Street-stall Pho and a reunion after two years
Around noon I ordered Pho and shrimp spring rolls from a street-stall-like place near the hotel. As for the taste — it was truly the best. Absolutely delicious. As I thought, the shrimp spring rolls were just unbeatable.
When I came to Vietnam in 2023 I also ate shrimp spring rolls, and even then they were my favorite — this time again they tasted incredibly good. Really, this is an amazing dish.
History told by bricks — Po Nagar
After that I headed to Po Nagar. It’s a Buddhist temple built by stacking bricks. It didn’t feel like a typical temple structure so much as a real brick building, and it was so beautiful that I was deeply moved, thinking how on earth they built something so wonderful. There were a fair number of people — I think lots of tourists. But many local Vietnamese also seemed to visit there on trips, which I found pretty interesting.
At Po Nagar I also saw a unique dance. Five women in distinctive costumes danced with some kind of pottery balanced on their heads. It was really unusual and very Vietnamese. After the performance they sat down and watched TikTok, which cracked me up. Vietnam felt like Showa-era Japan yet modern at the same time — the best combination. Maybe it’s like living the life of old Japan while embracing modern technology? I thought it was really enjoyable.
The shock of sugarcane juice
Leaving Po Nagar, I found a street stall selling sugarcane nearby, so I finally decided to try it. I had been drinking coconut at first, and I hadn’t really had many chances to try sugarcane, so since I was there I thought I had to give it a go.
At first I thought it was bamboo, but apparently it wasn’t bamboo — it was sugarcane. My misunderstanding was pretty epic (laughs). I figured it must be super sweet because there seemed to be a lot of it, and when I drank it it was insanely sweet. Like, seriously over the top. So I thought, maybe that’s enough of that for me.
I figured if I drank a lot of it I’d probably get diabetes. Sugar comes from sugarcane, right? What you’re basically drinking is sugar water.
Long Son Pagoda with the towering white Buddha
Holding the sugarcane drink, I hopped on a motorbike and headed to Long Son Pagoda. It’s a Buddhist temple where a white Buddha soars above.
When I arrived there was the usual temple building. You climb lots of steps, and at the very top there’s a white Buddha. It was pretty tiring, but in a fun way. There was also a reclining Buddha, which reminded me of temples in Thailand.
There were all sorts of people — a Russian parent and child, groups of friends. I thought it was nice to see such variety.
Meeting at the beach square
I had worked up a huge sweat, so I went back to the hotel to change. The meeting spot was a place called 4/2 Park, a big square on Nha Trang beach. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the hotel, so I decided to walk there.
I got to the square and waited for her. We had met more than a year ago on an app called Moji, only exchanged Instagram and hadn’t really talked since. When I found out she lived in Nha Trang I thought, hey, let’s meet up!
She had just finished her university entrance exams yesterday and looked really accomplished. While I was waiting in the square I saw her coming from afar — she’s really tall even among Vietnamese, so I recognized her right away. We greeted with a hug and walked along the beach.
Becoming like the other person — and enjoying it
She was an extravert and super easy to talk to. When I talked with her I noticed something about myself: I’m really influenced by the person I’m with.
It’s not that I don’t have my own core, but I think it’s probably a sensitivity thing. When I talk with her I become really chatty too — I turn into an extravert. I start speaking with a much higher energy.
But when the other person is introverted, I become introverted as well. Which version of myself do I like? Of course I like both. It’s fun.
A Vietnamese of about the same age with the same dream
We started by talking about how her university exams went yesterday, then favorite subjects, studying abroad, English — every kind of topic.
She’s originally from northern Vietnam and moved to Nha Trang more than ten years ago. But she’s planning to leave Nha Trang for university, maybe to Hanoi or Saigon. She also wants to study in Australia or somewhere in Europe and eventually emigrate. I thought, wow, that’s really the same as me.
We walked a lot and sat on a bench. We talked about how Vietnamese people are good at taking and presenting photos, and how Vietnamese boys are really shy but girls are extremely extroverted.
We also talked about culture and young people’s romantic lives. It was a great chance to learn about Vietnam. While we talked she laughed and patted and held my shoulder and arm a few times. I thought, Vietnamese people are very tactile — people keep close physical distance. It felt really comfortable, like you could live very humanely.
Same MBTI, but levels are worlds apart
Her MBTI seems to be ENTJ. No way! The same Commander type as me! I was surprised. I actually thought she’d be ENFJ, but she’s T, not F. Her parents are very strict — they raised her to graduate from a good department at a good university and to make sure AI doesn’t take her job — so she’s been raised really strictly. She’s been studying for about ten years and even took the IELTS.
I only became able to speak English when I was 21. Since then I’ve been studying bit by bit to get to where I am now. And yet she’s just graduated high school and can already communicate with me and has taken IELTS — the gap in level is really huge.
Nha Trang specialty: Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa
Anyway, we got hungry so we went to a local place together. It started raining, so we took a taxi. The place served something like Nha Trang’s version of banh xeo.
The dish is called Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa. It was packed with Vietnamese people — no foreigners, almost all locals. We went up to the second floor and sat at a long table. We ordered her recommended dishes and a Vietnamese drink with aloe vera. She said it’s really good for you, so I decided to try it too.
It was unbelievably tasty. She taught me how to eat it and gave me a little lesson. Tasting it was like, truly the best — it was incredible. The herbs were perfectly balanced and the flavors were very well harmonized.
She took photos of me while I was eating. We even took selfies together! She’s always so energetic, it was just the best. Talking with her was really fun.
She played basketball in high school and her team went to the national tournament three times in three years, taking silver and bronze medals. We talked about things like that and before I knew it time flew by.
Typical ENTJ: confident 'I will definitely pass'
We left the restaurant, took another taxi to where her bike was parked. We talked about how this year’s entrance exams were super hard in English and math so she might have to retake them. But she has been studying a lot and told me with absolute certainty that she will pass. Classic ENTJ — so confident. And that kind of confidence is really great.
I’m glad I met her. She wrote a message in my adventure notebook and I wrote one back. We said it would be nice to meet again abroad or somewhere in the future, and then we said bye.
