Written by Jane: After a few days of searching, we finally found an apartment that we like! We are on a month-to-month lease, so we plan to stay in this apartment while we search for something (hopefully cheaper) and newer. That said, it’s a super cute studio in an expat/tourist neighborhood. It’s not what one may imagine as a typical “tourist” area. It’s an area for people on vacation and expats who live here, but it’s not overly populated and commercial. It has tourist accommodations, like hotels, beach chairs, bars, and restaurants, but it’s not crowded at all. It’s very relaxing, quiet, and laid back. Our apartment is in a hostel, so it’s nice to have other foreigners around. The people who work at our apartment/the hostel are super helpful and nice. The owner hosted a BBQ a couple of nights ago for the hostel, so we met some other foreigners. A few new things about our apartment:
Check out pictures of our apartment below (slideshow). A couple of days ago, we went searching for food for our apartment. I haven’t had much luck finding vegan food at restaurants here. The only vegan restaurant I know of (so far) is pretty far from our place. I love cooking anyway, so I wanted to stock up on ingredients for our kitchen. On the expat community Facebook group, I found an organic foods business. It’s run by one woman who sells organic produce and foods out of her home. She has a cool selection of healthy foods, including rice, moringa pasta (gluten-free), lentils, turmeric, coconut flour, and coconut sugar. We stocked up on rice, morninga pasta, and got some produce. We’ll definitely be back to her shop! Yesterday, we went to our first large, outdoor market. It was a huge market selling produce, meats, clothes, dry rice and beans, and other random stuff. First off there were live chickens crammed into cages (very hard to see, but they were still treated better than chickens in slaughterhouses in the US) and raw meat being cut up and sold at the market. All that combined with the heat resulted in a pretty gross stench. It’s nice to have a fresh market, but it’s super different than the farmer’s markets in the US, since it was dirty and smelly. It’s just another thing to get used to. I came here for something different, and that’s exactly what I’ve been getting. After the outdoor market, we checked out the supermarket. The Lotte Mart is basically a mall combined with a grocery store, movie theatre, and bowling alley. The grocery store had tons of processed snack foods, meat, and milk. There were no “gluten-free” items, which is not surprising. There were no “health foods” that are common in the US. Actually, I would go as far to say that there were no healthy foods in the store except for produce, rice, soy milk, and oatmeal. Brandon was very happy to find oatmeal- his favorite breakfast. In one of the marts/convenient stores by our apartment, we were relieved to find peanut butter without hydrogenated oils, and chia seeds. That’s much improvement from the Lotte Mart. I’ve heard you can find some healthier stuff at some of the other marts. I’m excited to keep exploring the foods here. Last night, we walked down to the beach for the first time. We live about 3 blocks away from the beach, which is one of the main reasons that we moved to our neighborhood. We walked down the beach where we could see Son Tra Mountain (or Monkey Mountain) and the lit up high rises along the beach. We love the beach. It’s very calming. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach and the feel of the ocean breeze is instantly relaxing. We stopped to sit and enjoy the beach. I meditated for a bit to enhance my senses, and then played around with some head stands. We walked home feeling better and lighter than before. I am so grateful to live so close to the ocean and nature. Pictures from the beach...
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Written by Jane:
We made it to Vietnam! We love it so far. We’ve been very busy travelling and trying to find an apartment. Combined with jet lag and the humid heat, we are exhausted by 5pm every day. Our Vietnam adventure started in Hanoi- we stayed there for two nights to take a break from flying. We stayed in the Old Quarter area, which is poppin’! It’s very dense, crowded, and fast paced. It was nice to be so close to so many restaurants and shops- everything we needed was in walking distance. The traffic is insane. The streets are crowded with scooters, motorbikes, cars, and pedestrians buzzing around with no adherence to traffic laws (not sure they even exist here). It’s controlled chaos. It’s a free for all, but we haven’t seen a wreck yet, so there must be a method to the madness. In Hanoi, there was little to no sidewalk, so walking around was quite stressful trying to not get hit by a motorbike or car. There are lots of street vendors selling a variety of things- food, souvenirs, clothing, services, etc. The vendors in Hanoi tend to be very aggressive, especially to obvious tourists like us. One afternoon, we were walking in search of food and a man, who was sitting on the sidewalk, suddenly grabbed Brandon’s shoe. He quickly proceeded to untie and take off Brandon’s shoe. There was a small hole in the shoe that he wanted to sew up. In a matter of seconds, Brandon’s shoe was in this man’s hands. Brandon let him proceed since he did want the hole sewn up. The man was very nice and knew English well enough to chat up with tourists. When he was done, he told Brandon to pay him $250,000 VND or about $11 USD. Brandon said no way and bartered with him for a few minutes and eventually paid him $50,000 VND or about $2.25 USD. Brandon was strong and stood his ground- he made it look easy. I’m glad I didn’t have to barter. We’re still getting used to this bartering culture. It’s common for locals to take advantage of tourists because they think we’re rich. Our first night in Hanoi, we went to an awesome vegan restaurant (Jalus) for dinner and then walked around the city. We walked around Hoan Kiem Lake which was beautifully lit up with lights and surrounded by flower beds. People were everywhere- it reminded us of Times Square in NYC but prettier. It was a very fun and happy atmosphere. When we were walking around the next morning, an older local woman with one leg approached us. She was soliciting us hoping to be our tour guide. She asked us our nationality, to which we replied American. Almost immediately thereafter, she pointed out that she lost her leg in an explosion in the Vietnam War. It was super awkward! Poor lady. We weren’t interested in a tour, so we graciously declined. In Hanoi, we treated ourselves to massages for about $5/30 minutes. We’re thinking about getting weekly massages. After two nights in Hanoi, we headed to Da Nang, where we will be living. We’re super excited to be here and start learning the city that will be our home. Da Nang is a bit calmer than Hanoi- the streets and sidewalks are wider. The traffic is still pretty crazy, especially during rush hour!! We have yet to see aggressive vendors on the street- most people are minding their own business and happy to help us when needed. We’ve been looking for apartments for the past two days. A realtor has been showing us around- we haven’t found a place that satisfies what we’re looking for yet. Tomorrow we’re going to go on our own to look for apartments. We found the neighborhood that we want to live in, An Thoung- it’s a popular expat neighborhood with a laid back vibe, and it’s walking distance to the beautiful beach. We’re very excited to live there! Our current Airbnb is located in a more populated and chaotic neighborhood, so we’re looking forward to more peaceful surroundings. Yesterday we rented a scooter because it’s easier and cheaper than getting cabs. Brandon drove the scooter and he was awesome! He drove in the crazy traffic and rocked it. That’s my baby! We were a good team out on the streets. I practiced driving the scooter in a quieter area, and it’s really fun! I’m a little nervous to get out into the traffic, but it just takes practice. We’re planning on each buying our own scooters. We’ve met a couple of expats who were super helpful and gave us lots of helpful information. It’s so nice to have a strong expat community here. As much as we’re looking for a new adventure, it’s so nice to meet people who speak English and can help us get settled. The food has been amazing!! Everything is so fresh and healthy, besides the meat. There are tons of street vendors in Hanoi and Da Nang, and most have meat sitting out in the heat all day. Thank goodness we’re not big meat eaters. Brandon had the best pho of his life at a small shop with no A/C in Hanoi. We’ve found some delicious vegan and vegetarian places in Hanoi and Da Nang thanks to Happy Cow and Google. It hasn’t been as easy as I thought (I’m not sure how easy I thought it would be), but we’ve made it work. The language barrier has been challenging but Google Translate is a life saver. Also, most of the people we’ve spoken to at restaurants have known a little English. Soon we will have an apartment and be able to cook our own food. So far, I really like the energy in Da Nang. It’s very friendly and relaxed here. Everyone seems to be happy and content, relaxing and minding their own business. We’ve seen lots of people napping in their shops or on their parked scooters. Locals have been very nice to us. We had some issues with our scooter yesterday, and people on the street came over, without asking, to help us on a few occasions. We’re very happy to be here. Not to say that it was been an easy experience, but what’s good doesn't usually come easy. There are challenges but we’re learning more every day, every hour, every minute. The best part of this experience is doing it together. Brandon makes anything fun and enjoyable. He’s my rock, and I’m stronger with him because he’s got my back. We have each other, and I can already tell that we can do anything together. For daily updates, follow us on snapchat… Jane: janeybird1 Brandon: draculaspider |
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November 2017
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