Apr 6–12

Apr 6 — Slept ok, rise 11:00, neck sore from gym yesterday. Eat big mango. Regular chicken place, nice 70b, buy another 3 joints 100b. Shower, rest more. 3:00 hit gym for legs: bounce squats uneven 1 foot on treadmill 2x90, 9 drills beside pool. Barbell on 1 shoulder pistol 54x4, 74x2 right, 74x3 concentric only left. Split squat bar between legs 74x10 easy. Low volume leg day. Shower, rest again. 5:00 night market smoothie and chicken breast with rice 70b, eat in condo. Feel tired, rest more, nap light. 8:00 drive motorbike to Pattaya Park night market, all Russians, smoothie 30b, eat same corner spot 100b crispy pork rice. Ride to park with stairs again, pray at big gold Buddha. Ride to Pattaya Park bit closer. Walk along small sois by Walking Street, exchange 50cad for 1180thb. Walk along 2nd Rd to Siam Guesthouse, Soi7 Blue Dragon gone, turned to U2Me bar or something. Walk along beach to Soi6, thousands of girls like Kai said. Walk back along beach to bike.

Apr 7 — Sleep ok, rise 10:40. 12:30 grab regular chicken place, tell her leaving tomorrow. Walk south more, get haircut at small barber shop 150b, good service by woman, pay 160b. Shower, nap, not sure why so tired. Do laundry and get water last time. Work done, handstand balance 4 sets, kick 1 leg at a time, easier. Night market smoothie 30b, grab pork rice around corner 60b. Chill in condo, savor last day, rest, nap light. 8:00 ride to Rompho, try AYCE BBQ place 289b, self grill, try most seafood, pay 310b, priciest meal so far for last night. Ride north to Central Pattaya Rd. Return to WKO gym closed, now called R66. Ride back, lonely couple days. Grab another smoothie. Mix vodka in condo. Chat with GPT, bed late.

Apr 8 — Wash shoes before sleeping. Sleep ok, rise 10:00. Transition to Bangkok day. Eat 2 mangos. 12:00 ride along beach to Chaiya Pruek Rd, eat kharprao at local seafood 60b. Pack stuff in loft, get ready for landlord at 2:00pm, take trash out. Landlord short Chinese guy arrives at 150, gave him key and messaged on WeChat group. Return scooter, got 1000b deposit, easy. Short walk to Rong Reung bus to BKK airport 143b for 3:00pm, everything smooth but almost lost ticket on floor. Do cossack in spare time. Nap light on bus. Arrive BKK airport 4:50. Take subway to Makkasan station 35b. Wrong exit, jump over train tracks. Arrive Kiwi Capsule 6:00pm, 500b deposit, kind of pain check‑in. Thirsty and hungry, only top floor space has seats, no free water. Walk around, get water, find cheap food in Robinsons food court 60b stewed pork rice. Grab beer, walk around red light area to dry evergreen woods, nice fitness park. Walk back to Terminal 21, restaurants closed, find super cheap food court on floor 5. Pork noodles 52b.

Apr 9 — Locked in capsule, had to break lock, put tape over blue LEDs. Couldn’t sleep awhile, quiet dorm at least. Rise 9:30, stupid people took my slippers, found outside. Floor 6 nobody there, AC off, hot, grab café and water at 7‑11, 59b. AC still not on, wifi doesn’t work on Asus, bad hostel. Terminal 21 get rice 40b, smoothie 25b. Hostel shower bad. Checkout Kiwi 11:30, stupid reception waiting to call cleaner for 500b deposit, bad hostel. Walk along river to Makkasan, sidewalk busted, big detour, pissed. Reach Makkasan metro 12:10, 35b to BKK airport, shirt soaked. Arrive BKK 12:40, download visa file at check‑in counter, mistake only screenshotting approval letter. Board last at 2:40, flight scheduled 2:30, lucky no further complications. Sit in front stealthily. Jaw exercise 4x2x18. Land HCM 4:50, airport bus to terminal, long line, chat with basketball player from LA, Ajay, played for Bucks. Get through immigration 6:00pm, exchange 20usd for 511k VND. Miss last bus downtown, motorbike taxi 100k, dropped off at Ben Nghe night market, beer 20k. Walk to Sakura hostel near bui vien, easy check‑in, laptop lazy, won’t turn on awhile. Walk to Bui Vien St, get pho 55k. Walk around Bui Vien, kinda like Khaosan with less people. Withdraw 5M VND from MB Bank, cost 288cad ~17.4k VND/cad, worse than airport exchange 18.1k/cad. Try banh mi on street 40k.

Apr 10 — Sleep ok, dorm quiet but smoke from 2 dormmates outside. Rise 9:40. Grab iced coffee next door 15k. Walk to Ben Thanh market, smoothie 25k and meat noodles 65k. Walk to Notre Dame and post office, nothing much. War Remnants Museum 40k, sobering. Pass some gyms, both want 200k seems overpriced. Walk to Tan Dinh market, nothing. Eat hu tieu noodles per GPT rec, nothing special. Grab another smoothie, mistook 200k for 20k, honest girl returned change. Chill in hostel, long walk. Shower, rest good. 7:40 walk south past Bui Vien, get local noodles with spring roll 28k. Walk across bridge to Phuong 4, mad traffic, eat at strange hot plate place 25k, processed meat and egg on hotplate with bun. Walk along river, scenic to Me Linh Sq. Walk to Japanese alleys, Pasteur, well dressed chicks want me to buy them drinks. Walk back, get couple beers and waters at circle K.

Apr 11 — Dorm quiet but pounding in morning, rise 9:00. Sit downstairs, order 2 iced coffees from next door, first one too sweet. Ben Thanh market again, smoothie 25k. Tao Dan park. Walk west toward An Dong market, eat local soup place, no noodles for 30k. Find Natural House, great lockers and free water, mattress not good. Ao Dang market per GPT, another smoothie 25k, all textiles. Eat at rice spot says 45k, charged 57k, slow, asking for Momo, pissed. Walk back, find FUTA bus to Can Tho 165k VND, poor impression of HCM. Chill in hostel, chat with GPT. Shower, rest, can’t sleep, pounding outside. 7:00 chat with GPT awhile, entertaining. 8:00 walk south, try same noodle local spot with motorbikers inside, 32k dry noodles with meat and spring roll. Walk around Bui Vien, find hostel for tomorrow. Eat again at Japanese place end of Bui Vien, 119k tonkatsu good but 8% surcharge annoying. Chat with GPT more entertaining than YouTube.

Apr 12 — Sleep ok, rise 10:00. Grab café next door 15k, no tea today. Ladyboy with cats asking me to checkout early. Ben Thanh market again, smoothie 30k, mostly ice. Order banh mi for 50k but dipped out since nobody making it. Get 2 sandwiches at 7‑11, 30k. Stuff moved around in dorm, annoyed. Checkout 12:00, no bye. Walk to Aquarion reception at Duc Vuong Hotel, nicer hostel, chill till check‑in at 2:00, free tea and bananas. Chat with GPT, check‑in at 1:30. Grab water 3x34k. Hostel staff said can’t leave laptop downstairs. Walk north, broken rice on street in Phuong 4, solid for 30k. Walk to Saigon train station, find train to Nha Trang for 800k wtf. Walk back, agitated by traffic. Chill on terrace 4th floor, shower, rest. 7:40 head out, appetizer at cheap noodle spring roll place 28k. Walk through Thai Binh area to river path, Nguyen Hue Blvd walking street packed, grab beer on street, feel better. Back to Japan town, girls in full force groping guys. Find tonkatsu place, not easy, 135k curry set, slow, charged 10% service, 150k total.