Midnight anxiety and a day buried in work at a hidden café in Ho Chi Minh
Last night I suddenly felt anxious and couldn't sleep. I wondered why — what was this feeling? I thought maybe my mind was exhausted from meeting two new people in one day for the first time in a while. Thinking about that, I finally fell asleep at 4:30. There were a huge number of things I had to do — client requests, video editing, posting, habits, all sorts of things flooding in — and my head was full.
Meeting 30 minutes after waking up
I woke up at 10:20. There was a meeting at 10:30, so I joined it groggy from just waking up. After that I went back to sleep and woke up at 13:30. Since I had a ton of work requests today, I figured it would be a full work day, so I went to a café and worked the whole time and wrote the backlog of journal entries. For lunch I ordered Burger King delivery. The cheese sticks were as delicious as ever.
Every Half Coffee Roasters, again
I decided to go to a different Every Half Coffee Roasters location that Sonya told me about. As expected, it was excellent. I worked at one of the round tables there. I ordered a yuzu matcha tea, and it was really delicious.
I didn't expect matcha and yuzu to taste good together. Vietnam keeps giving me new experiences like this, and I'm really happy.
I worked until about 8:30 p.m. When a lot of work and requests come in, my head fills up with them and I get anxious. But I thought it's important to handle them well while continuing to work.
Scenes I saw in the Japanese quarter
When I left the café, I realized I was near the Japanese quarter. Maybe that's why there were a lot of Japanese people. Since there's a Machida Shoten nearby, I decided to go eat ramen there.
While walking, three middle-aged Japanese men walked into the Japanese quarter together. I thought, 'They're probably going to hang out with young Vietnamese girls now,' and I thought I never want to become someone like that. From the other person's perspective it must feel really gross. It's pathetic to think you can't attract women unless you have money.
No matter how old I get, I want to be the kind of man who radiates an aura that makes others come to him without wanting anything.
Machida Shoten in Vietnam
I walked to Machida Shoten listening to music. Today I ordered soy sauce ramen, rice, and crème brûlée. It was 255,000 dong so it was a bit expensive. Well, but I guess it wasn't that bad.
At Machida Shoten in Vietnam, the 'normal' flavor apparently tastes a bit weak to Japanese people, and 'rich' is just right for them. Having crème brûlée as dessert is truly the best. And it's only 25,000 dong, so very cheap.
Polluted air, and the memory of being ripped off two years ago
After finishing eating I decided to walk back to the hotel. The polluted air was very noticeable and the smell of exhaust was strong. Just walking made me feel like I might get fed up. But nobody was wearing masks, which I found surprising. Just in case, I bought a mask.
Speaking of which, when I was in Hanoi two years ago I tried to buy a mask and was ripped off, charged around 100 yen. I felt a bit nostalgic remembering that.
I walked until I reached near Bui Vien Street, bought water at a 7-Eleven, returned to the hotel, and then worked. I'm thinking it's about time to upload my French journal entries to TikTok and Instagram, but first I need to finish the work in front of me.
