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Day 15 in Da Nang – 8 May 2025
Wake up and eat my yummy almond croissant that I purchased yesterday at the  I find that I am addicted to something that I have never ate before, Wasabi flavoured roasted cashews.

Have you ever tried these?  It acts as an excellent morning wake up call with that kick from the wasabi burning your nostrils.  It becomes addictive and they are delicious.
I post yesterday’s trip report update, respond to some friends back in Thailand, and read up more about the current UN80 crisis.
It is already 2:30pm and I am hungry for lunch, so I peruse Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I choose to visit:   .  
I am originally from New York, where bagels are king, and it has been many many years since I have eaten a wonderful bagel.
It recently opened, and it is located in the lobby of the Da Nang LIVIE hotel.

Hmm, ↑↑ nice rainbow colors on the ceiling ↑↑ – and the staff who served me was enticing.

https://www.facebook.com/gordonsnewyorkbagels/
I ordered the Chicken Club on a poppy seeded bagel and it was absolutely delicious. It was wet, moist, and juicy, just how I like my men….🤪
I needed a good walk after all of that enjoyment, so I head back to  
and today I tried their walnut cake.  It was good but yesterday’s strawberry meringue cream cake was so much better.
By now, it is late afternoon, I am feeling horny, so I head over to:

https://www.facebook.com/people/Hero-massage-spa/61575063357842/
https://www.instagram.com/hero_massage_spa/

This new massage place is only a 7 minute walk from my AirBnB condo building, and I sense that I may become a frequent visitor.  I walk in, and Hung (yes his real name) tells me to sit down on the sofa (after removing my shoes) to enjoy a refreshing cool tea drink.

Hung and I chat and he shows me the menu card, and there are many massage and/or waxing options.  At the bottom of the menu card there are 3 types of King Massage listed, and this is where he discreetly explains to me that if you choose any of these massages that you can touch the masseur and be given extra pleasure.  The differentiating point between these 3 types of King Massage are the time durations, of; 60, 75, or 90 minutes.  I choose the 75 minute version for 1,500,000 VND (around $58 USD).  Tip to the masseur is extra (as it is not included in the base rate).
I am shown to my room – which is directly behind the reception area – but I tell him that I need to pee and then he brings me to the bathroom at the end of the corridor which also has one of those open showers (meaning the water goes everywhere).
I return to the room and I get undressed and I put my belongings in a plastic box that he gave me which is then placed underneath the massage table.
In comes the masseur, and it was Hung – so I was like, hmm, maybe this is a one man shop?  More on that later.
Hung massages me very professionally with long firm strokes.  During the massage, another customer (he sounded British) came into the reception area, and since the room that I was in only has a window with a very slim curtain that separates my room from reception, I could hear everything.  Makes the situation somewhat more invisible voyeuristic.
Eventually, he puts my leg in the 7 position where he can then easily touch and stroke the genitalia.  Eventually, he tells me to turn over and then the fun begins and he makes me a very long edging type of HJ and I caress his young skinny body.  Hung is more twink than twunk.
When all is finished, he wipes me down very thoroughly with warm wet towels removing the massage oil and HJ explosion juice.
I get dressed and return to reception and now there is another Vietnamese guy working behind the reception computer.  Hung and I discuss:
He (Hung) is originally from HCMC – but moved to Da Nang 2 years ago – because he fell in love with Da Nang city, He (Hung) opened this new Hero massage shop 2 months prior, He (Hung) is 28 years old, I asked if I could take a photo of the menu card with prices and he would not let me – not sure if there are any local regulations about publicizing this type of information, There is a 4 hands option on the menu card --> and in his FaceBook page there is a photo of this hunk:  

Which I will try to book him on my next visit – wow!! 🤪😜 Stay tuned!! 🤩
Return back to my room feeling very elated and super relaxed – that I decide to skip to go out for dinner and instead I eat my banana cake that I had bought from the Torino bakery.
It is still too early to go to bed so I decided to watch the film:  WICKED on Google Play TV.

I had heard mixed reviews when this film was originally released so I did not go and see it – but I really enjoyed it – as it is well done with amazing visuals, choreography, dance routines, singing and includes many hidden messages about discrimination, empowerment and self growth.
 
So, I went to sleep on a very happy note.
 
End of day 15 in Da Nang – 8 May 2025
 

Day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
First thing that I notice when I wake up is there is already a message in my   inbox from the motorbike shop owner.  I feel guilty, but I ignore his message.
I look outside from my balcony and the city has a funky strange low cloud cover – one that reminds me of my time in Denver, Colorado.  The clouds are lower than the nearby mountain tops.

Consequently, this puts me in a malaise mood and so I am lazy most of the day.
I eventually go outside to eat a late lunch at .  Afterwards, I decide to push myself to walk in a nearby neighborhood (as I tend to be a creature of habit)  that I do not yet know – so I pick a French pastry shop from Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I walk there.  I find that I like this new neighborhood, as it is full of narrow treelined streets with lots of shade and there are many interesting types of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Torino Coffee & Bakery shop
https://www.instagram.com/torinobakery.dn/
I chose a meringue creamy strawberry cake that was incredibly tasty and delicious. I asked for a salt coffee (Cà Phê Muối ) – but there was some confusion – as they don’t serve it – so I took the standard brown with condensed milk Vietnamese iced coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Dá).
Before leaving I buy one almond croissant, coconut brioche, and 2 chocolate cookies for take away.
I meander through this new neighborhood and when I get to my enormous condo complex, I enter from the opposite side to avoid the motorbike rental place that is directly across the street.  Call me chicken.
I take a great nap and when I wake up it is already dinner time – I guess all I do in retirement is to eat and walk around….
At dinner time, I walk around some of the other streets in the new neighborhood on An Thuong 4, 3, and 2 – as they are great small streets full of life and interesting places.  A place that I saw earlier is packed so I settle on the Butcher Grilled restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/butchergrilled/
I ordered the Filet Mignon plate with 2 sides; Sauteed Asparagus and Sauteed Mushrooms.  All was good and the meet was of good quality.  However, the Australia Beef Tenderloin that I ate yesterday at the Pizza House was more tasty and cooked more to my liking.  Yes, @floridarob, they do serve steak at the Pizza House – if you look at their menu that I posted yesterday you can see that the name is misleading as they are much more than pizza.
Last year when I was here, I found this wonderful free standing ice cream shop that was in front of the JJ market – but it is no longer there. However, in this new neighborhood, I discovered the Gioia Gelati ice cream shop.

Chocolate chip and Pistachio 

https://www.facebook.com/gioiagelati.vn


DaNang_Gioia_Gelati.mp4   Before going to bed I respond to some of my former UN colleagues about the current new UN crisis, known as UN80:
https://www.passblue.com/2025/05/06/the-world-is-changing-fast-it-is-now-crucial-to-restructure-the-un/
This entire crisis frustrates me, because when I was working for the UN during my 20 year career there – I often suggested reforms, efficiencies, and many other creative ideas about how to make the UN more effective, efficient, and good value for money.  Unfortunately, it is a frozen bureaucratic dinosaur and probably 95% of my ideas were not considered, ignored, or rejected.  Often during my career, they would ask us rank and file what ideas should be considered, when they would bring in the BIG outside consulting companies (i.e., Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, etc.), where we were told to submit our ideas to them.  Often, the draft proposal would be shown to us by the said consultants – but when the final draft would be released to the executive committee (EC)– often our ideas were already removed.  Sometimes I would protest to the above mentioned consultants and they would tell us that the EC removed them – but the UN would then tell the world that they consulted with its rank and file.  This was very degrading and disrespectful.  Back in 2016 and 2017 I proposed an amazing idea (at that time – not so amazing in 2025) to use the blockchain to allow us to track our donor contributions on the blockchain, so that the money spent for our UN activities could be monitored in real time from when the funds leave the donor’s bank accounts, all the way through to the end beneficiaries (farmers, war victims, school children, etc.).  What better way to be transparent and to allow our donors to see what we are doing with their contributions in real time.  Nobody liked this idea.
So, when I see the UN crying now because many governments are fed up with the chronic promises to reform, reorganize, etc. I do not feel much sympathy – because so many opportunities in my 20 years there ignored or wasted.  And I was only 1 of thousands of employees whose ideas were ignored.
Difficult to fall asleep – but eventually I manage.
 
End of day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
 

Day 13 in Da Nang – 6 May 2025
 
First revelation - no diarrhea today - as I only ate farang food yesterday.  This is both good and bad news - as I want to eat lots of Vietnamese food during my 130 day stay as I really like Vietnamese food.  Perhaps, I can't eat the yummy banh mi baguettes but I can eat everything else?
Earlier in this trip report series, I complained that it is difficult to meet local gays that are not ashamed to be seen in the streets of Da Nang with you.

After eating breakfast in my condo I decide that after my 6 day motorbike rental that I will return it to the shop – as I find that I am not using it as much as I had expected.  The motorbike is great to go up the coastal mountain road – but that is not something that I do every day and during the daytime it is just too hot to be out and about on the motorbike.
The motorbike shopkeeper tells me to sit down and with Google translate we start to have a conversation about life, how many days I will be here, do I have family, am I traveling alone --> when he just blurts it out -->  If you feel lonely you can invite me up to your room for some fun 🤔🤨
I was like WOW – very bold – unfortunately he is not at all my type.  So, lesson learned, I complained earlier about the difficulties about meeting local gay Vietnamese and “the universe provided”.  Therefore, be careful what you wish for….
Our conversation starts to get uneasy – and so I keep saying to him can I have my Thai driving license back.  Then he says, let’s go to lunch – and then I lie to him – oh, I am sorry, I am going to meet some foreign friends for lunch and they are already waiting for me.  Then he says, ah, I am not your type?  I don’t say anything – but I nod my head in an Indian fashion so that he understands that I am not interested.  Then he finally gives me my Thai driving license and then he says to me, “I LOVE foreign guys – so if any of your foreign friends are single and lonely – please send them to me”.  Before I can escape, we exchange our ZALO  contact information.
I go to eat my Bo Né lunch with salt coffee by myself.
As it is now around 16 days since my last haircut and color treatment, I decide that today will be my first haircut and color in Da Nang.
About 1 year prior, Social Samy (one of the popular local YouTube bloggers) did a segment on the NHỰA STYLE BARBER SHOP which I really liked.  When I met Samy at the beginning of this trip, I asked him why isn’t this barber shop not in his Treasure Map, and he tells me because he did not like the way that they trimmed his beard.  I told him about my great difficulties in year 2019 getting my hair cut and colored in Phu Quoc and Samy told me – don’t worry – this shop is ok for hair color for men.


https://www.nhuastyle.vn/
This barber shop is really cool, as it has been created with a gothic JOKER style theme, which is very entertaining.  My assigned barber, BIN, is really good and took the time with Google translate (for the more technical aspects of our conversation) and wanted to see past pictures of my hair color treatments to understand what type of look that I was desiring.  BIN did a great job – and during the part of the treatment where you need to kill 30 minutes for the color to take hold – he cross-sold me an optional ”Remove Earwax” service with his female colleague .  At first I was apprehensive, as I have never let anyone touch the inner parts of my ear.  Him and his female colleague allayed all of my fears and I agreed to the service.  They said that it might be a tiny bit painful – but instead I found it slightly ticklish – in a pleasant way.  That procedure took about 20 to 25 minutes – and so when it was finished I had my hair rinsed and then sent back to BIN for the final touch up and blow dry and wax.
I would definitely return to this shop – as I really liked the funky artistic environment, the high exciting energy of all of the young Vietnamese that work there and the customers that visited the shop were all fun people – not surprising – as Da Nang attracts a young farang digital nomad type of crowd as its primary tourist base.
I paid 300,000 VND for the hair color treatment + 70,000 VND for the haircut + 50,000 VND for the ear cleaning for a total of 420,000 VND (around $16.20 USD).  Back in Jomtien, I pay 1,200 THB (around $36.65 USD) for my hair color treatment + haircut.  So, the cost in Da Nang is 56% less than in Jomtien – so very good value for money.

Here is a nice video interview of some hot Brazilian getting his haircut in this shop:
 
After my haircut I walked over to  
to eat a scrumptious coconut cream cake with a dark Vietnamese iced coffee.  Life is good.
I head back to my condo  and prepare yesterday’s trip report update and respond to some queries.
Afterwards, I log into Heesay (formerly BLUED) and I start chatting with user = CalBOy_18cm.  From his profile I can see that he is a sexy 27 year old with a big cock.  Note that in Cebu the key words for escorts were "Hire" or "Hire me" - but here in Da Nang, the key words are centered on variations of the words "Call Boy".
His English capabilities are near zero, so after many back and forth I think that I have made him understand what I am looking for and then he sends me the below boiler plate message that obviously someone else who knows English better prepared for him.

I tell him – oh, I am sorry – that we cannot meet, as it is written that you don’t accept anyone over the age of 40 and “too fat”.  I tell him my real age and that I have a belly.
There is no reply for a long time so I continue to peruse and write to other profiles.  After about 20 minutes he writes that he accepts my proposal (massage + edging).
We agree that he will come to my condo at 7pm and at 7:05pm he arrives and we go up to my room.  He does not speak at all and he just undresses and takes a long shower.  I try to offer him something to drink from the fridge – but he just does not understand me.  He writes me a message that he forgot his massage oil and then I give him my coconut cream that I brought with me from Jomtien.  The beginning of the massage is perfect – he has good talent and rhythm.  However, he has a big erection and he keeps rubbing it on me.  At a certain point, he stops massaging me and spreads my legs to start sucking my cock – eventually we turn over and the massage is cut short and we go into an intense 69 and he eventually cums on my chest and he goes to take another shower.  He has a beautiful cock and I believe that it was really 18cm.  I am waiting for quite a while when he returns to the massage room (I rented a 2 bedroom condo and 1 bedroom is the designated massage room) and I am waving my erect cock at him and he is already dressed ready to leave.  I wave the money at him and point to my cock and he then gets undressed and makes me a decent edging until orgasm.
What was he thinking?   He cums and goes?  I thought the mantra often cited in this forum is:  “I cum and he goes….”
I prefer that we both cum – but in this case his approach was strange.
I paid him a premium price (agreed to prior during the chat negotiations  - to make an exception to his rule that he does not go with guys over the age of 40 with some fat) = 1,500,000 VND (around $58 USD).
Would I hire him again?  Probably not because it was difficult to connect with him, he was too mechanical, and the massage part was too short.  But it was fun and to-date he was the most sexy of the massage guys that I have had so far here in Da Nang.
I clean up and I head over to Casa Loco (the Mexican place that I tried to get into yesterday but it was full) and tonight it is almost empty.

https://www.facebook.com/casalocodanang/
I order the delicious and filling Lamb Barbacoa Quesadillas and a coconut Margarita.

The Mexican food here is very good and the above menu is only 1 page out of 4 pages.  Now I understand why it is highlighted in Samy Social’s Da Nang Treasure map.
I head back to my room stuffed, but I need to stay awake, because at midnight it will be the birthday of my good Thai friend who owns a bar in Supertown.  So, exactly at 0:00am, I send him his birthday message and gift and he is so happy, because he told me that I was the FIRST person to wish him a happy birthday.  We chat for a few minutes and then I tell him good night and I fall asleep.
 
End of day 13 in Da Nang – 6 May 2025

Day 12 in Da Nang – 5 May 2025
 
I wake up with slight diarrhea again 😓😢.  So, I pop another Diatabs pill (loperamide).
I am convinced that my diarrhea is a result of the Banh Mi baguettes that I am buying from the nearby street vendor.  This is sad, as I truly enjoy her Banh Mi, because she sells the rare “Banh mi ga Da Nang”, which is based on chicken and is served in a round baguette instead of the typical French éclair formed baguettes.  It is so delicious. The longer I am here the more I am learning about the many varieties of Banh Mi that they are - and of course - everybody has their favorite.
You may remember from yesterday’s trip report update that I bought 2 delicious Banh mi baguettes for dinner, that I ate while watching the Conclave movie last night.

Official name is:  Banh mi ga Da Nang
 
So, for today, I try an experiment (which I also do in Thailand when I get bouts of diarrhea) – which is to only eat farang Western food until my intestinal system reboots.
After posting my 4 May trip update in the morning, I head over to  and I eat their Gumbo with rice meal as my lunch.
After lunch I decided to walk over to the special VB Bank ATM, as mentioned in Samy Social’s Treasure Map that I purchased and discussed at the beginning of this trip report series about living in Da Nang. 

Samy mentions that there are 2 banks (VP Bank and TP Bank) that allow for 10 million VND withdrawals in one go.  I am also using the HSBC ATM that I discovered in my 2024 trip to Da Nang – but since it malfunctioned on Sunday (ATM was out of physical bank notes) – I did not want to schlep all the way over to the far away Vincom Plaza mall and it is good for me to learn about other ATM alternatives.  It is about a 20 minute walk to this VB Bank ATM and it granted me 10 million VND with one of my many debit cards (that I use for traveling).
Afterwards, I walk down to the My Khe beach for a lovely beach walk (I already posted those beautiful beach photos in my above response to @floridarob, so I won’t post them again).  I stop at my now favorite place to have coffee on the beach = Caribou – a bright yellow food truck that you cannot miss.

https://www.facebook.com/Cariboufoodtruck
Behind the truck, there are those famous Vietnamese low seats to enjoy your coffee under a palm tree in the shade and just observe the calmness of the beautiful sea.
Afterwards, I return to my room for a nap (I love afternoon naps) and later on when I wake up, I decide to again use Samy Social’s Treasure map to eat farang food (in keeping with my anti-diarrhea experiment) and I choose Mexican.  I see a place, Casa Loco, which is nearby and I walk there – but unfortunately it is completely full – I guess Samy’s map is doing wonders for their business.  So, I eat next door at Pizza House

https://www.facebook.com/pizzahousedanangvietnam/#
I order a Caprese salad, Australia Beef Tenderloin and a bottle of SanPellegrino water.

This has been my most expensive meal to date in Da Nang, 725.000 VND ( around $28 USD) and the beef tenderloin was perfect – I could not complain.  So, this restaurant is not on Social Samy’s Treasure map – but I think that he should add it, as I truly enjoyed my experience in this Italian restaurant.
I head back to my room and I fire up the apps wishing for a massage hookup – but to no avail.  There is a very sexy foreigner who has been writing me for many days – as he wants me to edge him, so I tell him that I am available tonight.  He insists that I go to his place – but I am reluctant – as I feel safer at my place – you never know – so he gets bitchy and angry and then blocks me – all because I wanted him to come to my place.  Wow – so crazy and sad, as he had a beautiful cut cock.  Oh well. 
Noone else in the apps at that hour 10pm to 11pm ish tickles my gonads – so I decide to watch some edging videos on Twitter (X) and after an hour of edging myself I release and then I call it a night - as it has been a happy ending. 🍆💦🤪

 
End of day 12 in Da Nang – 5 May 2025

As I am writing this, I am now in Day 13 of my 130 days here in Da Nang - so I can give a preliminary comparative assessment.  I have not yet experienced:
getting a haircut and getting my hair colored - as this is a frequent activity for me - so I would like this to be in the final comparative analysis - to be fair about the true cost of living here in Da Nang, visiting a massage shop - this is still on my list of things to do - as I give a preference to "ordering in" my massages - but I think that this is an important economic detail, gogo bar equivalent - in Cebu there were 2 - of which I visited 1 and reported on it, whereas here in Da Nang I am not aware of any gogo bars.  I have already reported on my visit to Q Bar here in Da Nang.  I believe that there are 2 other gay bars here in town for me to visit. Excluding the above, I can say the following preliminarily:
Condo rental:  I already made a comparison in my Cebu report at: 
So, I can now expand on this above comparison with the reality of Da Nang:
Rentals in the huge 41 floor condo building where I am currently residing go on average for 12,000,000 VND (around $462 USD) per month.
When comparing this with Jomtien and Cebu on a sqm basis, we can see that Da Nang is clearly the winner:
Da Nang = $462 per month / 70 sqm = $6.60 USD per sqm
Cebu = $777.53 per month / 44.6 sqm = $17.43 USD per sqm
Jomtien = $834 per month / 98 sqm = $8.51 USD per sqm
So, Da Nang (from a condo rental point of view) is 22% cheaper than what I pay for back in Jomtien.
A bare bones (in your condo room) massage can be had for 800,000 VND (around $31 USD) - but the true average cost for a good massage (in your condo room) costs between 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 VND (around $39 USD to $46 USD).
Whereas, back in Jomtien I pay between 1,500 baht to 2,000 baht for a good (in your condo) massage (around $46 USD to $61 USD).  
So, Da Nang (from a massage point of view) is 33% cheaper for a massage.
When eating only Vietnam food versus only Thai food - my comparator is my daily Da Nang breakfast costs me 80.000 VND (Bo Ne + salt coffee) = around $3.09 and in Jomtien a similar breakfast, "Boss Breakfast" + cappucino, costs me 405 baht = around $12.30 --> again, Da Nang is the cost winner, at 4 times less than what I would pay for the same equivalent back in Jomtien.
From the beach point of view, Da Nang's beach wins over Jomtien's BIG time, because:
the seawater is much cleaner, the beach promenade is awesome and landscaped in a beautiful daily manner, the zones where you can rent a lounge to lay out on the beach are intentionally not crowded and the loungers that you lay on have thick mattresses and are luxurious, the restaurants and bar cafes are situated directly on the beach sand in an esthetically appealing manner.
So, Da Nang from an economic and beauty point of view is a clear winner over Jomtien.
Additionally, renting a motorbike and having access to the nearby mountains and nature - and the ease of only 15 minutes you are out of the city is truly very appealing.  Also, I feel safer when I drive my motorbike here (even though the traffic can be more intense - because they fear to exceed the 40kmh speed limit) than when I drive my motorbike back in Pattaya - because the Thais just drive in a very crazy hi-speed reckless manner.
 
However, when it comes to integrating with the locals - Jomtien is still the clear winner.  Because Pattaya and Jomtien have so many gay venues; Boyztown, Jomtien Complex (aka Supertown), and the Dongtan gay beach - it is very easy to have gay contact and have gay entertainment.
Unfortunately, here in Da Nang, it is quite difficult to make gay friends and to have the luxury to meet a gay (even if you pay him) to accompany you out for a night out.  I sense that the local Vietnamese guys that I have had contact with in my 12 days here - they would not be open to walking around the city together or to go to bars and restaurants.
Even when I visited the Q Bar here in Da Nang - the few Vietnamese customers were sitting together and all of the farangs were sitting with other farangs.  I did not see the mixing that we have back in Jomtien / Pattaya.
 
Could I live here full-time - YES - but I condition that YES on being able to integrate myself more with the local Vietnamese gays who are not afraid to be seen with an older farang out on the streets of Da Nang.  The Vietnamese are VERY family oriented and it seems that as a consequence, very much in the closet.  Perhaps, that would explain why so many hot sexy Vietnamese guys come to work as escorts in Thailand and NOT here in Vietnam.
In closing, I still have more than 100 days here - so a lot can change - and that is why I do not like answering these questions too prematurely.....
 
 
 

Day 15 in Da Nang – 8 May 2025
Wake up and eat my yummy almond croissant that I purchased yesterday at the  I find that I am addicted to something that I have never ate before, Wasabi flavoured roasted cashews.

Have you ever tried these?  It acts as an excellent morning wake up call with that kick from the wasabi burning your nostrils.  It becomes addictive and they are delicious.
I post yesterday’s trip report update, respond to some friends back in Thailand, and read up more about the current UN80 crisis.
It is already 2:30pm and I am hungry for lunch, so I peruse Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I choose to visit:   .  
I am originally from New York, where bagels are king, and it has been many many years since I have eaten a wonderful bagel.
It recently opened, and it is located in the lobby of the Da Nang LIVIE hotel.

Hmm, ↑↑ nice rainbow colors on the ceiling ↑↑ – and the staff who served me was enticing.

https://www.facebook.com/gordonsnewyorkbagels/
I ordered the Chicken Club on a poppy seeded bagel and it was absolutely delicious. It was wet, moist, and juicy, just how I like my men….🤪
I needed a good walk after all of that enjoyment, so I head back to  
and today I tried their walnut cake.  It was good but yesterday’s strawberry meringue cream cake was so much better.
By now, it is late afternoon, I am feeling horny, so I head over to:

https://www.facebook.com/people/Hero-massage-spa/61575063357842/
https://www.instagram.com/hero_massage_spa/

This new massage place is only a 7 minute walk from my AirBnB condo building, and I sense that I may become a frequent visitor.  I walk in, and Hung (yes his real name) tells me to sit down on the sofa (after removing my shoes) to enjoy a refreshing cool tea drink.

Hung and I chat and he shows me the menu card, and there are many massage and/or waxing options.  At the bottom of the menu card there are 3 types of King Massage listed, and this is where he discreetly explains to me that if you choose any of these massages that you can touch the masseur and be given extra pleasure.  The differentiating point between these 3 types of King Massage are the time durations, of; 60, 75, or 90 minutes.  I choose the 75 minute version for 1,500,000 VND (around $58 USD).  Tip to the masseur is extra (as it is not included in the base rate).
I am shown to my room – which is directly behind the reception area – but I tell him that I need to pee and then he brings me to the bathroom at the end of the corridor which also has one of those open showers (meaning the water goes everywhere).
I return to the room and I get undressed and I put my belongings in a plastic box that he gave me which is then placed underneath the massage table.
In comes the masseur, and it was Hung – so I was like, hmm, maybe this is a one man shop?  More on that later.
Hung massages me very professionally with long firm strokes.  During the massage, another customer (he sounded British) came into the reception area, and since the room that I was in only has a window with a very slim curtain that separates my room from reception, I could hear everything.  Makes the situation somewhat more invisible voyeuristic.
Eventually, he puts my leg in the 7 position where he can then easily touch and stroke the genitalia.  Eventually, he tells me to turn over and then the fun begins and he makes me a very long edging type of HJ and I caress his young skinny body.  Hung is more twink than twunk.
When all is finished, he wipes me down very thoroughly with warm wet towels removing the massage oil and HJ explosion juice.
I get dressed and return to reception and now there is another Vietnamese guy working behind the reception computer.  Hung and I discuss:
He (Hung) is originally from HCMC – but moved to Da Nang 2 years ago – because he fell in love with Da Nang city, He (Hung) opened this new Hero massage shop 2 months prior, He (Hung) is 28 years old, I asked if I could take a photo of the menu card with prices and he would not let me – not sure if there are any local regulations about publicizing this type of information, There is a 4 hands option on the menu card --> and in his FaceBook page there is a photo of this hunk:  

Which I will try to book him on my next visit – wow!! 🤪😜 Stay tuned!! 🤩
Return back to my room feeling very elated and super relaxed – that I decide to skip to go out for dinner and instead I eat my banana cake that I had bought from the Torino bakery.
It is still too early to go to bed so I decided to watch the film:  WICKED on Google Play TV.

I had heard mixed reviews when this film was originally released so I did not go and see it – but I really enjoyed it – as it is well done with amazing visuals, choreography, dance routines, singing and includes many hidden messages about discrimination, empowerment and self growth.
 
So, I went to sleep on a very happy note.
 
End of day 15 in Da Nang – 8 May 2025
 

Can't help thinking about Stephen Sondheim's wonderful lyrics in "Sweeney Todd" when Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are deciding what should go into her pies - lines like
MS. LOVETT:
What Mr. Todd, what Mr. Todd
What is that sound?

TODD:
Those crunching noises pervading the air!

MS. LOVETT:
Yes, Mr. Todd, Yes Mr. Todd
Yes all around

TODD:
It’s man devouring man, my dear!

BOTH:
Then who are we to deny it in here?

TODD (spoken):
These are desperate times, Ms. Lovett
And desperate measures are called for

MS. LOVETT:
Here we are. Hot out of the oven 

TODD:
What is that?

MS. LOVETT:
Its priest
Have a little priest

TODD:
Is it really good?

MS. LOVETT:
Sir, it’s too good, at least
Then again they don’t commit sins of the flesh
So it’s pretty fresh

TODD:
Awful lot of fat

MS. LOVETT:
Only where it sat

TODD:
Haven’t you got poet or something like that?

MS. LOVETT:
No you see the trouble with poet
Is how do you know it’s deceased?
Try the priest!
Lawyer’s rather nice

TODD:
If it’s for a price

MS. LOVETT:
Order something else, though, to follow
Since no one should swallow it twice

TODD:
Anything that’s lean?

MS. LOVETT:
Well then if you’re British and loyal
You might enjoy Royal Marine
Anyway it’s clean
Though of course it tastes of wherever it’s been!
etc. etc.
copyright: Stephen Sondheim Estate
Being gay and as one who had visited London many, many times, Sondheim would have been perfectly aware of the gay reference to Royal Marines!

not to defend those despicable practices but it needs to be said that sadly sounds like most of the world , or at least what we used to call  Third World. If those practices happen in countries we don't like we hear about them loudly , if those happen in countries we consider allies our free media chose to look other way. It was Roosevelt who said about Trujillo ' he is son of the bitch but OUR son of the  bitch".
There's certain country , I forgot the name,  where people were given sentences for speaking unfavourably  about ruler's dog

Day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
First thing that I notice when I wake up is there is already a message in my   inbox from the motorbike shop owner.  I feel guilty, but I ignore his message.
I look outside from my balcony and the city has a funky strange low cloud cover – one that reminds me of my time in Denver, Colorado.  The clouds are lower than the nearby mountain tops.

Consequently, this puts me in a malaise mood and so I am lazy most of the day.
I eventually go outside to eat a late lunch at .  Afterwards, I decide to push myself to walk in a nearby neighborhood (as I tend to be a creature of habit)  that I do not yet know – so I pick a French pastry shop from Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I walk there.  I find that I like this new neighborhood, as it is full of narrow treelined streets with lots of shade and there are many interesting types of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Torino Coffee & Bakery shop
https://www.instagram.com/torinobakery.dn/
I chose a meringue creamy strawberry cake that was incredibly tasty and delicious. I asked for a salt coffee (Cà Phê Muối ) – but there was some confusion – as they don’t serve it – so I took the standard brown with condensed milk Vietnamese iced coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Dá).
Before leaving I buy one almond croissant, coconut brioche, and 2 chocolate cookies for take away.
I meander through this new neighborhood and when I get to my enormous condo complex, I enter from the opposite side to avoid the motorbike rental place that is directly across the street.  Call me chicken.
I take a great nap and when I wake up it is already dinner time – I guess all I do in retirement is to eat and walk around….
At dinner time, I walk around some of the other streets in the new neighborhood on An Thuong 4, 3, and 2 – as they are great small streets full of life and interesting places.  A place that I saw earlier is packed so I settle on the Butcher Grilled restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/butchergrilled/
I ordered the Filet Mignon plate with 2 sides; Sauteed Asparagus and Sauteed Mushrooms.  All was good and the meet was of good quality.  However, the Australia Beef Tenderloin that I ate yesterday at the Pizza House was more tasty and cooked more to my liking.  Yes, @floridarob, they do serve steak at the Pizza House – if you look at their menu that I posted yesterday you can see that the name is misleading as they are much more than pizza.
Last year when I was here, I found this wonderful free standing ice cream shop that was in front of the JJ market – but it is no longer there. However, in this new neighborhood, I discovered the Gioia Gelati ice cream shop.

Chocolate chip and Pistachio 

https://www.facebook.com/gioiagelati.vn


DaNang_Gioia_Gelati.mp4   Before going to bed I respond to some of my former UN colleagues about the current new UN crisis, known as UN80:
https://www.passblue.com/2025/05/06/the-world-is-changing-fast-it-is-now-crucial-to-restructure-the-un/
This entire crisis frustrates me, because when I was working for the UN during my 20 year career there – I often suggested reforms, efficiencies, and many other creative ideas about how to make the UN more effective, efficient, and good value for money.  Unfortunately, it is a frozen bureaucratic dinosaur and probably 95% of my ideas were not considered, ignored, or rejected.  Often during my career, they would ask us rank and file what ideas should be considered, when they would bring in the BIG outside consulting companies (i.e., Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, etc.), where we were told to submit our ideas to them.  Often, the draft proposal would be shown to us by the said consultants – but when the final draft would be released to the executive committee (EC)– often our ideas were already removed.  Sometimes I would protest to the above mentioned consultants and they would tell us that the EC removed them – but the UN would then tell the world that they consulted with its rank and file.  This was very degrading and disrespectful.  Back in 2016 and 2017 I proposed an amazing idea (at that time – not so amazing in 2025) to use the blockchain to allow us to track our donor contributions on the blockchain, so that the money spent for our UN activities could be monitored in real time from when the funds leave the donor’s bank accounts, all the way through to the end beneficiaries (farmers, war victims, school children, etc.).  What better way to be transparent and to allow our donors to see what we are doing with their contributions in real time.  Nobody liked this idea.
So, when I see the UN crying now because many governments are fed up with the chronic promises to reform, reorganize, etc. I do not feel much sympathy – because so many opportunities in my 20 years there ignored or wasted.  And I was only 1 of thousands of employees whose ideas were ignored.
Difficult to fall asleep – but eventually I manage.
 
End of day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
 

Ahahaha, sorry folks, I thought I made a mention of it, but I was using dictation for that post and it was... awful. I apologize. I wish you were able to edit posts after the fact.

Anyway, here's a better trip report to make up for it. 

I got into the habit of "bar-hoping" from show-to-show and found it rather expensive in the long run. I'd start the night at ATLAS or Jupiter or Moonlight, and switch to Banana, or Good Boys or take a risk on a new venue. Rather than grab my usual Smirnoff Ice drinks from 7-11 with 90 calories per bottle, I opted for a can of Singha Lemon Soda and a small bottle of raspberry-flavoured vodka. Two glasses in my hotel room while getting ready, and I was off to Freshboys, knowing exactly what I wanted.
The bar was mildly crowded around 11:00 PM, with a mix of male and female customers. I was sat at the back on the right side of the bar with a good view of the stage and room next to me if I happened to want to invite a boy for a drink. I took a survey, knowing my target. I didn't see that mischievous little face on the stage, that devilishly sharp, ear-to-ear smile, nearly as big as his ears (a personal attraction of mine.) I took a glance at a few other boys and noticed that my second option wasn't here either. Hm. 

The best thing about Freshboys is that while there is some variety amoung the boys, a large percentage of them fall within my type. The night is not ruined. The mamasan, while usually quite eager to get me to sit with a boy, doesn't approach me at all. She's more interested in finalizing a deal with between an older Korean gentleman and his pick of the night, a boy with looks straight out of the Korean beauty-standard rulesheet. I watch the boy and how he interacts with the customer. Very professional. Very polite and courteous. Never on his phone, and when he's needed by the bar, seemed genuinely apologetic about having to leave the table and his 'date.' This is good bar boy etiquette and it seems like this customer made a great choice.
Then all of a sudden, things go quiet. The lights go out. The mamasan announces, "special show, special show, no cameras!" and the announcer blares a pre-recorded "this is a special show put on by the bar..."; you know something extra naughty is about to happen. 
The stage is only lit in a foggy glow, and there he is- #23. His head is tilted in the air, gazing upwards, a look of ecstasy on his adorable face. The white shorts are replaced with thin, sheer white pants that seem to hover delicately atop his silky skin. He moves effortlessly across the stage, feeling the music, moving erotically alongside the beat, running his hands across his pecs which seem to want to explode out of his slender frame. His fingertips dance across each individual ab, the indirect lighting sending shadows across every crevice of sinew and muscle. What an impossibly perfect body. What an impossibly handsome face. And a performance that he takes pride in, a genuine desire to want to perform well. The boy I came here for, but without a number.

It must mean he's unavailable. I've come too late. I try and get the mamasan's attention, but she is now knee-deep in socializing with a drag performer sat near the stage. The next performance is the infamous "gong-dong" show. The boys are inpatient with the mamasan too, as the conversation has now gotten so involved, she's missing her "Neung, Song, Sam!" countdown before the bar is filled with the steel echo of a bruised cock. 

Eventually she casually shoots me a glance and asks me which boy I'm interested in, and I point to #23, but I say "I don't think he's available." Now, I see him sitting with two male customers on the other side of the room. So they've moved faster than I have, shit. The mamasan looks at me, walks over to the other side of the bar, and sits down with these aforementioned clients. A few minutes later, she returns to me, and says "He's coming home with you." and walks away, back to her conversations and what I can only imagine is the hottest tea, being spilt freely. 
A few minutes pass, and he's sitting next to me. He looks me in the eye and his sparkle in return, like a silent acknowledgement that he recognizes me. The genuine playfulness, like a fox in a hen house, an effortless charm. I wonder if he's aware of his popularity? Does he know what he has? Surely one day he'll wake up and realize the power that looks like these, a physique like this, and a personality like his can unlock. Untapped potential, but that's Bangkok, and part of the danger of the machine. 
I just want to be near him. The mamasan asks if I'd like to stay for the rest of the show, and normally I would, but I can think of nothing more than laying my head on his chest in my bed. He quickly changes, I settle the bill (1300 THB: 400 for my drink, 400 for his, and the 500 off-fee. The other damage included 300 in tips for the big cock show boys, 100 for the boy for sitting with me, and 100 for the mamasan for an actual total of 1800 THB.)
Before leaving, I used Google Translate into Vietnamese to specify what I was looking for. I wanted him to spend a few hours, no more than 3, with me. I wanted to give him a massage, cuddle, and then proceed with light fun, but I was more interested in his silent company. He speaks some english but not well. He's Vietnamese and knows Thai. Most of the time we used our phones to converse, but I wanted to tell him that I didn't mind the silence. Just his warmth next to me was beyond comforting. 
When we arrived at the hotel, we both had a drink, he chose an iced honey lemon green tea- you know the brand. We showered separately, and I enjoyed the view of his silhouette in the frosted glass window pane my hotel room features for the shower. The Quarter Silom is a fantastic hook-up hotel, and cheaper than the usual Raya and Meridien. Just saying- but popular more with a 24-32 crowd.
He was playful immediately out of the shower and that grin kept creeping out at just the right times to send my heart fluttering. I admired his physique slowly. I ran my fingers, just as he had done with his own on stage, across his abs, across his pecs, and down near his belly button. I kissed softly at the lines pointing down toward his manhood, and traced my tongue through his shaved pubes.
Now knelt in front of him, I looked up to see him starring down at me, his manhood erect and twitching, as I lightly flicked the tip of my tongue across the folds in his foreskin, now slightly peeled back. I tasted the sweetness on his head, and savoured the taste of this forbidden fruit.
He guided me to bed, where he grabbed me in his arms and pulled me deep into his chest. My head was pressed against both pecs and I inhaled only his scent. He ran his hand on my hand in a comforting way, and let out a deep breath, sinking further into the bed. I felt safe. I moved my cheek side to side, feeling the soft warmth of his skin. I listened to the flow of his blood, every soft sound this body emitted. 
Slowly but surely things progressed into more oral followed by penetration. While I was not in the mood for penetrative sex, it happened naturally and I was hypnotized by the rhythm in which he moved, each stroke, his hips thrashing against my own body in fervent motion. With his low bodyfat, when tensed, his muscularity becomes more intensified. I had a front row seat to his glistening body, now beading with sweat. 

As he slammed into me, deeper and deeper, I could feel him growing even harder inside. He grabbed my chin and I opened my eyes, he smiled again, and flexed both of his biceps while still maintaining the speed of his own movement. Watching him do this, cockily, playfully, knowing exactly what would turn me on, and knowing when to do it sent me over the edge. I released a sizable load all over his own chest. He joked around, shocked, pointing at it with his mouth agape. So adorable, even now. He wiped the cum down his abs before cleaning it off with a tissue. He was briefly glazed, but I'll be forever infatuated.
 

hope they are grilling that butcher to perfection

floridarob@aol.com   🤣

Day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
First thing that I notice when I wake up is there is already a message in my   inbox from the motorbike shop owner.  I feel guilty, but I ignore his message.
I look outside from my balcony and the city has a funky strange low cloud cover – one that reminds me of my time in Denver, Colorado.  The clouds are lower than the nearby mountain tops.

Consequently, this puts me in a malaise mood and so I am lazy most of the day.
I eventually go outside to eat a late lunch at .  Afterwards, I decide to push myself to walk in a nearby neighborhood (as I tend to be a creature of habit)  that I do not yet know – so I pick a French pastry shop from Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I walk there.  I find that I like this new neighborhood, as it is full of narrow treelined streets with lots of shade and there are many interesting types of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Torino Coffee & Bakery shop
https://www.instagram.com/torinobakery.dn/
I chose a meringue creamy strawberry cake that was incredibly tasty and delicious. I asked for a salt coffee (Cà Phê Muối ) – but there was some confusion – as they don’t serve it – so I took the standard brown with condensed milk Vietnamese iced coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Dá).
Before leaving I buy one almond croissant, coconut brioche, and 2 chocolate cookies for take away.
I meander through this new neighborhood and when I get to my enormous condo complex, I enter from the opposite side to avoid the motorbike rental place that is directly across the street.  Call me chicken.
I take a great nap and when I wake up it is already dinner time – I guess all I do in retirement is to eat and walk around….
At dinner time, I walk around some of the other streets in the new neighborhood on An Thuong 4, 3, and 2 – as they are great small streets full of life and interesting places.  A place that I saw earlier is packed so I settle on the Butcher Grilled restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/butchergrilled/
I ordered the Filet Mignon plate with 2 sides; Sauteed Asparagus and Sauteed Mushrooms.  All was good and the meet was of good quality.  However, the Australia Beef Tenderloin that I ate yesterday at the Pizza House was more tasty and cooked more to my liking.  Yes, @floridarob, they do serve steak at the Pizza House – if you look at their menu that I posted yesterday you can see that the name is misleading as they are much more than pizza.
Last year when I was here, I found this wonderful free standing ice cream shop that was in front of the JJ market – but it is no longer there. However, in this new neighborhood, I discovered the Gioia Gelati ice cream shop.

Chocolate chip and Pistachio 

https://www.facebook.com/gioiagelati.vn


DaNang_Gioia_Gelati.mp4   Before going to bed I respond to some of my former UN colleagues about the current new UN crisis, known as UN80:
https://www.passblue.com/2025/05/06/the-world-is-changing-fast-it-is-now-crucial-to-restructure-the-un/
This entire crisis frustrates me, because when I was working for the UN during my 20 year career there – I often suggested reforms, efficiencies, and many other creative ideas about how to make the UN more effective, efficient, and good value for money.  Unfortunately, it is a frozen bureaucratic dinosaur and probably 95% of my ideas were not considered, ignored, or rejected.  Often during my career, they would ask us rank and file what ideas should be considered, when they would bring in the BIG outside consulting companies (i.e., Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, etc.), where we were told to submit our ideas to them.  Often, the draft proposal would be shown to us by the said consultants – but when the final draft would be released to the executive committee (EC)– often our ideas were already removed.  Sometimes I would protest to the above mentioned consultants and they would tell us that the EC removed them – but the UN would then tell the world that they consulted with its rank and file.  This was very degrading and disrespectful.  Back in 2016 and 2017 I proposed an amazing idea (at that time – not so amazing in 2025) to use the blockchain to allow us to track our donor contributions on the blockchain, so that the money spent for our UN activities could be monitored in real time from when the funds leave the donor’s bank accounts, all the way through to the end beneficiaries (farmers, war victims, school children, etc.).  What better way to be transparent and to allow our donors to see what we are doing with their contributions in real time.  Nobody liked this idea.
So, when I see the UN crying now because many governments are fed up with the chronic promises to reform, reorganize, etc. I do not feel much sympathy – because so many opportunities in my 20 years there ignored or wasted.  And I was only 1 of thousands of employees whose ideas were ignored.
Difficult to fall asleep – but eventually I manage.
 
End of day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
 

Sounds disgusting 

I am sorry for what happened to you - but I could not live in a country (especially as a retiree), where there is constant fear, which causes you to need to live in a constant state of heightened alert.  It is just too stressful and not worth it for me.
In Jomtien - it is VERY rare that I feel afraid.
In Cebu - there were some occasions where I felt afraid.
I am now in Day 15 here in Da Nang and I have not yet encountered any situations that made me feel afraid 🤞

I am sorry for what happened to you - but I could not live in a country (especially as a retiree), where there is constant fear, which causes you to need to live in a constant state of heightened alert.  It is just too stressful and not worth it for me.
In Jomtien - it is VERY rare that I feel afraid.
In Cebu - there were some occasions where I felt afraid.
I am now in Day 15 here in Da Nang and I have not yet encountered any situations that made me feel afraid 🤞

Great list guys.  
One of my all time favorites was also the "Egoist" - so I did not include it in my list of 5 favorites.
2022 – The Blue Caftan

 
A hidden heterosexual – bisexual Moroccan love story – with the blessing of the husband’s wife.  Well done – with all the intricacies, denials, and difficulties of male-to-male love in Morocco.
 
 
This film is difficult to find with English subtitles – I believe that I was able to see it from either Amazon Prime or on Apple TV.
 
2013 - Are We Okay? (Tamam mıyız?)

A very moving and wonderful Turkish film about the difficulties of 2 men and how their lives intertwine to help each other with the MOST difficult decisions in their lives.
It can be watched for free with English subtitles at: 
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x93h07k
 
2024 - Cabrini

As this was a true story it blew me away on the struggle of this nun, Francesca Cabrini for the children of Italy and the betrayal by the Vatican.  A very moving story.
 
 
This film can be seen in Amazon Prime or in Apple TV.
 
2023 - Fireworks (Stranizza d’Amuri)
  
A beautiful youthful Italian love story based on an awful true event that happened in Sicily in October 1980, known as the Giarre murder event.  Having lived in Italy for 12 years I found this film very realistic about what gay life is like in rural Italy and the related homophobia.
 
 
Film can be watched here for free in YouTube with English subtitles:
 
 
 
 
2012 - Silver Linings Playbook

 
A very bizarre and comical love story about revenge, 2 crazy people, and love found in the place least expected.
 
 
 
 
I watched this film in the Google Play library – I see that it is also available in Netflix.

floridarob@aol.com   🤣

Your sarcasm has «early internet» energy, like I’m literally hearing the dial-up modem in the background. It is kind of charming in a nostalgic way… like a relic from when Hotmail was cool.

I think what happened to #17 is good for his longer term success. I have found him to be over confident and too heavy into his phone (i.e., social media). #17 is super sexy and has great potential, BUT he needs an ocassional reality check to make him be more conscious about how his behaviour has a direct impact on his potential and/or acquired customers.
 

Day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
First thing that I notice when I wake up is there is already a message in my   inbox from the motorbike shop owner.  I feel guilty, but I ignore his message.
I look outside from my balcony and the city has a funky strange low cloud cover – one that reminds me of my time in Denver, Colorado.  The clouds are lower than the nearby mountain tops.

Consequently, this puts me in a malaise mood and so I am lazy most of the day.
I eventually go outside to eat a late lunch at .  Afterwards, I decide to push myself to walk in a nearby neighborhood (as I tend to be a creature of habit)  that I do not yet know – so I pick a French pastry shop from Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I walk there.  I find that I like this new neighborhood, as it is full of narrow treelined streets with lots of shade and there are many interesting types of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Torino Coffee & Bakery shop
https://www.instagram.com/torinobakery.dn/
I chose a meringue creamy strawberry cake that was incredibly tasty and delicious. I asked for a salt coffee (Cà Phê Muối ) – but there was some confusion – as they don’t serve it – so I took the standard brown with condensed milk Vietnamese iced coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Dá).
Before leaving I buy one almond croissant, coconut brioche, and 2 chocolate cookies for take away.
I meander through this new neighborhood and when I get to my enormous condo complex, I enter from the opposite side to avoid the motorbike rental place that is directly across the street.  Call me chicken.
I take a great nap and when I wake up it is already dinner time – I guess all I do in retirement is to eat and walk around….
At dinner time, I walk around some of the other streets in the new neighborhood on An Thuong 4, 3, and 2 – as they are great small streets full of life and interesting places.  A place that I saw earlier is packed so I settle on the Butcher Grilled restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/butchergrilled/
I ordered the Filet Mignon plate with 2 sides; Sauteed Asparagus and Sauteed Mushrooms.  All was good and the meet was of good quality.  However, the Australia Beef Tenderloin that I ate yesterday at the Pizza House was more tasty and cooked more to my liking.  Yes, @floridarob, they do serve steak at the Pizza House – if you look at their menu that I posted yesterday you can see that the name is misleading as they are much more than pizza.
Last year when I was here, I found this wonderful free standing ice cream shop that was in front of the JJ market – but it is no longer there. However, in this new neighborhood, I discovered the Gioia Gelati ice cream shop.

Chocolate chip and Pistachio 

https://www.facebook.com/gioiagelati.vn


DaNang_Gioia_Gelati.mp4   Before going to bed I respond to some of my former UN colleagues about the current new UN crisis, known as UN80:
https://www.passblue.com/2025/05/06/the-world-is-changing-fast-it-is-now-crucial-to-restructure-the-un/
This entire crisis frustrates me, because when I was working for the UN during my 20 year career there – I often suggested reforms, efficiencies, and many other creative ideas about how to make the UN more effective, efficient, and good value for money.  Unfortunately, it is a frozen bureaucratic dinosaur and probably 95% of my ideas were not considered, ignored, or rejected.  Often during my career, they would ask us rank and file what ideas should be considered, when they would bring in the BIG outside consulting companies (i.e., Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, etc.), where we were told to submit our ideas to them.  Often, the draft proposal would be shown to us by the said consultants – but when the final draft would be released to the executive committee (EC)– often our ideas were already removed.  Sometimes I would protest to the above mentioned consultants and they would tell us that the EC removed them – but the UN would then tell the world that they consulted with its rank and file.  This was very degrading and disrespectful.  Back in 2016 and 2017 I proposed an amazing idea (at that time – not so amazing in 2025) to use the blockchain to allow us to track our donor contributions on the blockchain, so that the money spent for our UN activities could be monitored in real time from when the funds leave the donor’s bank accounts, all the way through to the end beneficiaries (farmers, war victims, school children, etc.).  What better way to be transparent and to allow our donors to see what we are doing with their contributions in real time.  Nobody liked this idea.
So, when I see the UN crying now because many governments are fed up with the chronic promises to reform, reorganize, etc. I do not feel much sympathy – because so many opportunities in my 20 years there ignored or wasted.  And I was only 1 of thousands of employees whose ideas were ignored.
Difficult to fall asleep – but eventually I manage.
 
End of day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025
 

On my first visit to Florence I was in the queue for the Accademia to see Michelangelo's statue of David. Behind me was a group of Australians who I expect had arrived in the city the previous evening. One said to the other -
"I thought we are supposed to be in Florence today. It's bloody Fie-renzee. Why are we queuing in the wrong city?" 

Great trip report Jamiebee.
By the way, happy belated birthday.
If during your next visit to LOS I am also there, it would be nice to meet up.

relax man, remember one can't return without departing first so treat that escalator as beginning of new adventure.
 
Thank you for great report and glad you had good time in my two favorite places- Arena and Atlas

Day 2 in Da Nang – 25 April 2025
Prior to leaving Thailand I had arranged to meet up with 2 local famous YouTube bloggers.  This morning I met with Social Samy, https://www.youtube.com/@socialsamy
For a wonderful Vietnamese salt coffee at the Sun Coffee shop  on An Thuong 34 street.

He is German and very jovial and has been living in Da Nang for several years and even married a local Vietnamese woman.
He got me up to speed on all of the changes since I have last been to Da Nang – which was 1 year prior. 
Beach erosion – the beach shorefront has shrank by at least 50%.  Samy told me not to worry, as this is a natural phenomena – and from next year forward the shorefront should start to grow in size again, Best bank ATMs to get large sums of money in 1 go – VP Bank and TP Bank – I also have my personal favorite, the HSBC ATM located in the VinCom mall, Best place to get a local SIM card = Viettel shop – I will discuss this later, Best place for a man to get his hair painted (colored) and cut = NHUA Style.  This is very important to me because my prior hair color experience in Vietnam – back in 2019 – was super complicated – as the male barbershop would not color my hair and sent me to the lady shop – but they had to hide me in the back away from other female customers – as they told me that they should not color my hair in public.  After they coloured my hair, they would not cut it and sent me back to the male barbershop.  Samy confirmed to me that NHUA Style would be able to color and cut my hair all in the same shop. Samy is a wealth of information with the network that he has created here in Da Nang.  If you join his group you can purchase his recommended Google Treasure Map of Da Nang, which I did, and already it is very helpful to start my assimilation into my new temporary retirement home.

I enjoyed my meeting with Samy and he invited me to the next meetup, which will take place on Tuesday 29 April, in the afternoon in one of the local restaurants.
By now I was starving, I had only eaten a yogurt in my condo, so I head over my favourite breakfast place (that I discovered in my April 2024 trip to Da Nang), hoping that it would still be there and I was so happy to see that it was.

I order my favorite breakfast meal: Bò né  - easy to remember just think of boner and truncate the letter “r”.   Of course, I order another salt coffee.

In my personal opinion, this is where Vietnam has both the Philippines and Thailand beat – for the best breakfast category.  I can eat this breakfast meal every day.
I decide to walk over to the Viettel shop that was suggested to me by Samy to obtain my very own local Vietnamese local phone number, SIM card and Zalo installation.  As Samy mentioned, this shop is VERY helpful and very adapted for foreigners. 
I purchased the 3T5G160B Plan, which cost 480,000 VND for 90 days, with a 4GB daily allowance and free calls of up to 100 minutes per month.  The price for the new SIM card was 50,000 VND.  I also had to top-up my new ZALO  account with 10,000 VND.
Everything was completed within 30 minutes and my wait time in the queue was only 10 minutes.  I was very impressed with the service.  As the ZALO app (which is similar to our LINE app in Thailand) is all in the local language, there was no way that I would have been able to do the setup by myself.  They don't use LINE  here.
Then I decided to walk over to the Vincom Plaza mall, which was a very long walk, as I needed to buy towels that I can put on my 2nd bedroom mattress to protect it from potential damage from massage oils and creams.
In Da Nang, I am only aware of 1 shopping mall, Vincom, and when compared with Cebu, it is very small – as the Vietnamese people do not have a fixation with shopping malls like the Philippine people do.  This mall only has 4 floors, of which the 4th floor is dedicated to eating and the other 3 floors are for shopping.  So, the towel selection is limited to just 3 stores and I buy 3 large bath towels from the Japanese Akemi store. 

https://vincom.com.vn/vincom-plaza-ngo-quyen
I also decide to eat lunch at the mall and I visit the HSBC ATM that is hidden away down near the parking level, where I withdraw 10,000,000 VND (around 385 USD) – many of the other ATM machines in the city are limited to just 2,000,000 VND (around 77 USD), so by visiting this HSBC ATM I can limit the number of times that I need to refurnish my VND stock.
I also look for a computer monitor to buy, but in this mall there are ZERO electronic stores – as these types of stores are independent and not generally found in shopping malls.  So, this will be a task for another day.
As I am exhausted from all of the walking, I hire a Grab car for 50,000 VND (around 2 USD), which will take me back to my condo, which is 3km away.  So, transportation costs are VERY cheap.
I take a nap and later after my nap I return to the Country BBQ & Beer restaurant that I reported on in yesterday’s trip report update to eat my dinner.
Afterwards, I make a nice walk along the beach pavilion and then head back to my room, surf the internet for a while (looking to see which guys I can eventually get), and then go to sleep.
 
End of day 2 in Da Nang – 25 April 2025