I woke up at 12:00 today.
Right after waking up, there was urgent work I had to handle, so I took care of it.
It's a hostel so the ceilings aren't very high, but I'm grateful to have the bottom bunk.
Everyone seemed to have already gone out, and there was no one in the room.
In the quiet space, I concentrated on work for about an hour.
Then I took a quick shower and set off.
Today I decided to go to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
First, I went to a nearby restaurant.
Pho,banh xeoa crepe-like dish.
Both were really delicious.
It was probably the first time in my life eating a crepe.
I didn't know how to eat it, and when I was cutting it with a fork and knife, the staff member
brought rice sheets and gloves with a kind of 'Sorry!'
Apparently you cut the crepe, put various fillings onto a rice sheet,
and then dip it in sauce to eat.
They gave me a careful lesson, so I ate it the way they showed me.
As a result, it was very delicious.
Another new discovery.
Of course it doesn't beat pho.
To be honest, it makes me wonder if I'll ever find a food I like more than pho.
But even so, it was really tasty.
Then I called a motorbike and headed to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
The motorbike driver was extremely impatient,
constantly honking the horn, which was hilarious.
I kept thinking to myself, 'What an annoying person.'
When I arrived at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, I first passed through the security guards.
Inside felt like it was under very strict security,
There were many guards dressed in white, and the inspections were quite strict.
This was my first time coming to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
It was bigger than I imagined.
Apparently you can see Ho Chi Minh's body inside, but
They said visits are allowed only from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM.
I had completely missed it.
I thought I'd come again another time.
I also thought I should have researched more before coming.
But that's okay.
It's precisely because I didn't research that there's the excitement of going without knowing anything, isn't there?
After leaving Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, I went to a 'con cafe'.
This place has the atmosphere of a Vietnamese military cafe,
and it's a place with many chain stores.
I ordered cocoa there and am now writing this diary.
Day 2 in Hanoi.
After leaving the con cafe, my head started throbbing.
I rushed into a Circle K and bought a Pocari Sweat.
Then I headed to Starbucks.
This time I ordered an acai fruit juice.
It seems every Starbucks in Southeast Asia has this on the menu.
I always wish they'd introduce it in Japan too.
I tried to work at Starbucks, but the VPN wouldn't work properly,
and in the end I couldn't get much done.
There are days like this.
On top of that, whether it was fatigue, an autonomic nervous system issue, or stiff shoulders,
my blood vessels were throbbing, and the area below my temples and the back of my neck hurt a lot.
But after traveling for a month,
I realize that fatigue starts to show up like this.
But that very exhaustion is interesting, isn't it?
It's proof that I'm traveling.
It's something that comes precisely because I put myself in different environments every day.
Tiredness that comes from continuing to travel.
Travel fatigue.
And that's fine.
With all that, I returned to the hostel once.
I dropped off my luggage and then headed to the night market.
The night market felt really nostalgic.
It's the place I walked when I first came to Vietnam two years ago.
With Toan, whom I met on HelloTalk two days ago,
I have memories of walking while having a very deep conversation.
Around the small lake there were many food stalls lined up,
I ate fries.
Two years ago, North Korean currency was being sold, but now it was gone.
Instead, there were a lot of stalls selling fake perfumes.
Even though they obviously looked fake, they were being sold openly.
Moreover, a Western grandmother was casually buying them,
which was funny as well.
I walked around the lake once.
Vietnam is really lively.
Even when I was walking here two years ago,
'Vietnam's economic growth is amazing,' and,
'There are lots of couples in Vietnam,' and,
I remember talking about things like that.
Places really do suddenly bring memories back.
I felt a bit nostalgic.
Even though it's 10 PM, there were really a lot of people around.
Kids were happily riding the children's rides.
This liveliness really is amazing.
After walking around, I returned to the hostel.
'Ah, I talked with Toan here.'
'Ah, I had him draw with me here.'
'Ah, I ate Häagen-Dazs here.'
'Ah, I also ate durian.'
Such memories surfaced one after another.
Compared to two years ago, how am I now?
Has anything changed?
I'm now able to earn more money than before.
I can now speak French as well.
But if I'm asked whether I've accomplished anything significant,
to be honest, I also feel I haven't changed much.
That was a bit of a problem for me.
In those two years, I've had many experiences.
But I wonder if there were more things I could have done.
That's why I want to make sure not to waste those experiences.
Face myself, take care of myself,
and I want to take on many more challenges.
Stacking different first-time experiences every day,
I want to enrich myself more.
