Medium Paid for my Week-long Birthday Trip in Vietnam
I have been in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for almost a week now. I haven’t written anything new since I landed here, although I thought about if I should work while on vacation but decided to just to be in full-mode vacation.
The trip isn’t completely over, I still have a couple of days left before I go back home — the Philippines. If you’re the kind of obsessive writer that I am, you’d know how hard it is not to write.
I feel like there’s something scratching in my brain whenever I go on writing hiatus for a long time, so I decided to write this piece as a thank you to Medium and my readers.
Literally every money I spent here on this trip came from Medium — yes, I saved it all up in a piggy bank and yes, I am an adult who’s supposed to put it in a proper bank or something.
But there’s something fun about piggy banks. They take me back when I was a child and my grandmother, who was really strict about money, would check if we’ve been saving up in our piggy banks. At the end of each year, my sister and I could buy anything we want from our that year’s savings.
What I’ve been doing in Saigon
There are lots of fun activities here in Saigon, but I’m not a very touristy kind of traveler. I always complain about having a schedule whenever my family and I would go on group trips.
The real reason why I came here in Saigon is to visit my best friend. We’ve been friends since high school and she’s currently working here as an English teacher to cute Korean kids.
I’m really bummed that I might not get to see her for awhile after this trip so we’re just making this worthwhile.
Here’s a picture we took in one of those photo booths:
As you can see, I make dumb faces. This picture was taken on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon.
There’s also a book street here for all you book nerds out there. I personally love my visit there! You can buy brand new books for around $8 and second hand books for around $3. Not bad right?
Most books there are translated in Vietnamese but there are a few English books here and there.
The coffee shops around are a plus. Vietnam has really good coffee from what I’ve seen and heard. Haven’t tried them personally, since I’m not allowed but if you happen to swing by, you should really give it a try!
Here’s a picture of me at the book street:
Street food here gives me life
You have no idea how much I love eating here. You can buy a huge meal for $2 or less. If you love pho, then you definitely have to come here. It costs like less than $1 for an authentic pho.
Here’s me sitting like a dude, having my 4th bowl of pho at 10 in the morning:
When I said in my previous blogs that I act like a dude in real life, I really do. I even eat like one.
I wish I’ve taken more photos of the street food I ate, but I’m really just going at it once it’s in front of me.
My favorite would have to be banh mi though, it’s like a baguette (I think) which you can choose what stuffing you like to have. It’s the first thing I eat every morning and I always opt for the roasted duck.
If you’re up for it, I saw one food stand offering banh mi with roasted frog. I know most people would find that iffy, but it’s a normal thing for many in Southeast Asia.
The night life here is amazing to me
Drinking Saigon beer is definitely what I’ve been up to for the last few days. I’m not really a club person, more like a sit-down-in-silence-or-talk-about-stupid-stuff-with-friends kind of person.
If you’re like me then Saigon is the PERFECT place for you. I love Manila with my whole heart but the way people drink here is amazing. They just have little chairs and sit down on the street and drink — that’s heaven to me.
Although our beer in the Philippines taste better to me, I have to give props to their special beer in Saigon — not too bad, my Southeast Asian friends, not too bad.
If you’re into clubbing and stuff, the scene is alive and well here as well. It’s just not my cup of tea.
But here’s a street full of them:
Just a thank you to Medium and the community
Thank you to everyone who reads my stuff. Literally, you all paid for my flight, food, hotel and especially my banh mi addiction.
But above all that, this trip would be the last time for a long time that I’ll see my best friend before we decide to actually be adults. We can’t be raging borderline alcoholics for the rest of our lives.
It’s going to be my birthday in a few hours and I would just want to express my gratitude toward the readers, and the friends I’ve made here.
I’m going out to eat banh mi again after this, but not until I’ve cried in the bathroom for a while. Don’t worry, it’s mostly happy tears this time.
It’s going to be another year for me and I’m taking Medium along for the ride.
