconds
I don't get nervous at all when I meet her. It's natural and fun, and there's no need to overthink. We ate Bun Rieu, a crab noodle soup. It was really delicious. Vietnamese local food is all incredibly tasty.
Inside there was an egg that had just hatched but had been killed. I can't eat things like that at all, so I gave it to her. She added chili sauce and shrimp paste into it, and as always I thought she was amazing.
The hearty noodles had a lot of fried tofu, meat, and something like crab meatballs. There was a pile of shredded lettuce on the side to add in. I was hungry so I ate quickly. Then I yelled 'More!' and had them order another serving without the egg.
Both the staff and she were really surprised; apparently Vietnamese people almost never order the same dish again as a second serving. The server even came by twice to check, 'Is this correct?' It was really funny (lol). I finished the second bowl too, eating it before she had finished hers.
A retro cafe and travel record
After eating we headed to a cafe. It was very stylish with a retro feel. Inside there was a broken piano and lots of antiques.
Cafes like this are really rare in Thailand and Indonesia; Thailand doesn't have much of a cafe culture and places close at 6pm. Compared to that, Vietnam is really the best, I thought. I ordered oolong tea as well.
She showed me her collection from when she traveled Europe: tickets and instant photos from Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and so on. Travel is really great, I thought. I used to keep tickets too, but in the end people die and you always move forward. The past is the past.
What exists is the present. How you use the present determines the future. I've come to think that way. But still, when I look back on life, memories become wonderful things, I think.
As it approached noon she left the cafe because she had class. I took a taxi back to my room. I was so tired I slept for about three hours.
Prescription sunglasses for 1,500 yen
After waking up I did laundry. The Airbnb had a washing machine but no dryer. So I washed there first, then took the clothes to a 24-hour coin laundry for the dryer. I worked while the wash went, then walked to pick them up and use the dryer. The older man kindly showed me how to use it. I thought he was really considerate.
At PhucLong I ordered bánh flan, a Vietnamese custard, and the usual oolong tea. It was really delicious. I worked for about 40 minutes and then went straight to get the dryer. It would be a disaster if my clothes were taken.
I also went to an eyeglasses shop and had my sunglasses fitted with prescription lenses. It cost 300,000 dong (1,500 yen). Is there any optician who'll put prescription lenses in like that for so cheap and in about 15 minutes? The guy remembered me and was friendly.
He gave me the change with both hands and threw in a free case. It was really a kind and wonderful eyeglasses shop.
While walking, I was thinking about how I might somehow connect Japan and Vietnam for business. Becoming friends and getting close to him was the first step. I thought I should have taken a photo together. But I didn't.
Business opportunities lie in places like this. There are chances everywhere. I kept telling myself that.
Four years later, a friend from my Russia days: Tran
I planned to meet Tran at 8pm. The last time I saw him was four years ago in Russia, in the university coworking space. We only spoke a single word then; there was virtually no conversation. He was shy and so was I (lol). So this time we finally managed to meet in Hanoi.
We met at a regional Vietnamese restaurant. I wasn't nervous at all. It had been four years, but today was the first time we'd really talk. We shook hands right away and I said, 'Nice to meet you, I'm glad we could meet!'
The world of IVF treatment
He had a traditional feel and we shared an ambition to improve ourselves. We talked about careers the whole time. He's currently working in IVF (in vitro fertilization); before, he used to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week and said it nearly killed him. Now it's five days a week, so it's better. In the future he wants to research stem cells and hopes to go to graduate school in Japan or Korea.
He taught me many things about IVF treatment. One cycle apparently costs around 800,000. First they find the patient's eggs, fuse them with sperm, culture them, and return them to the mother's body.
It requires advanced skills, and he apparently is in charge of finding eggs. There are on average about ten eggs, but some people have around fifty. However, the more there are the lower the quality, and the fewer the higher the quality. I studied biology at university too, so the conversation went smoothly. It was really interesting.
The man who earned his degree in Russian
His second language is Russian: he learned Russian in one year and then studied Biomedical entirely in Russian for four years.
Someone who didn't know the language at all goes to Russia, learns a new language, and earns a degree in four years. There must have been a lot of struggles and mental breakdowns. Yet he pulled it off, and I thought that was really amazing.
Of course there were hard times, but looking back after it's over, I think it was a wonderful time. Maybe it's because of the emotional ups and downs that you can feel alive as a human. His drive and energy were really incredible.
A giant hotpot and a beautifully penned adventure notebook
We ate bánh tráng cuốn thịt heo and lẩu riêu cua. The former is various vegetables and pork wrapped and dipped in sauce. The latter is a hotpot. I wondered if we could eat that much, but surprisingly we could. It was truly gigantic, so it's probably not something two people should eat.
He paid the bill. It was about 700,000 dong (4,000 yen). For a Vietnamese person that's probably about two days' wages.
I was full of gratitude. He said, 'When you come to Japan, treat me,' so I replied, 'Of course.'
I had him leave a message in the adventure notebook. His handwriting was beautiful—very skillful. The way he wrote was very pretty. We shook hands at the end and said goodbye. It was a very beautiful time and the conversation was so fun it didn't stop.
