Couldn’t buy the X100VI, reunited with Sonya — my last day in Ho Chi Minh.
Beef bowl at Yoshinoya, stuck by a heavy rain
I woke up at 1 PM today. I made a to-do list for Ho Chi Minh: “look at cameras, buy masks, get a torn bill exchanged at the bank.” If I finish these three things I’m good.
First, I went to Yoshinoya. I ordered a large beef bowl and guava juice. I was the only customer. After eating, as I was about to leave, a heavy rain started. The staff told me I could stay until it stopped, so I stayed for a bit. But since the rain showed no sign of stopping, I called a motorbike and went back to the hostel.
X100VI in stock but way too expensive
I walked to the camera shop. When I tried to buy the Fuji X100VI I wanted, they had it in stock but the price was incredibly high. They said there was no tax return either.
I went to another place that looked like a Fujifilm studio. There it was about 50,000 yen cheaper. I thought, great, I’ll buy it here, but apparently there was no tax return. Fuji isn’t part of the tax-free scheme. When I told another salesperson I might buy it tomorrow, they said, “You’d have to wait about seven months because there’s no stock.” What the heck! In the end I couldn’t buy it and decided to get it in Thailand.
Exchanging the torn bill and buying masks
I took a motorbike to TPBank to get the torn bill exchanged. Security told me they were only on duty until 5 PM, but they let me in, and when I explained the situation the security person exchanged the bill. They didn’t even make eye contact, but they exchanged it. Thank you.
I bought high-quality masks at a nearby pharmacy. I’d run out of masks that block dust, so I finally managed to get some. They’re essential in Vietnam. I bought extras so I can use them later.
I ate curry at CoCo Ichibanya. I figure I’ll be leaving Southeast Asia soon and probably won’t be able to eat Japanese food for a while, so I ate it while I could.
Reunion with Sonya, matcha cafe in District 7
Finally I got to meet Sonya, my Twin! We often share stories about relationships and dramas, so it was amazing to catch up after a long time.
I visited District 7 for the first time and we met at a matcha cafe. We hugged immediately and I had a huge smile. Last time we met we were just friends, but now we’re Twins who talk about relationships. I’m glad we’ve become this close.
Cultural comparisons of beauty practices and relationship talk
We opened up and talked about a lot. According to Russian beauty standards, women absolutely must have no body hair, and having beautiful keratin-rich hair is also considered a minimum requirement.
We discussed differences between Russian and Southeast Asian beauty standards and compared beauty practices culturally. It reminded me how different the standards of “beauty” can be from country to country.
After that we talked about each other’s love lives. She’s great at listening and asks lots of questions about my stories. I listened to a lot of her relationship talk too.
Relationship talk really gets things going. The matcha latte I had was insanely good. That place became one of my favorite cafes.
Choose your own path
We walked around District 7. She teased my pronunciation of “bol’shoye spasibo” (lol). Sonya even joked about setting it as her alarm. That felt like a great compliment. There were lots of frogs hopping on the street, and occasionally African giant snails.
She said she’s had ties to Germany for a long time and wants to start a new life there in the future.
She was torn between going to Australia or Germany, so I told her I’d definitely choose my own path. People change quickly and you shouldn’t get your hopes up. But you won’t betray yourself.
If you have firm convictions and a strong desire to become something, you can definitely make it happen.
So I told her you should always move in the direction you want. With that said, we updated each other on how we’ve been recently.
It was really fun, and being with someone with a good vibe like her makes me feel positive. Life is shaped by the people you surround yourself with.
