Trip report April / September 2025 – Da Nang & beyond – Research if an elderly gay retiree can live comfortably in Da Nang, Vietnam

[bkkmfj2648]

6 hours ago, KeepItReal said:

Just curious; who will take care of his newly established business if he is gone for 2 weeks?

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.

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

I'm in favour of giving second chances but yes, KeepItReal has very valid point - who will take care about business ?

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.

 

 

 

[EricV]

Not sure if you have seen this - might help to inform your location decision:

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/vietnam-is-introducing-a-10-year-golden-visa

[bkkmfj2648]

3 minutes ago, EricV said:

Not sure if you have seen this - might help to inform your location decision

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.

 

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

as I am not a good person to hide my true feelings.

🤐

[PeterRS]

43 minutes ago, EricV said:

Not sure if you have seen this - might help to inform your location decision:

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/vietnam-is-introducing-a-10-year-golden-visa

There is both the amount of cash involved and the precise length of visas. After all, as stated in the CNN report, this is merely a recommendation to the government. It is not yet policy. So the next question should be: when will it go before the government?

And we also should recall that Vietnam did have long term visas in the past only for that policy to be revoked - as an Australian friend of mine discovered after he had sold his Chiang Mai apartment and bought a beach-side villa near Danang. He ended up returning to Australia.

From my reading of @bkkmfj2648's earlier report, 90 day visas can be virtually connected as all that is needed is 24 hours out of the country. If that is the case, why wait?

[PeterRS]

4 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

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 . . . 

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

I am sorry that I am going to be critical. Your former boyfriend - who may become your boyfriend again in future - has started a company. You had advised him what to do and how to do it. It seems clear from what you write that he took little or no notice. Yet, although the business still has no customers, you are happy for him to come to spend 15 days with you in Da Nang. In the meantime one of his close friends will look after the "business."

You tell us this same good friend is already working alongside your BF. The reason for my curiosity - if the good friend is already helping out in a business that makes (virtually) no sales, how is that friend going to increase business when there in reality is no business?

I recall when I started my first company - like your BF's, basically a one man band, if you like, with very occasional help from friends. Because I was then a lousy businessman and only really wanted to promote what I wanted to promote, I very quickly lost a great deal of money. But at least I stayed around in the office and every day did all I could to reverse the trend, which did eventually happen, thank goodness.

Would you not be much better advised not to fly your friend to Da Nang but instead to alter your own plans and return to Pattaya, spend those two weeks sorting out the business problems and yourself making sure he and his friend know exactly what they are doing and how to do it. Sure, you will be interrupting your 185 or whatever number of days outside Pattaya. But surely you can make those days up with a cheap trip somewhere else? I may be wrong but I do not believe the number of days outside Thailand has to be consecutive.

[bkkmfj2648]

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

 

 

[bkkmfj2648]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

You had advised him what to do and how to do it.

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.

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Yet, although the business still has no customers, you are happy for him to come to spend 15 days with you in Da Nang

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).

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

how is that friend going to increase business when there in reality is no business?

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.

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Would you not be much better advised not to fly your friend to Da Nang but instead to alter your own plans and return to Pattaya, spend those two weeks sorting out the business problems and yourself making sure he and his friend know exactly what they are doing and how to do it.

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.

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

I apologise. In my post I had meant to concentrate more on the problems i had experienced when starting out running my first company after a long period as an employee. I had not intended for you to respond to each little item as that is essentially your business. Still, I wish you the best of luck - in business and romance.

I might perhaps add that when I arrived in Asia, I was frantically busy for my first couple of years and only had the very occsional passing sexual fling - apart from starting week-end trips to Bangkok. Certainly no time for romance. And then as if in a flash I saw him. A young man whom you would not call beautiful but who had tremendous charisma and personality, oozed charm, with a wide circle of friends and loved by almost everyone. That he should then fall for me I felt was staggering.

But there was a problem. He lived in Japan and I met him on only my third visit when I was not at all used to the highways and byways of life in that country. However, he was essentially working freelance, spoke fluent English (his grandmother had been a Filippina) and wanted to see me again. Thereafter once a month I took the regular Friday Pan Am flight to Tokyo (still flying then and the tickets were cheap!), returning on the Sunday evening. I also took a 10 day holiday there and he came to spend 3 weeks with me in Hong Kong. Within six months we had started talking about finding a way to live together.

And then it all came crashing down. No need to explain why. Faults on both sides, but I eventually came to realise many more on my side than his. He had been my first real love and he awoke in me a passion I had never experienced before. I was heartbroken. Yet I should have realised that with my work schedule and his living 3,000km away, whatever chance there might have been of being together was ultra-slim. It took me a good 8 months before i really got over that break-up.

Yet some years later, he got in touch with me. He hoped I did not still feel angry and that we could perhaps become friends. By this time he was living much closer to me and we did meet for a lovely dinner. A lot was said and a chapter was closed. We continued to meet from time to time. He was very sadly to die quite young and i was pleased that his partner invited me to the funeral. I still think of him and smile every time.

[vinapu]

10 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

• a different way to manage money - he has never utilized foreign currencies.

 

if he is Thai who never travelled abroad thus not being accustomed to big denominations , initially he may be reluctant to spent as subconsciously say, 100 000  ( 4$ ) will sound to him like a lot of money .

 

This was  was comment I recently heard from somebody who went to Cambodia and Indonesia previously travelling only in euro zone + USA / Canada and biggest denomination she ever saw was 200 euro

[PeterRS]

I recall my first trip to Istanbul when there were something like 600,000 Turkish lire to $1. Having travelled extensively to many countries in the world I was very used to different currencies. A taxi back to the Hyatt hotel cost something like 5.4 million. It did not surprise me, although it should have, that the driver did not take me directly to the front door, instead stopping outside the entrance gate. I handed him a 10 million note. In a flash he turned around with a 5 million note in his hand and said I still owed him 400,000. I was certain I had given him 10 million, but assumed he had to be right. Having to count all those bloody '0's on the notes every time I paid for something was getting to me. So I coughed up. It was only when walking the short distance to the front of the hotel that I went through the transaction again in my head and realised I had been 'had'!

Being conned out of little more than $8 was merely annoying and I was a lot more careful when another taxi tried the same trick. But when someone has spent all of a young life dealing with basically one currency, working out the Thai value of a seeming sackful of Vietnamese dong can't be easy!

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

initially he may be reluctant to spent as subconsciously say, 100 000  ( 4$ ) will sound to him like a lot of money .

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

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 23 in Da Nang – 16 May 2025

 

Continue the QR research during the morning.

Brunch at   and today the bagel shop is FULL so there is chaos.  Normally when I go there are only 1 or 2 other customers.  I take the only free table next to a heterosexual couple who did not like the chaos with the delivery of their order – and having to go to the counter to remind the staff which parts of their order were missing.  I tell them that normally everything is perfect at Gordon’s and that I have never seen it FULL like today.  My chicken club bagel sandwich arrived and after I finished it finally my salt coffee arrived. So, they need to work on their preparation and delivery coordination when the place is busy.

Spend the entire afternoon trying to understand how we can create the required 3 QR codes for my BF’s new fruit salad shop.  For ShopeeFood and GrabFood, I managed to discover how.  For LineMan it is not obvious to me how to generate or obtain their QR code. Thanks to this forum, another anonymous forum member (thank you by the way) has been giving me guidance with how LineMan works and that has helped a lot.  But, I will still need to invest more time and research to get this part of the QR dilemma sorted.

Around 5:30pm, I decide to go to dinner in a place that I used to frequent when I was here 1 year ago.  So, I walk along the beach promenade in the north direction, over to the Võ Văn Kiệt traffic circle and then I walk inland about 2 blocks to the  restaurant (37 Võ Văn Kiệt branch - as I believe that they have 3 other branches).

https://www.facebook.com/people/PapaSteak-Restaurant-37-V%C3%B5-V%C4%83n-Ki%E1%BB%87t/100084026036016/

I ate a nice juicy 200 gram steak with fries, salad, bread, and a watermelon drink.  The total bill came to 217,000 VND (around $8.40 USD) – incredibly good value especially for retirees on a fixed pension.

Afterwards, I walk on the busy beach promenade, and tonight there are a couple of sexy male participants (foreigners – in the back row with naked torsos) doing aerobics with the Vietnamese ladies.

Since tonight’s restaurant was one I frequented last year – I became nostalgic for a coconut ice cream place that I frequented last year.  It took some searching to find it, as the ice cream stand had moved from its previous location at JJ Market to now on the corner that is only 2 blocks from my condo.  It’s official name is: Kem trái dừa Bali NZ

I ordered the chocolate coconut ice cream, which cost 40,000 VND (around $1.54 USD).

It is served in a coconut shell with 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream with a nice portion of fresh scraped coconut slices, topped with some chocolate syrup.  It is served with a small cup of fresh coconut water.

This great place does not have FB or any other social media or web site that I am aware of.  However, I can share the below Google map representation of this wonderful ice cream place:

 https://maps.app.goo.gl/beWknr7c1mmHZ5ue8

Return to my room and chat with BF and some other friends and then call it a night.

 

End of day 23 in Da Nang – 16 May 2025

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, PeterRS said:

But when someone has spent all of a young life dealing with basically one currency, working out the Thai value of a seeming sackful of Vietnamese dong can't be easy!

it's why one of my travel advices I'm freely giving is stop constantly  trying to convert your home or any other currency to local one as it will  unnecessary stress you .

as for your adventure  Turkish money at that time  was easy to distinguish even with all those zeros as it had distinctive colors so yes , driver audaciously cheated you. Hope he had diarrhoea all next day or two  

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

and I am hopeful this will be true - as he can be a spendthrift.

 

so keep saying constantly , ' 50000 , OMG " to keep him in line

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

 

I ate a nice juicy 200 gram steak with fries, salad, bread, and a watermelon drink.  The total bill came to 217,000 

 

OMG , one can buy a house for that sum in many countries, lol

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

as for your adventure  Turkish money at that time  was easy to distinguish even with all those zeros as it had distinctive colors so yes , driver audaciously cheated you.

Fair point, but not easy to distinguish in the dark when there seemed to be no light in the taxi!

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

it's why one of my travel advices I'm freely giving is stop constantly  trying to convert your home or any other currency to local one as it will  unnecessary stress you

I found over many years that this only works if you are in one or two other countries - unless you have the conversion already in your head. On one of my many round-the-world trips, I found myself in seven countries. I would have a good idea of the Thai baht values in £ and US$, but with Euros, Hungarian forint, Danish kroner, Japanese ¥ and South Korean won I could not have survived without constantly checking exchange rates.

And honestly, I have no idea how any young Thai who has never travelled to another country will get the hang of Vietnamese currency without constantly checking. Most other Asian currencies are relatively simple. Not so Vietnam with all those zeros.

[vinapu]

51 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

 

I found over many years that this only works if you are in one or two other countries - unless you have the conversion already in your head.

my point is , don't do  conversion other that initially trying to figure how much one should change  and after that just work with your fistful of money without worrying if that coffee is cheaper ore dearer that at home 

[khaolakguy]

Forgive the cynic in me, and it is nothing personal, however reduced to it’s bare bones and in abstract…….

A Farang newly retired to Pattaya meets a Rent Boy, who becomes his Fuck Buddy, who becomes his Pimp, who becomes his Boy Friend.

 Sounds like Boy Friend, not in the first bloom of youth, starts to become financially dependent on his Farang. Farang decides to break up with Boyfriend but as a breakup gift provides Boyfriend with wherewithal to set up his own business.  

The business is selling fruit salad which requires the boyfriend, who likes to party until dawn on Jomtien beach, to get up early to purchase fruit in the market and then be in attendance to run the business. 

 After a few weeks of the business(which is not going well) being set up Boyfriend persuades Farang that perhaps their relationship may still have a future after all so is ready to walk away from the business for a few weeks to be with Farang. Farang meanwhile is putting time, and probably more money sooner or later, into correcting the Boyfriends mismanagement of the business.

 This reads like quite a lot of similar stories, and the chances of this working out well, in any of the relevant areas, are small.

But I wish you luck.

 My early relationship with my Thai partner also had a poor prognosis, but amazingly we are still together and happy after thirty years!

 Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

 And Kudos to those who have helped with the QR codes. 

But honestly what person who was motivated to/able to run their own business wouldn’t check the message to which their customers are linking.

 

 

[aussie_]

I can recommend this Spanish restaurant in Da Nang, Nomad Kitchen, their Buffalo dinner is excellent amongst a wide range of options on their menu. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/qMXNxdUZX1Bsme8Y9

Nearby to Nomad Kitchen is the Vertigo Bar with one very friendly and talkative gay boy behind the bar and a very handsome straight boy working there on my last visit to Da Nang late in 2024. We also met a young Russian who frequents the bar and was up for a chat about his life in Asia.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WppK7dJLDa4mhrxt9

I have a friend who lives in Da Nang and he often takes a Grab motorcycle back to his condo after a night out. He asks carefully, but some of the Grab guys are keen to accept an invitation for a visit to his condo 😉

I am enjoying your reports and they provide some excellent information for my next trip to Da Nang.

[bkkmfj2648]

7 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

 This reads like quite a lot of similar stories, and the chances of this working out well, in any of the relevant areas, are small.

Thanks for your honesty.  And yes, all of what you wrote is very near to the truth.

Why do I humiliate myself by sharing all of this in this forum?

Perhaps, to give hope to other "farangs" to not follow in my footsteps....

OR - as you wrote yourself:

7 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

But I wish you luck.

 My early relationship with my Thai partner also had a poor prognosis, but amazingly we are still together and happy after thirty years!

Just maybe, I may have the same fortune as you --> from a poor prognosis - to an amazing relationship --> through the final years of my life....

[vinapu]

31 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

 

Why do I humiliate myself by sharing all of this in this forum?

 

 

nothing humiliating in your stories. Often when we put things on paper in systematic manner it helps us to see problems / issues  much more clearly.

[tm_nyc]

2 minutes ago, vinapu said:

nothing humiliating in your stories.

Totally agree.  I have read & enjoyed each one of your posts & I appreciate your candor in talking about the ups and downs of dealing with your Thai ex-BF.

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 24 in Da Nang – 17 May 2025

 

Wake up late with a headache and some nausea – which lightens up towards lunch time.

Reply to the anonymous forum member who is helping me with the LineMan QR issue – as I am still not able to determine the methodology to acquire the QR code for my BFs business.  With his help we troubleshoot some ideas that will need further investigation.

I try to return for a second attempt to the Op La Café – but now it seems to have disappeared and is now Bikini Bottom Express.  I also notice that the GioiA Gelati place that I visited on 7 May 2025 is already gone.  This is a phenomena that is interesting here in Da Nang – there is so much constant construction of new places and reconstruction of existing places – and as a result – places that you get used to either disappear or are moved.  I see that there is a construction tarp laid over the entire GioiA Gelati place so perhaps it will return but refurbished?

Consequently, I extend my walk and to the left I see the below sign on one of the side streets.  It peaks my curiosity and I go and check it out, as I have never ventured into this quiet street.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Sr45RXPixQusD8fr7

 

This place is new, the new owners, from St. Petersburg, only arrived 2 months prior and they opened this new lounge, kitchen, cool bar, kind of place.

I ordered the Salmon Benedict with a salt coffee, and it was very good and I ate it rather quickly – as I was famished – it being 2pm and my first meal of the day.

 

I call over the wife and tell her that I want to order something else and I order the omelette with roasted pepper and avocado, which was very delicious.

Now that my appetite is totally satisfied, the wife asks me if I would like a tour of the place - and she introduces me to her husband (she has good taste in men) and one of their Russian friends - he is also good looking.

Photo lifted from their Google site

So, during the night it is a lounge bar, with an upstairs type of cool VIP room with air-conditioning, where there will be a karaoke system installed for entertainment.

From their upstairs VIP type of lounge bar area.

I can definitely identify with the above words written in neon.

 

This young lovely Russian couple are very friendly and enjoyable to be around, and I wish them the best of luck with their new business venture and fresh new life here in Da Nang.

As it is hotter than hell with the sun in full blaze (no cloud cover), I go back to my airconditioned room.

I take a nap and then chat with my BF and discover that he is sad, because again it is raining back in Pattaya and there are very few prospective customers in the market.  I tell him to use this idle time to work on his marketing and I again push him to post his new business in Google – as it is free.  I tell him to take a photo of his shop, but to super impose his logo, that has his contact details with his QR code, onto the photo that he will upload, and to make it large – so that scanning the QR code from the photo would work from within Google.

Later I return to    to eat dinner.  Shortly after I arrive, it becomes super packed, with a big table of young farangs (surfer guy types with their respective girlfriends) who are having a grand ole time.  I eat a yummy pork enchilada with a great piña colada.

 

Afterwards I take a walk on the beach and then head back to my room where I catch up on some YouTube bloggers that I follow.

Say goodnight to BF, as he is closing his shop and heading back to his room wet from the rain.

 

End of day 24 in Da Nang – 17 May 2025

 

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

nothing humiliating in your stories.

Totally agree. Not only do they help others either planning a trip to the a Nang area or they may spur some to consider Da Nang whereas it has not been on their radar before. I have bared my soul a few times in this forum and it is amazing how understanding members here are.