The best Cha Ca La Vong of my life, born from a misunderstanding.
In the rain, a 30-minute walk to Phe la
Today was a work day. I walked to the nearby Phe la. It was raining and I held an umbrella. After about 30 minutes I arrived. Vietnam's roads always have so many motorbikes, so it's really tiring, or rather, scary.
But I'm also relieved to find myself gradually getting used to it. I think if I keep traveling abroad I'll come to know many countries and be filled with confidence.
I arrived at Phe la but there were a lot of people. A single guy left just barely, so I claimed that seat and spent about three hours working and writing in my diary. I ordered the same oolong tea again — it was really delicious. I thought I'd love to recreate exactly the same menu in Japan. But cafes aren't very profitable, so I figured I'll have to become financially independent first.
A solo dinner that began from a misunderstanding
I got a message from an acquaintance from my time in Russia. He's Vietnamese, and in Russia we'd never actually spoken even though we knew each other by sight.
But he messaged 'Welcome to Vietnam,' and since I'd wanted to meet him for a while and thought this was a good opportunity, I reached out to ask if he'd go to dinner. He said okay, and we agreed on either 8 PM today or the 11th.
From the context of the messages I thought it might be today, so I hurried home and headed to the specified restaurant. After arriving and sitting down, I found out it wasn't today—the other person was going on the 11th.
The best Cha Ca La Vong of my life
Having no choice, I ordered and ate the most popular item: 'Cha Ca La Vong.' It was insanely delicious. It's a fish and green onion dish, which you eat with sauce, rice noodles, and peanuts. It was unbelievably good—I wanted to have it again and again.
On the contrary, I even thought it was better that I ate alone. I was able to focus on the meal. When you're eating with others you tend to focus more on conversation than the food. But today I could concentrate my attention on the meal, and that in itself was really nice.
On the way back I rode a motorbike and was pounded by heavy rain—my glasses were soaking and my face was a mess—as I returned to the guesthouse.
