Eating, drinking, action, and AI.
After the first two relatively busy days, I wanted to take things a little slower today. Just getting up at 8:00 a.m. isn’t easy; my body is slow to adjust because it’s still set to 2:00 a.m. German time.
Today, I took a little break from the hustle and bustle. It’s interesting that there is so much movement in the city, with almost no pedestrians and most people on motorcycles. What are they all doing? Of course, I’ve seen this in other countries too, but even there it’s not really explainable. On the other hand, there is also a lot of relaxed idleness to be seen. Even the cobbler has to take a nap sometimes…
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For breakfast, I had noodle soup again. Here is a before-and-after comparison:
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Until now, I have always eaten at stainless steel tables, which is unusual for us. Unfortunately, eating soup is not possible without making a mess… even with the Vietnamese, of course with chopsticks and a spoon and the typical green tea that is always served, with ice for breakfast and hot with coffee. Yesterday, I saw some people mixing their tea with their iced coffee, simply pouring it in—that works too. There are many sauces to accompany the food, from (presumably) soy and fish sauce to chili oil, lime, and others, so there is something for everyone. People are kind enough to often recommend what tastes good, which I then find to be true. Paper towels to help with spills are often thrown under the table..
I’ll add a guess about the menu for my favorite dish, bun bo hue.
I paid 70,000 VD for my soup this morning.
Incidentally, in these shops you sit in glaring neon light, far removed from any sense of romance. But the Vietnamese also eat particularly quickly, leaving immediately after finishing, which rarely means they have eaten everything. This speed is impressive, as is the light—every studio photographer’s heart beats faster here, everything is evenly lit!
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Two things are funny about this: you could simply remove three zeros from all prices. I was once in a country where this currency reform took place, so you basically had two currencies in your pocket, the old one with three extra zeros and the new one with those three zeros removed. I think it was in Cuba. This change would also be conceivable here…
Otherwise, regarding the writing: I learned that the alphabet has 30 phonetic symbols, with J, W, and Z missing. Instead, there are some letters with different hooks above, below, or inside the symbols, as well as an additional 6 sound combinations, such as rising intonation, falling intonation, pressed intonation, or double vowels… At this point, I give up and think that I will never learn it. A few times I had to write my name in someone’s cell phone, and with the J missing, I switched to Ania…
After the noodle soup, coffee again, for only 25,000, because it was especially large, with ice, about 3/4 liter, all in plastic, of course.
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In front of “my” café, seen here on the left, two things have now become clear: it is normal to stop your motorcycle in front of the shop to have your coffee served in a plastic cup and plastic bag that you can hang on a hook on your motorcycle, but it is also normal to park your scooter on the sidewalk when you go into the café. The Western concept of a sidewalk is completely overrated…
In addition to the large amount of trash that is everywhere, including on the sidewalks, it is scrubbed and washed away with lye at least once a day in other places, namely in tourist-oriented cafes!
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Two more minor points: in addition to the information on Facebook that we can now also use our AirPods with live translation (chip.de) in Europe, I had to question Google Translate. What is the AI doing there? While communicating with a man in a crowded café yesterday, the AI suddenly wrote about prostitution. I was sure that Mr. Google had somehow misread something. Every now and then I ask people for directions, and today was no exception. The young man on a scooter stammered something to himself, which I didn’t understand, of course, until he showed me an unambiguous photo, sex… I walked on, irritated, and afterwards could only wonder which of us two was supposed to be earning money here. Is there such a big interest in this that I’ve been asked about it two days in a row? In both cases, I wasn’t afraid, the situations weren’t threatening, the men looked “normal,” it was just irritating..
And now to the point: the search for floating market stalls is difficult. Two markets just outside the city are said to no longer exist. I fear that the wholesale market I will visit tomorrow will be too crowded. Furthermore, there are reportedly no boats available for my desired trip up the Mekong to the next town. I find this hard to believe, but unfortunately I can’t find a solution either. That’s why I’m feeling a bit stressed today, as I haven’t been able to find a solution for anything.
I suppose this is what research is all about, and it can be exhausting.
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By the way, 70,000 Vietnamese dongs for soup + 25,000 vd for coffee is about €3.08.
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