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and I am hopeful this will be true - as he can be a spendthrift. I want to see the look on his face after he makes his first ATM withdrawal and he will become a millionaire in VND

Prior to the breakup and departing for Da Nang, I had advised him what to do but NOT how to do it - mainly in the marketing area. Why? Because he is really good with social media and I had assumed (oops, that bad word = ass-u-me appears in my life again...) that he would put together a good marketing plan. Which in my opinion he did - but it failed on the technical side - because he put his trust in someone who created his QR code without the required follow thru - of end-to-end testing of the technical marketing solution. They all just assumed that the new QR code would magically bring the end users to the 3 food ordering apps; GrabFood, LineMan, ShopeeFood. I did push back as I told him that it was not prudent for him to come to Da Nang when a business is new. But I believe that his fear of losing me took more urgency than him running his new business. He is an adult - I told him not to come - but he wanted a guarantee that in September when I will return to Thailand that we would go back to being partners again. I told him that I could not make that promise, as I am exercising my options (as a newly single person) for romance here in Vietnam (since our relationship was already terminated when I left Thailand). For now, until the QR technical issue can be fixed, the only hope is to rely on the foot traffic part of the income model for now. But, if it keeps raining every day (as it has been forecasted to rain through 25 May) and no customers venture into the Food Market - there is not much we can do for now. So, the friend will maintain the dismal status quo. Yes I agree with what you wrote above in principal. However, I feel that there will be a BIG advantage of having him here in Da Nang - instead of me in Pattaya - because I won't need to compete for his focus and attention because of: his gazillion friends who have strong opinions about how to run a business and I don't see any of them with big success stories, they will challenge the proposed technical solutions - as NONE of them have businesses that link to multiple ordering and delivery apps, he will bring the required business iPad with him - as the resolution of the QR code dilemma is dependent on accessing the "manager" part of these apps from within the installed apps. I had spent most of today trying to access them via a normal web browser and it is impossible for security reasons - so we will do all of that when he is here in less than 13 days. For selfish reasons, I do not want to return to Pattaya / Jomtien now - as I want to continue with my trial run as a retiree living in Da Nang. Yes, it is probably more wiser that I go there - but I don't want the hassles that I mention above. Again, he is an adult - if he can't make this business work - then that will greatly influence the already fragile relationship that we have. I do admit that he is trying to juggle too many things at the same time - but he has ALWAYS been this way - so, I want him to be as natural as possible - even if it frustrates me - as my modus operandi is much more structured and disciplined. If it does not work out we both lose - but after his recent romantic advances (which he never does) I decided to give him a second chance. If it works I am happy - if it does not work - I will be sad - but I have already suffered so much from the first breakup - I think that if there were to be a 2nd breakup it will be easier to manage and move forward. Also, I want to see him out of his normal element: not in Thailand, in a country where they don't speak Thai, a different cuisine, a different society with different societal norms, a different way to manage money - he has never utilized foreign currencies. These are important aspects for me - because anyone who is going to be my partner needs to be able to travel abroad with me as I don't want to become a fossil which only lives in and experiences Thailand. I love Thailand - but I also love traveling and experiencing different cultures.

Day 22 in Da Nang – 15 May 2025 Today the cleaning lady is supposed to come but I am not sure when, so at 11am I escape to have a quick Bò né and salt coffee at as I had strategically placed my new “Crocodile Dundee” hat at the door – I put it on – as I am trying to create this new habit. Ironically it is raining heavily back in Pattaya and here it is hot and humid and sunny = hat required. Return to room, and around 2:30pm, the cleaning lady arrives and does a thorough job of cleaning the room and now I have an abundance of extra towels. I had put on nice Vietnamese music to put her at ease and she seemed to be happy. She finishes in an hour and after she leaves – she returns like 15 minutes later to bring me 2 mangos and 4 mixed fruit yoghurts and she takes away the 3 floor mats and gives me nice newer ones. Life is good. Today was a miscellaneous day: Follow up with some ex-colleagues who are stressed about the deteriorating situation within the UN, as the UN80 proposals are reviewed by the member nations, My Galaxy S23 required an update to the One UI version 7.0, which changed some of my frequently used utilities – so I had to watch some YouTube videos about how to put everything back to the way it was before the upgrade – don’t you just love technical upgrades?.... A forum member surprises me via a DM with a great idea about how to possibly resolve my BFs QR code dilemma – which I start to research – thank you anonymous forum member – you are a true blessing… Below is a mock-up prototype where the existing QR code can still be used (and not trashed) – and the user is brought to my BF’s Line Business landing page (prototype shown below), which would display a greeting message and then display the 3 QR codes to the individual ordering platforms that he has subscribed to; LineMan, ShopeeFood, GrabFood. In the above example – the user would need to scroll to the appropriate QR code and/or hyperlink to open the digital store of my BF on their preferred food app. I am really liking this alternate solution, as my BF would not need to buy another entire set of marketing stickers for his products and the shop's marquee banner could remain as is. Still not sure if it might be better to just display the hyperlinks, or the actual QR codes, or both – that shall be for additional research tomorrow. Having ate my brunch at 11am, it is now 5pm and I am hungry for dinner, so I return to for my favorite Jumbo dish. After finishing my early dinner, it is peak time to see what life is like over on the beach. Eclectic photo collage of My Khe beach on 15 May 2025 near sunset What stands out for me with the difference between Jomtien at sunset versus Da Nang at sunset – is those doing aerobic dancing in Da Nang tend to be 90% female (as evidenced in the above photo to the right with the red Vietnamese flag in the background) – but back in Jomtien, the majority are female – but there is a large male presence (perhaps 30% to 40%). Why is that? Perhaps men feel more comfortable letting loose to dance in public in Jomtien and the men in Da Nang are more reserved and shy? Return to room, chat with BF, and do more research about QR codes and Line Business accounts. End of day 22 in Da Nang – 15 May 2025

I am going into my 3rd year here in the Pattaya area. Out here on the coast, the low season has always started immediately after the conclusion of Songkran (towards the end of April). And it usually continues into the middle of October. This I agree. Usually in this period it is miserably hot and himid with little to no rain until late August + September + 1st 2 weeks of October (monsoon season).

Thanks for sharing this link. Yes, this is the PRIMARY gossip and talk of the town amongst us ex-pats here in Da Nang. We are on pins and needles to learn what will be the specific details and requirements. Just like back in Thailand - they market a "tax free" Wealthy Pensioner visa - but the devil in those details is that you must show 2 prior years of $80,000 USD in passive income in each of those 2 years. If not, then you only qualify for the other retirement visas, which can now be subject to taxation when you make incoming bank transfers into Thailand. My hope is: Thailand will not move forward with the threatened idea to implement a Global Taxation Scheme, Vietnam's new to-be Golden Visa won't have high threshold income requirements to obtain one.

I have good news. After a BIG delay, the highly successful (in Manila) ALPHA massage franchise is finally coming to CEBU - and it looks like it will be a BIG facility. Video to the near completion of the new massage shop: https://x.com/i/status/1923016612401250774

The rebirth of this wonderful Thai film = "Lahn Mah" หลานม่า Has been announced. Miramax wants to make an American version - so I fear that it might not be as good as the original Thai version. However, the original producer seems to be optimistic. Below is the related story: https://deadline.com/2025/05/miramax-remake-how-to-make-millions-before-grandma-dies-1236395463/

Bravo!! This was my first question to him when he insisted that he needs to come and see me here in Da Nang. I told him that his new business needs to be first as the first months of a new business are the most critical. He has assured me that his good friend (whom I know very well) will assume his duties during the 15 days that he will be here with me. Unfortunately, his new business is not doing well because of the ongoing non-stop rains - day after day. So, the Pattaya market where his shop is located is often abandoned due to the recent rain storms. His shop is now open I believe for 16 to 18 days and he could only tell me yesterday (we need to remember that I blocked him in when I left for Da Nang) and his shop opened after I was already here in Vietnam. So, I haven't had any updates on how things are going until now. I asked him to walk me through the 4 sources of expected income (I had helped him with the business plan before I left); foot traffic directly to his food stall, LineMan traffic, ShopeeFood traffic, GrabFood traffic. The foot traffic sales stream is very weak due to the ongoing rain storms and it being low season. For ALL of the 3 online stores listed above, the traffic has been ZERO with NO visits to the representation of his virtual store within these 3 apps. I was quite shocked and upset when he shared this with me last night. So, I asked him to send the the QR code that has been preprinted onto his marketing materials - the logo stickers that are put onto the take away food containers, cups, and logos that were put onto the stores main banner. So, I open this QR code and it links to his Line Business account chat box that has a greeting message - which is only in Thai. There are no details about his store, menu, etc. So, I already start barking at him - poor guy - with my million questions: you promised me before I left for Vietnam that you would put all messages and advertising in BOTH Thai and English. Then I reminded him from AI that the estimated distribution of foot traffic in Pattaya is 60% non-Thai and 40% Thai. I told him, so, when you only write your messages in Thai you are excluding 60% of who is available to buy your products in Pattaya. He promised to amend the greeting to include English. I asked, who created this QR code for you? He would not tell me. So, I said that whoever created this QR code for you did you a disservice - because it excludes the entry way onto GrabFood, ShopeeFood, and LineMan and this is WHY no one is visiting your online stores - your new shop is invisible on these 3 platforms. So, now the most immediate task is to create a multi-URL QR code so that the potential customer scans 1 unique QR code which will list GrabFood, ShopeeFood, LineMan, Line Business account chat box, and his social media feeds that are dedicated to his new business for promotional purposes. What I found CRAZY is that he could not grasp why ZERO traffic was going to his 3 online stores. I wanted to be so angry - but I could not because he truly did not understand - as he believed in the friend who created the useless QR code for him. So, I had to internalize my anger - but I think that he sensed it - as I am not a good person to hide my true feelings. So, after the new multi-URL QR code will be created then NEW marketing stickers will need to be printed and then for the large shop banner - I am going to advise him that for now he somehow find a way to paste over the defective QR code with perhaps a large NEW QR code, that could be glued over the already pre-printed QR code that is currently displayed on his main marquee. I know that it is tacky - but this is already so much money out the window because of this bad original QR design. In addition to the above, I am pushing him to create paper based business cards that will display: the logo and contact details of his shop, and the 3 individual QR codes of Shopee, LineMan, and GrabFood, this card can then be stapled onto each outgoing sales delivery package. Then later on, if the shop really does take off - then he can have a new marquee banner printed - as these are not cheap. One of his close friends will take care of the business while he is here with me in Da Nang. This person is already working in the shop part-time alongside my BF - because my BF does not own a car or motorbike and his close friend, owns a car - which is critical, as they need to go to the market every morning to buy new fresh fruit for that day's sales of fruit salad creations that he makes daily.

I agree. My proof was when I reached the end of my 62 days in Cebu - I learned that I could live there as a retiree - but with many caveats. So, by the end of my 90 days here in Da Nang I am presuming that I could live here as a retiree - but with a different set of caveats than the ones I listed for Cebu. And on this I already disagree after being here for 22 days already. I could definitely live here - more so than in Cebu. But perhaps, not enough more than Jomtien. But it is still too early to judge.

$25 for a 90 day single entry tourist visa, or, $50 for a 90 day multiple entry tourist visa - which is the option that I am currently on. I believe that the visa run via the Lynn Visa bus service to Laos costs around $200 USD, which would include a new 90 day multiple entry tourist visa. Or, the cost of airfare to fly out of Vietnam and back + the cost of a different local agent service who can give you a same day expedited new 90 day visa - as long as your passport on re-entry to Vietnam shows that you truly exited Vietnam. I do not yet know the cost for this service, as I need to discuss it with Travis, a local YouTuber here that I discussed in an earlier post. The next social meetup for his group is on 25 May.

I saw this on my Asean Now feed this morning https://aseannow.com/topic/1360699-viral-video-captures-tense-clash-between-women-competing-for-patrons-in-pattaya/ I guess we are truly in the midst of the low-season..... Can you imagine if the guys in Bangkok or Pattaya did the same thing to get us as a potential customer?

to accelerate your success - click on the button of the person that you like and then after they accept your follow request you can then enter into their profile and look at their Following list to find like minded people - this will truly accelerate your results. Birds of the same feather often flock together......

Try the below query in Twitter (X) using the hashtags: #altmanila #forhire This is how I found many guys when I was in Cebu during January / February of this year - but instead of the hashtag = #altmanila - I used #altcebu good luck

Day 21 in Da Nang – 14 May 2025 After last nights wild sex escapade, there is a lot of laundry to do – mainly those lovely towels that I bought in my first days here in Da Nang to protect the massage bed need to be thoroughly washed. But I don’t mind this chore – as the reward was worth it. After posting my 13 May trip report updates – I perform another search on AirBnB and after looking at many other condo options, I decide to extend this current condo where I am through the end of June. One less thing to worry about. You may remember that in Cebu, I had to change many AirBnBs because I was trying to find the “holy grail” perfect condo with a nice sea view with a big balcony on the sea. Well, since this is my 3rd visit to Da Nang, I already know which neighbourhood is like Jomtien, and I am already in a condo that meets all of my Jomtien-like equivalents (high floor, laptop workstation, great internet, big balcony with sea view, rapid access to many restaurants, quick access to a sandy clean beach where you can walk for kilometres uninterrupted, etc.) -AND- this landlady has been great with constant gifts of coconuts and mangos – so why move. On 22 July 2025, my 90 day tourist visa will expire, when I will need to either: Do a border run on the famous bus to Laos to obtain another 90 day tourist visa within the same day – however, the entire process takes the entire day between 12 to 15 hours, https://lynnvisa.vn/ 2. Fly out of Da Nang and go somewhere else and either: Stay there for 40 days and return to Thailand in September from that location, Fly out and back to Vietnam within the same day using a special visa agent to get another 90 day tourist visa. By now it is 2pm and I am hungry for lunch. I decide that I want to break my daily habit of always going to -OR- , so I set my sights on the famous all day breakfast place = Op la Cafe https://www.facebook.com/oplacafe over on the famous An Thuong 2 street. Unfortunately, in the moment that I arrive, it is crowded with the backpacker hippie beachcomber surfer crowd and the place looks very disheveled and disorderly – as there are still many tables in disarray that have yet to be cleared and cleaned. So I bail out and return to for my usual Chicken Club and salt coffee. Eating at the Op la Cafe shall be for another day. Afterwards, I take a nice walk on the beach promenade, but my head is burning again from the intense sun, so I decide that today I am going to buy a “Crocodile Dundee” type of Australian hat: The last time I wore a similar hat was in the late 1980s, when I lived in Denver, and I started Cowboy dancing as my then hobby. I am not normally the hat wearing type of person – but I see many people wearing these out on the beach and/or beach promenade – so I decide to join their club. I have read that it can take many days to create a new habit – so I strategically put this new hat at the door of the condo – with the hope that I will be encouraged to put it on when exiting the condo during the daytime. In my opinion, this hat was incredibly cheap, at 100,000 VND (around $3.86 USD). Back to my room for a nice nap – oh the joys of being a retiree. Wake up and shower and I return for dinner at the Pizza House https://www.facebook.com/pizzahousedanangvietnam/# But this time, I order a pepperoni pizza, instead of the Australian beef tenderloin, that I ate on day 14 of my stay here (which confused some of our gayguides readers as they did not expect me to eat a steak in a restaurant that has pizza in its name). It was very good and I can confirm the 4.8 (out of 5) rating that it received in Google reviews. So, this restaurant has very good meat dishes as well as great pizzas. Ok, now the most difficult part of today's trip report: – as I know that I am going to upset some of you and get some well deserved push back, after all of my heartbreak whimpering and whining in the last couple of weeks. Tonight after long chats and conversations with my ex-Thai boyfriend – I decided to: Un-BLOCK him in LINE , Buy him a roundtrip ticket to come and see me in Da Nang on 29 May 2025 Why? I am a sucker for romance – and he made some BIG romantic moves in the last couple of days. He is NOT much of a romantic type of person – so this was a BIG move on his part - when he made me know via a powerful email that he has secretly kept the bouquet of roses (evidenced in the above photo on the right) that I had delivered to him as a BIG surprise on Valentine's Day (while I was in Cebu). He told me that these dried roses are a substitute for the real me and that he is still waiting for me..... So, I conceded to give it one more chance, for the 2 weeks that he will stay in Da Nang with me, to see how it goes. No commitments on either side – but to give it another try. Ok gayguides readers – bring it on – I am ready to be slayed..... Off to bed – it was a long and restless sleep…… End of day 21 in Da Nang – 14 May 2025

I agree @PeterRS, I gave more emphasis to romantic sunsets, as I have rarely had a romantic sunrise - due to the effort that is required to wake up to capture the magical moment. I share the below photo from 4 January 2024, when I hired a Muslim tour guide for 10 days to take me around Southern Thailand in the area where there is the ongoing insurgency. He is from Yala and I was in the neighboring province / city of Songkhla. We made part of our trip to be romantic when we stayed in the Ao Thai Resort (a lovely place run by a German and his Thai wife) to celebrate his birthday - where we shared a cozy beach bungalow together. https://www.aothairesort.com/ On the morning of his birthday, he wanted to see the sunset - as we were on the Western side of the Gulf of Thailand and their is a great sunrise, but there isn't an interesting sunset because the sun sets over the land in that area of Thailand. Here is a photo that he took of me trying to capture the morning sunrise at this early hour. Sunrise in Sathing Phra District of Songkhla on 4 January 2024 As I found him in X (Twitter), he was a closeted very hot guy with a wonderful cut cock. We had to celebrate his birthday 2 times that day - 1 time with his mother and family via a LINE phone call where we sang happy birthday WITHOUT birthday candles (as this is not allowed in their faith) and then after we terminated the LINE phone call with his family, I sang him happy birthday, but this time with 24 birthday candles that he had to blow out on his cake.

Hallelujah!! My bank is on the "payment system upgrade supported" list. Having worked on payment systems for more than 40+ years during my working life - it is always a BATTLE to get banks to be upgraded onto the latest required payment network system requirements - because, like many financial institutions in the world that we live in, the financial software may still be operating on a mainframe in Fortran/Cobol, and there may be great difficulties to still find someone who still knows how to program in these ancient technology languages.

Hot Springs Park Wow Moses thanks for sharing this place with us. This place looks like a lot of fun. I want to go there - probably for an overnight stay. 👍🤩 https://nuithantai.vn/

Can you please tell us the name of your Thai bank? Is this issue because the sourced funds are from a Pension? Or because it is originating from the UK? I also use Wise to top up my Thai bank account and it will become critical that it works properly after I finish my 180 days outside of Thailand this year - as I will need to top up my account for the remainder of this year and ALL of next year before 31 December 2025. Thanks

Day 20 in Da Nang – 13 May 2025 Breakfast in my room and I prepare and post my 12 May trip report updates. I also start looking at other AirBnB accommodations to get a feel for the availability – as my current condo contract will end at the end of this month. I discover, via the AirBnB app, that my condo owner owns 13 units in the building where I am staying. I discover that she has some really nice other units – BUT – one of my pet peeves are the all-too-common non enclosed shower areas – where the water and soap goes everywhere in the bathroom. Unfortunately, this is a common practice here and I really do not like it. The majority (between 70% to 80%) of the AirBnBs that I look at have this type of open shower system. More than likely, I will just extend my stay for 1 more month where I already am, as it is a great living space, the shower unit is in its own room enclosed in its own glass door area, there is a great work space for my laptop, has 2 bedrooms – of which I use one for my massages. I need to decide soon – to avoid that someone snatches this condo unit from me. It is now 3ish, and I am hungry for lunch and guess where I go? Yes – back to Gordon’s New York Bagels shop Today they are training some new Vietnamese employees and it was very amusing watching them explain: 1. What is a bagel, 2. What is the significance of their variations (poppy, sesame seed, onion, etc.). I would imagine that in the Vietnamese culture that they are not very aware of bagels. Now is the golden moment to head over to the beach – as the sun is behind the hi-rise buildings and the beach becomes ALIVE and full of lot’s of eye candy to watch: Just like back in Jomtien - on Dongtan beach – there is the group of farangs playing volleyball And next to the farangs playing volleyball, there is the more professional Vietnamese also playing volleyball 20250513_170256.mp4 I love watching them play - just as I do back in Jomtien (Dongtan). This was something that I could not do in Cebu - as there are no open beaches like this on Mactan island - where the beaches are. Of course, no good beach stay without a yummy salt coffee on the beach at Caribou - my favorite place As it is getting dark, I head back to my room and I look in Grindr, Hornet, and Heesay (formerly BLUED) for a “massage” guy. Two of them tickle my fancy and I choose the younger twink from Hornet, as he seems to be more into the sensual game that is very appealing to me. This is my first meetup with someone from Hornet - as Hornet is not so popular here in Da Nang. The number one app is Heesay, followed by Grindr. He (Thành) is only 24, works in a child care center, and has a nice pre-twunk body. His English is pretty good and we stay out on the balcony looking at Sơn Trà mountain, as he tells me about a “secret” way to get onto the back side of the mountain. As you may remember, if you have an automatic motorbike, there is a security guard who blocks the mountain road – near the InterContinental resort, due to the steepness of the road, from venturing into the back side of the mountain. Thành tells me to approach the mountain from the opposite direction – which I had never thought of – as I did not know there was another way. However, after he shows how to gain access on Google Maps – I become reluctant to do something like this by myself. So, when I find the right Vietnamese guy, I will go with him via this backside of the mountain way. Ok, Ok, Ok, most of you don’t care, and want me to just hurry up and get to the sex part…..I know my readers…. We both get naked and he starts the massage and within 10 minutes I understood that this was not going to be a massage but a FULL sex event. How did I know it? Well, when he laid his entire body on mine and started to kiss my neck, facial cheeks, etc. and with his subtle moans of pleasure – I understood. Eventually, he turns me over and mounts himself on top of the area where my cock is – but just glides back and forth in a sensual slow way – monitoring my facial expressions to see if I would object. As he is so cute and sensual, I don’t protest and he sits down on my cock and gives me a type of “anal sphincter” edging. I was like wow – this guy is only 24 and is so talented. By now he is riding me like a storm and his cock is rock hard and his moaning is getting pretty loud until his moment of busting his nut on my chest. I was like wow. Then he cleans up and then he edges me with his hands and my special edging lotion until my climax. This is not my normal menu – but the way he did it in a slow, convincing, and sensual way – made it great and relaxed for me – as most of you know, I am not usually into anal penetrative sex – as I am a 99% SIDE who is into edging. He showers, I clean up the room, and I pay him his fee, 1,200,000 VND (around $46 USD). Originally, he wanted to give me a discounted price of 1,000,000 VND and I told him – no, you are good and you deserve the normal price. He leaves, and I respond to some emails from my ex-Thai boyfriend – as he really wants to come to Da Nang – and I try to convince him to focus on his new fruit salad shop business – as it has only been open for 15 days – and he should not abandon his new dream business. My ex, not much of a romantic – truly surprises me tonight, when he sends me a photo of the dried out Valentine Day bouquet of roses – that I surprised him with on 14 Feb 2025 – where I reported about it here when I was in Cebu: I am very moved by this, as this type of behavior is not in his normal character. I have always been the foolish romantic one in our relationship, and rarely would he reciprocate. He wrote to me, “I kept these VD flowers here with me to remind me of why I love you every day”. I don’t know what to say – I just keep reminding him that he is now realizing his dream with his new business and that he would never need to be a money boy again. I try to make him understand that he cannot have both me and his new business and that he should NEVER give up his dream for anyone – including me. I truly want him to be successful – but at the same time – that business requires him in that shop all the time, which is not conducive to the type of boyfriend partnership that I want – so I had to let him go so that he could realize his dream. But now he wants both and I need to resist – because if I don’t resist, then it means that I have to give up my dream – which is to have a boyfriend by my side with whom I can travel with and do fun things before the potential dementia arrives. Incredibly, I do manage to eventually fall asleep. End of day 20 in Da Nang – 13 May 2025

Yes. The best way (in my opinion) to experience the Dragon Bridge in action, is with a newbie, as they do not yet know what is about to happen to them 💦💦 The look on their face, for me, is more exciting than the actual event 👍🤩

I already went to Ba Na Hills and Hoi An when I was here last year, in April 2024. I will probably return to Hoi An because: A.) I want to check out their gay bar, B.) I want to sleep on nearby Cham island and explore it by motorbike. Do you know the name of these hot springs? I missed that adventure last year. Thanks

At my age, I sometimes wake up at the strangest hours to go pee-pee. Sometimes it is during a breathtaking sunrise. Obviously, I go back to sleep. I find sunsets to be more romantic than sunrises. How about you?

I agree with you. I already saw this great Japanese love story film in November 2023. I was sharing my enthusiasm for this film with my best friend back in Italy

I should be hitting the required 180 days outside of Thailand for tax relief in early September. As one of the many purposes of this trip is to give a fair comparison between the retirement destinations of Jomtien, Cebu, and Da Nang - it would be good for me to experience this ugly period - but hopefully for less than 2 weeks - so that when I return to Thailand I will perhaps kiss the ground ? Oops, I forgot, when I moved to Thailand as a "fresh" new retiree in September 2022 - Jomtien was in the midst of the heavy monsoon rainy season - and I remember for those first 2 weeks thinking - oh my God - what have I done....

Day 19 in Da Nang – 12 May 2025 I woke up early today full of energy and by 10am I am already at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant for a delicious Bò né breakfast at: While I am eating my Bò né, Social Samy passes by – he produces a daily morning show on YouTube, and he captures me finishing my Bò né in his video for a couple of minutes. Haha…. I have heard that the rain storms here can be brutal and before I left for Da Nang, back in Pattaya, I tried to buy a rain jacket, but I was not successful. So, today, I decide that I will go to the famous Han Market over in downtown Da Nang (the Pattaya part – as I am living in the Jomtien area of Da Nang = My Khe / My Anh). Da Nang does not have a bahtbus (songthaew) type of transportation system so I decide to walk it as it is a nice cool refreshing day after last night’s rain storm. My Google Timeline states that I have walked for 4.6km, with an elapsed time of 1.5 hours – as it is not as direct “as the crow flies” type of walk to get to the Han Market. What is nice about walking in Da Nang is that there are many areas where there are big sidewalks and/or wide beach promenades that go on and on for kilometres. However, on the smaller streets the Vietnamese love to park their motorbikes on the sidewalks in a disorderly fashion – so you are often having to walk out into the street. But, unlike in Cebu or Pattaya – the traffic is light and the fear of having to walk out into the street is less. Before venturing into the Han Market – which is a very INTENSE experience – I decide that I need to re-energize and I decide to eat an early lunch, as it is already 12 noon and I eat at: https://limoncellovn.com/ It is nice to be able to sit down and rest my slightly swollen feet. I eat a nice pumpkin soup followed with rigatoni with eggplant and sausage with San Pelligrino sparkling water – as I need to rehydrate. Afterwards I have an Italian expresso to give me that energy boost for the Han Market. Luca, the Chef/owner, originally from Genoa, comes over and introduces himself – he is in Vietnam for 12 years, of which 10 years in Da Nang, and he loves it and does not wish to return to Italy. I compliment him on his nice restaurant and authentic food. Now I walk over to the nearby Han Market. It is a large 2 floor building that takes up an entire city block. So, first I circumnavigate the entire exterior of the building hoping that maybe rain jackets may be for sale externally to the market. Mission failed – so I need to enter into the market. https://vinwonders.com/en/wonderpedia/news/han-market-da-nang-explore-a-renowned-destination-for-shopping-lovers/ This is my 3rd visit to this market, first in 2019, again in 2024, and now in 2025. The internal passageways are narrow with tons of people usually who are yelling, sometimes pushing and shoving – especially on the upper floor, which is dedicated to clothing and shoes. I eventually make my way to the central staircase to get upstairs and it is already a complete mayhem – a grandmother type of Vietnamese lady sees that I am perplexed and takes my hand and points to my phone – as I understood that she wanted to help me but I needed to use Google translate. Wow, BINGO – this grandmother was so helpful. She drags me through the various stalls yelling in Vietnamese – and on 2 occasions that made me chuckle – the seller tells her that she does have rain jackets --> but not for a big guy like me. We all have a good laugh. In these humorous exchanges I learn that my size in Vietnam is 5 XL – whereas, back in Pattaya, I am usually of size 2 XL. Did I gain so much weight? Or is the clothing measurement system different in Vietnam – I chose to accept the later response. After visiting the 5th stall, we find a black “Nike” (you just know that it is so fake) rain jacket that fits me perfectly. I insisted on those that are lite in fabric – as it is just too dam hot and humid here in Asia for anything heavier. Back in Pattaya, I bought one of those made of plastic rain jackets that they sell in 7-Eleven – but there is NO air inside that thing and to get it off after 1 hour inside takes magician skills, as all of that plastic glues to your perspiring (there is no air inside) skin. It is truly a disgusting experience. So, I wanted a proper lite rain jacket that allows your skin to breathe. I am so overjoyed with happiness that I tip the grandmother 100,000 VND (around $3.85 USD) for her “personal shopping assistance” – as it was a true joy and I know for sure that I would have given up after 5 or 10 minutes with all of the crowds, pushing and shoving, and yelling in many different Asian languages. Just to note, most of the farangs stay over on the Jomtien beach side of Da Nang (Mỹ An, Mỹ Khê) and the Asians tend to stay on the Pattaya side of Da Nang (downtown Da Nang). It is the wide Han river that divides Da Nang into 2 parts. I was charged 450,000 VND (around $17.34 USD) for the rain jacket. Who knows if I was ripped off - as I hate groveling and bargaining - so I just accepted the first offer from the grandmother. If it manages to keep me dry in the next rainstorm - then I will be very happy. I am elated, as I managed to get out of the busy Han market in under 20 minutes – WOW!! So, I don’t want to return to my room yet – so I decide to walk the Han river until it ends at the sea – where the longest suspension bridge of Da Nang is located = Thuận Phước Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thu%E1%BA%ADn_Ph%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Bc_Bridge The Han river promenade / walkway runs the entire length of the city until it ends at the base of the Thuận Phước Bridge. Here is an example of what the Han River Da Nang city side of the pedestrian walkway looks like At the Thuận Phước Bridge, the Han river terminates and empties into Da Nang Bay – which then leads into the East Vietnam Sea (aka South China Sea). The local Vietnamese get upset if you refer to “their” sea as the South China Sea. Note that in the above doctored image, that “sea #1” is where the Jomtien (Mỹ An, Mỹ Khê) beach area is located – where my AirBnB is. Note that there is also a “sea #2”, on the back side of Da Nang city that I still need to explore. Nobody talks about it but I would imagine that it must have stunning sunsets – because in the area where I am – it faces east and the sun sets behind the city. As that is very far away, I will need to rent a motorbike to go and explore it and this will give me an opportunity to drive across the impressive Thuận Phước Bridge. Thuận Phước Bridge – Da Nang’s Gateway to the South China Sea Now truly exhausted, my Google Timeline says that I have now walked 10km, so I hire a Grab car back to my condo for a fee of 126,000 VND (around $4.86 USD). I immediately take a shower – as I am totally sweaty and then off I go to to get a Chicken club poppy seed bagel and salt coffee before they close at 8pm. Note that here in Da Nang – most restaurants close at 10pm and if you enter at 9:30pm they are often reluctant to serve you in fear of you not being finished by 10pm. When compared to Pattaya (which has very late eating hours), and Cebu (where you can usually eat until 11pm), Da Nang is the most early to bed city that I have visited. This explains why the beach is already packed at 5am with all of the Vietnamese taking their morning swim – as they dislike the sun, like most of Asia. I return to my room and I am in the mood for a good movie, so I watch the film suggested by our forum member, @kokopelli3 Afterwards, call it a night totally satisfied with today’s adventures. End of day 19 in Da Nang – 12 May 2025