—October 8,

Up and about, we had our Javas and watched Chief's game!!! Whoop whoop🎉!! During halftime we had breakfast of Muesli and yogurt. That sounds so strange breakfast during Monday night football! Lol! But was a good game.

Now we went out. I will need some coffee soon and Jeff had researched a roastery nearby – Dream Beans. At arrival we were greeted. The guy brewed up a cup of coffee I wanted. As he prepared it, we all talked and he gave us some pointers of places to go to for food. He poured me the Java… Viola! It was beautiful. I sipped it and we continued to talk of places using Google translate. Then I bought a bag of 250ml after he ground it. It cost 210,000 Dong and 55,000 Dong for the cup – total 260K Dong ($10.47). I left all smiles.

Now to be fair… we went to a Beer place, one the coffee guy recommended, we had a light lunch of mixed salad: bean sprouts, green mangoes, cucumbers, and peanuts with a sweet and spicy rice vinaigrette; and stir fried bok choy and garlic with a spicy soy sauce. Both of the salads were excellent and so different. I had water to drink and Jeff had their Bia Hoi – “fresh” beer, it is described as “low in alcohol and light in taste because of its youth”. I tried a sip and it was tolerable probably because of the lack of “hoppy” flavor. Anyway, it was not what we had planned for lunch but it worked out superfine.

Back to our place I blogged Jeff read. Afternoon later was pleasant and we wondered out. We found the chicken place we had seen before. It is called My Hai and advertises – “Ga Le Luoc, Chim Quay- Ga Quay”, which translates as “Boiled chicken, Roasted bird – Roasted chicken.” The lady did not speak any English. We wanted two pieces of thigh/drumstick and pointed at them. She motioned cut up. Jeff said no (it will be easy to debone). Then she showed how much by holding up the bills of the amount. Jeff pulled that out (160k Dong=$6.44) and we left. Chicken in hand, we found some bread at a bakery (70k Dong=$2.82) and strawberries from a lady selling fruit from her bicycle turned cart (100k Dong=$4.03).

Now with supper procured, we head back to our place. The entry of our place is an eyeglass shop – I don't think I mentioned this. When we entered, tonight business was slow. One guy was playing a guitar, the other guy was tinkering with some glasses- designing maybe. Anyway, we pass them and called the elevator. We are on the fourth floor.

We heated our chicken, after it was deboned and had it with bread & butter. We also had a red wine from DaLat, which we had in DaLat. Then we had our strawberries dipped in Nutella for dessert. It was a nice evening also so we went out to stroll around the lake, taking in the sights and activities. It seems that Sunday night when we arrived is an outlier, as again it is way less crowded. Well, it is just fun – good end to the day!

—–October 9,

This morning I woke up and my right hip was screaming at me. Well, “hello, sciatica — now, go away”, but it didn't. I did my stretches, had Jeff put on the TENS unit, and took some anti-inflammatories. Humph! So it turned into a laid back day or laid “down”. Then we had our Javas and breakfast of Muesli and yogurts. Then I went back down.

Around oneish, I was able to get up and we went out for lunch. We went to Bun Cha Dac Kim, a Michelin recommended (not rated) restaurant. We had one Combo Bun Cha Va Nem Cua Be- which is grilled, charred pork (they called 'kebab') with rice noodles in a different broth with green papaya, and four pieces of deep fried spring rolls; and one Bun Cha- the grilled pork soup. We also had a bowl of limes, a bowl of chopped garlic & chopped chillies, and a heaping plate of greens. It was surprising to  both of us how different the broth was. It had a smokey quality, and sweetness, but not sugar sweet (must have been from the green papaya.) We only knew it was green papaya because I asked. Wow! we really enjoyed this dish so, soo much! Jeff had a beer and I had a Coke. Total bill was 260k Dong ($10.46). It was more expensive lunch (for Vietnamese standards) but worth it!!

We meandered back taking in Hanoi, stopping at a pharmacy for refills. On our street we pass though the gauntlet of young women calling out in their singsong, “Hello, massage.” I'm beginning to think my name is massage, LOL🤣!! Anyway, we arrived back at our place we took siesta, resting my back. Afternoon gave way to evening, as it does every day (praise be to God for stability). Jeff went out for sausages for our dinner. We had them with some great sourdough bread we had found–may be the best sourdough we have had since we started this journey! We called it a wrap by 2130.