Rainy Day Errands in DaNang, Vietnam: A Closed Restaurant, Street Chicken and a Taste of Home

Hi friends it's Susan here in Da Nang Vietnam and today is a predictably very wet day outside and for a reason that we're still trying to figure out I decided to wait till 2:00 to run my errands about an hour after it started raining so here I am I'm on the city side and I just took a Grab across the bridge over here to the city and I thought to add a little sunshine to my day I'm gonna bring you along with me so when I first left my place I had on the full poncho helmet on top I brought my own helmet and shorts and rubbery sandals because when it's raining opposite of what we do in the States he's all bundled up too opposite of what we do we don't bundle up or try to stay dry we actually wear shorts because we don't want like our clothes are gonna get wet we are going to get wet when we're out running around in this so you wear like I'm in shorts and let's see if we can get down here so here I am I am going to buy myself a mattress topper I'm at JYSK it's I gotta think they're partners with IKEA very similar but a small store and one of the workers came out and he said please you know he motioned to me to leave my wet rain jacket outside most people just put them on their motorbikes and then stores have either a coat rack inside or some stores have lockers and you can go

put your things in a locker and take the key but you leave all your wet things right outside the door right inside in this case he took my helmet he put it on the coat rack and we're gonna head on in so here we are back at this store I really like it hello I'm here to get a mattress topper yes okay thank you but you know while we're down here let's just check out the new colors it is early October right now they have really snuggly things which we don't really need here because it's so warm outside even though it's raining but hey it's 30% off it's kind of a it'd be a shame if I didn't get it right oh wow look at that 50% off alright we're gonna go focus the mattress topper maybe look at some shelving for storage in my room and then we'll come back alright I think this is gonna be pretty easy 4 cm 8 cm or 8 cm with a cooling foam for double the price of the 8 cm and I sleep with AC on so I'm gonna get the 8 centimeter memory foam and JYSK is a Danish brand is what I just found out and I feel good going with this

quick update on errand running we're in the technology shop and thank goodness for AI I just used AI I needed a set of noise canceling headphones because some coffee shops play music super loud so AI looked at all the options I got a pair of Sony not the top of the line I don't need them but good quality noise canceling headphones I'm being rung up now also just PSA they have things like printers here but not so much personal printers it's more like for corporations I took a video of all the options and then I put into AI here's what I need here's what I'm looking for here's my pain point and what's the best option for me and why and they said you know try these two and then you choose based on these things that's what I did so 10 minutes in and out off to the next errand as soon as I get my receipt success so now there's one more mattress shop I'm actually gonna check out I didn't purchase that 8 centimeter memory foam because I've never slept on memory foam before and I'm I know there's other options so I just and they don't they only had memory foam there so I want to double check in a different mattress shop a non memory foam so I can make a decision this is a big decision because it's every night sleep I'm all about my sleep I'm all about my sleep so I'm gonna check out one more mattress shop

so I make sure I'm making the right decision the right type of mattress topper and I'm excited for my new noise canceling headphones because there are some I don't know coffee shop like there's one in particular I really enjoy going into but and they have great coffee and friendly people but I found myself avoiding them because hi so cute just all smiles trying to get around me because they play the Bee Gees too loud on repeat it's only there's only so many times I can listen to a Bee Gees CD or the Bee Gees playlist so the noise canceling headphones problem solved alright so on my way to the next mattress shop it's a four minute walk I looked on maps and there is a restaurant that was tagged right around the corner and I'm kind of hungry that had five stars only 25 reviews but they were all fives it's a hot pot restaurant and I'm gonna turn this around it's about 4:30 on a Tuesday you can see that it's a rainy day we see people on bicycles motorbikes cars vans but it's not raining right now it's a pinch drizzly but no big thing so I'm going to detour right here at this street

just 3 minutes walk and run to the hot pot restaurant see what else they have on the menu and get a little bite to eat cause nobody wants to shop when they're hungry straighten this out there we go one of my favorite things coconut carts so good hello hi and she is here picking up recycling cute little rain jacket and hat in just a moment I'll pull my phone out and find the restaurant address but should just be up here a few doors I'm glad I stopped and checked it should be right here oh there it is Thèm Lẩu Cá let's turn this around it's right up there are they oh they might not be open that's why I walked right past them well shoot okay plan B we're just gonna step into this awning put my bag down and find another restaurant actually the first thing we're gonna do oh here comes another recycle gal so cute is there is this is the restaurant has the big garage door down and there's a sign on the door here so let's we're gonna go into Google

Translate Vietnamese to English and we are gonna go to the camera and we are gonna see what this says I'm taking 3 to 4 days off due to family matters well there you go so that makes sense alright off to plan B well this very well might be a redirect because I just found another place right down here the other half a block and it has a 4.4 rating with 3,200 and something reviews so that's a popular place it's been around for a long time so we're just gonna walk there it's so pleasant out this temperature and as a quick reminder or actually as a quick PSA I'm gonna put this in my travel tips course carabiners I love carabiners they're like my favorite thing right now I have my motorbike helmet I've got my rain jacket and because I have carabiners attached to my backpack those really lightweight like aluminum ones I have them on all my bags I just clip them on got a water bottle so then you're hands free I love carabiners the shoes bag the shopping bags backpacks and carabiners that's where it's at here's oh I bet you that is where that little alleyway that started out that's where it ends gosh I really want to walk down this alleyway

maybe on the way back after lunch I guess it's an early dinner 4:30 yeah it's an early dinner I had a pho earlier today typical just my favorite thing to go and get it's always a good idea it's always good it's everywhere can't go wrong oh she has fried bananas there's all the bananas oh and this lady's got some rice so all kinds of folks are stopping by most likely to get their rice noodles for dinner around here the most important thing when it comes to food is that it's fresh so you don't see them with boxes of noodles in the store boiling them there you see carts with fresh fresh rice noodles alright let's go find this restaurant so this is a chicken restaurant and I was just using Google Translate with this guy and I said is there a place to sit or is it only takeaway he said it's only takeaway but I can go across the street to those tables and chairs and sit down and eat are you sure isn't that someone else's place

and he said you can buy a drink from her and eat your food and have your drink so that's what I'm gonna do and let me turn this around and show the chicken restaurant I'm at restaurant it's a little drive up spot there's where the chickens are cooking there's chickens in the refrigerator back there and there's where he chops them up so I just ordered this very first one 160K I think it's gonna be leftovers let's put it that way I think it's gonna be leftovers I think it's a lot and that's OK there is a I think this is one of those you buy for like family style got a lot of chickens going on here I think this might be the food I ordered oh my maybe not that I can't have that much food this must be somebody else's so we're just talking he's a really nice guy he's from Ho Chi Minh City yes he has a job here in Da Nang and they're just here picking up their chicken order

and he's the one he's describing everything to me he wanted to hear all about my channel when he saw I was videotaping and he wants to be a vlogger yeah I want to be a vlogger live here yeah and in Da Nang City everything is very good yeah it's so good I hope you I hope in the future every you guy come to Da Nang to try everything here it's so good yeah he asked me if I was just vlogging in Da Nang and I said it's really anywhere I've lived and been to many places in the world and I just wanted to show a different part of the world to people that may not be aware of how beautiful and kind and healthy and fun and yeah friendly other places are thanks for joining yeah OK have a nice day bye we got the goods alright let's cross the street grab a drink have a little nibble see what's in here hello oh my goodness she is adorable she came over here with a big toothy smile this is her drink stand with some plastic tables and chairs oh she's selling ponchos for the rain smart businesswoman got some here's a fridge and a cooler so darling her cute waterproof outfit and she asked me oh here she's doing some dishes she gave me a big smile one yes

and I pointed at the sugar cane and I said yes that is exactly what I'd like to have she just came over and showed me a 10K I don't have any cash on me but I showed her yeah I'll do a quick QR so everybody has these QR boards and then I'll put in and I'm gonna give her a little bit of a tip I'm sitting at her outdoor table and what a nice smile she has and so that sugar cane runs about 50 cents what did I let me show it to her alright here we are with I'm sure this is delicious sugar cane sugar cane with kumquat squeezed on the top so good alright the chicken meal came with like a side of veggies and they had these stacked up in the refrigerator like pre cut prepackaged since it's a to go place and they just grab one of these and put it in the bag and they have these boxes they're like pizza boxes so people just come up on their scooter order their meals and they put in a bag so what comes in the bag is little chicken and the chicken pizza box some sauce and she pulled up a chair she's watching me she's so sweet this is how you eat the chicken so let's give it a roll here

somewhere else yeah she would prefer that I have the chicken somewhere else and there's a park and some benches down at the end of the street so I'm gonna go there instead so I want to be very respectful and accommodating to the locals and this is her little little coffee shop I think it is that she doesn't want you know like outside food which is completely understandable it actually surprised me a bit that it was suggested to eat here but I think the the guy was just assuming that that was okay thing and I don't want to ruffle any feathers so we're gonna go down to the end of the street and then I'll finish showing my chicken meal it wasn't oh it's okay it's okay it wasn't rude by any means oh she wants to give me a to go carry cup it's okay it's okay but it was just like oh oh like do you mind and pointed at the drink menu and okay bye bye and did like the praying hands like oh you know this is just for drinks alright let's go find somewhere to eat this chicken and the more I think about it probably everybody would do that at the chicken place oh you know what I've eaten here before I forgot about this place this is good this little spot it's right up from the intersection totally forgot about it I would stop in there if I didn't already have food to eat next time this right here is a more of a local tech shop I wanna pop in and see what's different

it's a much much smaller than Phi Long Technology but I'm curious what they have looks like more individual where Phi Long also caters to businesses let's see what's in here and then there's a park right there across the street that I can go sit down alright in this store we have more individual consumer items but we also have a refrigerator but laptops a lot of phone accessories and here's what is curious to me so many electronic shops they have like all the phone accessories laptops headphones but then they'll have an area of just miscellaneous electronics that I would never expect to see like a Crock-Pot slow cooker hair dryer a steam iron a little stove top plug in stove top you never know you never know what's gonna be I got an air fryer and is this a washing machine it's just funny like there's not like rows and rows of any one thing it'll just be this miscellaneous assortment some gaming I'll go check out like some of the SD cards and then we'll be on our way you never know what you're gonna find so pretty they have some traffic police out here wonder why

okay well it's a green walk sign so here I go absolutely gorgeous out with the lighting and the recent rain ooh so bright so here's the park this is cute so some gals hitting a badminton around that's through here oh area for kids some benches kids and dogs and soccer balls well this is beautiful we're on the main road Dragon Bridge I've never noticed this before kids are having a great time playing let's head over here okay we're back at it now that I've had my sugar cane I'm not even hungry anymore but we're gonna eat some of the chicken while it's warm and alright let's put the accoutrements aside and let's see what's in this box it's like Christmas it's a lot of chicken this is what I was given so

how about it this is great for like a family picnic it's delicious of course and I'll have a little bit of this hi I'm getting some company hello do you wanna be on YouTube hello do you want some chicken no chicken no thank you it's on YouTube riding around came over to say hi see what's up another fly by smile on his face I think these gloves for eating are just brilliant just brilliant just perfect now I don't wanna stay here too long cause it's like getting to be dusk and it just rained and there's so much greenery around there's more mosquitoes here than I'm used to out at the beach area I'm guessing there's more mosquitoes it's like mosquito heaven mosquito conditions and right now in Da Nang they said there's a unusually high surge of dengue and who wants to risk that I don't have my normal if I go hiking I wear bug spray

not I don't wear it on any sort of regular basis but only if I'm like in these only in areas where you know it's green and damp and there might be like a mosquito breeding ground but just because that's going on and there's bugs around here just in this little park to go like eat and run alright we're off to our next adventure going just a few doors down mattress shop double check the whole mattress topper memory foam versus other alternatives if they have them just so I can make sure memory foam is what I get it's what what I want and then we're gonna run a couple more errands time and weather permitting let's go leaving the park and you can hear all the birds chirping in the trees it's so pleasant still gorgeous out and I see a mattress shop right adjacent to me and that's where we're headed alright this is a local mattress shop quick trip we'll just see what they have actually there's an update we have a cotton fluffy option alternative the only problem is there's no floor sample it's this guy she showed me pictures and I'm looking it up it's like a she says like a hotel mattress topper I think that's more what I'm looking for than memory foam she said I can try it and for a just a exchange fee I can exchange it if I don't like it but the only other memory foam they have is 5 cm and if I get one I think I want 8

the really squishy one so something to think about this whole bed thing like we gotta get it nailed right can't make too hasty of a decision so we're talking sleep comfort eight hours a night for seven nights a week that's a lot of comfort okay I think this is gonna be last stop of the day before it's gonna it's dark outside and raining before I head back to my neighborhood and my phone battery is about to die but before I do that I wanna show you this store is called Kirby and I'd heard about it that it has a lot of American type things just in case that's something that you're looking for something special something important to you a little taste of home and oh my gosh I'm seeing things that I have not seen in a long long time there are okay Tide Downy Neosporin what Kirkland brand things Pringles Pop-Tarts Crest and Aveeno and Olay Doritos brand salsa and these teas Ziploc oh my goodness Cracker Jack let's go down there Cracker Jack this is the name of the store it's called Kirby let's see if I can get up no let's see if I can get up there there we go

Kirby Mart so it's really eye opening to go into a store that has American items and it's huge tubs of Dubble Bubble and Pop-Tarts and Reese's peanut butter cereal and Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms and Oreos and sure I still have my charger with me in my pocket Chick-fil-A sauce and I thought why is that American stuff so unhealthy Hamburger Helper and Kraft Mac and Cheese it yeah it's a very very expensive in there relative to what we're used to cause it's all imported it looks like it was purchased somewhere like a Costco in bulk just eye opening how I've really acclimated to the food here and really when I see them I don't want to have any of them so I think that that happens even if you do like something once you're in a place and you're eating all the local food for quite a while at least for me you really stop craving any kind of in my case sugar or snacks or chips or Doritos or any of it I saw there were Chips Ahoy in there Oreos just not interested alright now we're wrapping up thanks for joining me today and we'll see you next time