The next morning, I woke up early to explore the town on my own. It was serene and peaceful and it seemed like the whole world was still asleep.
Half the town was still flooded, which made it difficult to walk through but I enjoyed the scenery.
The lotus was a major symbol for this country. Its ability to bloom under the most difficult conditions symbolizes overcoming adversity and finding beauty in everything. I love this so much. You could find lotus ponds everywhere.
Finally, I stumbled into a cafe that became a core memory of this trip. Mê Hội An Rooftop Coffee & Kitchen (Highly recommend!!!)
The design drew me in. It was a huge cafe with two floors, and beautiful and eclectic decor. A mix of old and new.
They also had a little section that sold pottery and bags and little trinkets.
I ordered my iced coconut coffee and made my way upstairs…
THIS. The breeze through the windows. The umbrellas. The old TV. The chairs. The tables. The walls. The curtains. The pottery!
I was in awe. And to add to that, the music they played was contemporary Vietnamese pop/hip hop. It was a dream. I shazam’ed so many songs from this one coffee shop visit.
I sat outside in the balcony by myself for an hour plus. I was the only customer in there for that long. This coconut coffee was SO good, with toasted coconut flakes on top! It was perfect for the heat. I basked in the sun and drank my coffee while listening to cozy Vietnamese music and I felt so grateful to be able to have this time to myself, doing the things I loved, just being there.
After that, I explored the town some more.
Reaching Out Tea House – a tea house where all the staff is hearing and speech impaired and all your purchases benefit them and their organization. You’re not allowed to talk here – you can only sign or make gestures – so it’s helpful if you learn basic sign languages for “thank you” and “please” beforehand. I enjoyed the silence.
I found a stack of Thich Nhat Hanh books so I read one while I was here. They were so nice to let me sit there for a while. It felt so serendipitous finding this in the middle of a bustling street. I was always in a rush trying to get from place to place, but at that moment I sat down and read a book about being in the present moment and felt so grateful to be able to do that.
life on macro. 