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floridarob@aol.com 🤣

Day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025 First thing that I notice when I wake up is there is already a message in my inbox from the motorbike shop owner. I feel guilty, but I ignore his message. I look outside from my balcony and the city has a funky strange low cloud cover – one that reminds me of my time in Denver, Colorado. The clouds are lower than the nearby mountain tops. Consequently, this puts me in a malaise mood and so I am lazy most of the day. I eventually go outside to eat a late lunch at . Afterwards, I decide to push myself to walk in a nearby neighborhood (as I tend to be a creature of habit) that I do not yet know – so I pick a French pastry shop from Social Samy’s Da Nang Treasure map and I walk there. I find that I like this new neighborhood, as it is full of narrow treelined streets with lots of shade and there are many interesting types of shops, bars, and restaurants. Torino Coffee & Bakery shop https://www.instagram.com/torinobakery.dn/ I chose a meringue creamy strawberry cake that was incredibly tasty and delicious. I asked for a salt coffee (Cà Phê Muối ) – but there was some confusion – as they don’t serve it – so I took the standard brown with condensed milk Vietnamese iced coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Dá). Before leaving I buy one almond croissant, coconut brioche, and 2 chocolate cookies for take away. I meander through this new neighborhood and when I get to my enormous condo complex, I enter from the opposite side to avoid the motorbike rental place that is directly across the street. Call me chicken. I take a great nap and when I wake up it is already dinner time – I guess all I do in retirement is to eat and walk around…. At dinner time, I walk around some of the other streets in the new neighborhood on An Thuong 4, 3, and 2 – as they are great small streets full of life and interesting places. A place that I saw earlier is packed so I settle on the Butcher Grilled restaurant. https://www.facebook.com/butchergrilled/ I ordered the Filet Mignon plate with 2 sides; Sauteed Asparagus and Sauteed Mushrooms. All was good and the meet was of good quality. However, the Australia Beef Tenderloin that I ate yesterday at the Pizza House was more tasty and cooked more to my liking. Yes, @floridarob, they do serve steak at the Pizza House – if you look at their menu that I posted yesterday you can see that the name is misleading as they are much more than pizza. Last year when I was here, I found this wonderful free standing ice cream shop that was in front of the JJ market – but it is no longer there. However, in this new neighborhood, I discovered the Gioia Gelati ice cream shop. Chocolate chip and Pistachio https://www.facebook.com/gioiagelati.vn DaNang_Gioia_Gelati.mp4 Before going to bed I respond to some of my former UN colleagues about the current new UN crisis, known as UN80: https://www.passblue.com/2025/05/06/the-world-is-changing-fast-it-is-now-crucial-to-restructure-the-un/ This entire crisis frustrates me, because when I was working for the UN during my 20 year career there – I often suggested reforms, efficiencies, and many other creative ideas about how to make the UN more effective, efficient, and good value for money. Unfortunately, it is a frozen bureaucratic dinosaur and probably 95% of my ideas were not considered, ignored, or rejected. Often during my career, they would ask us rank and file what ideas should be considered, when they would bring in the BIG outside consulting companies (i.e., Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, etc.), where we were told to submit our ideas to them. Often, the draft proposal would be shown to us by the said consultants – but when the final draft would be released to the executive committee (EC)– often our ideas were already removed. Sometimes I would protest to the above mentioned consultants and they would tell us that the EC removed them – but the UN would then tell the world that they consulted with its rank and file. This was very degrading and disrespectful. Back in 2016 and 2017 I proposed an amazing idea (at that time – not so amazing in 2025) to use the blockchain to allow us to track our donor contributions on the blockchain, so that the money spent for our UN activities could be monitored in real time from when the funds leave the donor’s bank accounts, all the way through to the end beneficiaries (farmers, war victims, school children, etc.). What better way to be transparent and to allow our donors to see what we are doing with their contributions in real time. Nobody liked this idea. So, when I see the UN crying now because many governments are fed up with the chronic promises to reform, reorganize, etc. I do not feel much sympathy – because so many opportunities in my 20 years there ignored or wasted. And I was only 1 of thousands of employees whose ideas were ignored. Difficult to fall asleep – but eventually I manage. End of day 14 in Da Nang – 7 May 2025

I am sorry for what happened to you - but I could not live in a country (especially as a retiree), where there is constant fear, which causes you to need to live in a constant state of heightened alert. It is just too stressful and not worth it for me. In Jomtien - it is VERY rare that I feel afraid. In Cebu - there were some occasions where I felt afraid. I am now in Day 15 here in Da Nang and I have not yet encountered any situations that made me feel afraid 🤞

This is an interesting phenomena I have never understood. Why do many cities around the world have several names. Why can't we be forced to call cities by their native names? Rome = Roma Milan = Milano Florence = Firenze etc.

Great trip report Jamiebee. By the way, happy belated birthday. If during your next visit to LOS I am also there, it would be nice to meet up.

I just checked out their Twitter (X) feed = @SuckdGloryTokyo and most of the photos that they posted are of Westerners sucking off other guys cocks. So, perhaps give it another try and what the guy told you about Mask night was true - as per their Twitter (X) feed.

I think what happened to #17 is good for his longer term success. I have found him to be over confident and too heavy into his phone (i.e., social media). #17 is super sexy and has great potential, BUT he needs an ocassional reality check to make him be more conscious about how his behaviour has a direct impact on his potential and/or acquired customers.

Is there already a RFC club in Rio? My fear is not about the balcony. What is great about the high balconies and the PFC concept is that it empowers you on how you can control the destiny of your life. My fear of Brazil is down on the street level, where other vicious factors can be controlling the destiny of my life without my permission.

No, not yet. All of the potential crime scenarios that I read about freaked me out. When I am on vacation I don't like being in that heightened state of emergency alert mode - I find it exhausting at my age. I liked the Da Nang one better just because the menu has more variety.

Day 13 in Da Nang – 6 May 2025 First revelation - no diarrhea today - as I only ate farang food yesterday. This is both good and bad news - as I want to eat lots of Vietnamese food during my 130 day stay as I really like Vietnamese food. Perhaps, I can't eat the yummy banh mi baguettes but I can eat everything else? Earlier in this trip report series, I complained that it is difficult to meet local gays that are not ashamed to be seen in the streets of Da Nang with you. After eating breakfast in my condo I decide that after my 6 day motorbike rental that I will return it to the shop – as I find that I am not using it as much as I had expected. The motorbike is great to go up the coastal mountain road – but that is not something that I do every day and during the daytime it is just too hot to be out and about on the motorbike. The motorbike shopkeeper tells me to sit down and with Google translate we start to have a conversation about life, how many days I will be here, do I have family, am I traveling alone --> when he just blurts it out --> If you feel lonely you can invite me up to your room for some fun 🤔🤨 I was like WOW – very bold – unfortunately he is not at all my type. So, lesson learned, I complained earlier about the difficulties about meeting local gay Vietnamese and “the universe provided”. Therefore, be careful what you wish for…. Our conversation starts to get uneasy – and so I keep saying to him can I have my Thai driving license back. Then he says, let’s go to lunch – and then I lie to him – oh, I am sorry, I am going to meet some foreign friends for lunch and they are already waiting for me. Then he says, ah, I am not your type? I don’t say anything – but I nod my head in an Indian fashion so that he understands that I am not interested. Then he finally gives me my Thai driving license and then he says to me, “I LOVE foreign guys – so if any of your foreign friends are single and lonely – please send them to me”. Before I can escape, we exchange our ZALO contact information. I go to eat my Bo Né lunch with salt coffee by myself. As it is now around 16 days since my last haircut and color treatment, I decide that today will be my first haircut and color in Da Nang. About 1 year prior, Social Samy (one of the popular local YouTube bloggers) did a segment on the NHỰA STYLE BARBER SHOP which I really liked. When I met Samy at the beginning of this trip, I asked him why isn’t this barber shop not in his Treasure Map, and he tells me because he did not like the way that they trimmed his beard. I told him about my great difficulties in year 2019 getting my hair cut and colored in Phu Quoc and Samy told me – don’t worry – this shop is ok for hair color for men. https://www.nhuastyle.vn/ This barber shop is really cool, as it has been created with a gothic JOKER style theme, which is very entertaining. My assigned barber, BIN, is really good and took the time with Google translate (for the more technical aspects of our conversation) and wanted to see past pictures of my hair color treatments to understand what type of look that I was desiring. BIN did a great job – and during the part of the treatment where you need to kill 30 minutes for the color to take hold – he cross-sold me an optional ”Remove Earwax” service with his female colleague . At first I was apprehensive, as I have never let anyone touch the inner parts of my ear. Him and his female colleague allayed all of my fears and I agreed to the service. They said that it might be a tiny bit painful – but instead I found it slightly ticklish – in a pleasant way. That procedure took about 20 to 25 minutes – and so when it was finished I had my hair rinsed and then sent back to BIN for the final touch up and blow dry and wax. I would definitely return to this shop – as I really liked the funky artistic environment, the high exciting energy of all of the young Vietnamese that work there and the customers that visited the shop were all fun people – not surprising – as Da Nang attracts a young farang digital nomad type of crowd as its primary tourist base. I paid 300,000 VND for the hair color treatment + 70,000 VND for the haircut + 50,000 VND for the ear cleaning for a total of 420,000 VND (around $16.20 USD). Back in Jomtien, I pay 1,200 THB (around $36.65 USD) for my hair color treatment + haircut. So, the cost in Da Nang is 56% less than in Jomtien – so very good value for money. Here is a nice video interview of some hot Brazilian getting his haircut in this shop: After my haircut I walked over to to eat a scrumptious coconut cream cake with a dark Vietnamese iced coffee. Life is good. I head back to my condo and prepare yesterday’s trip report update and respond to some queries. Afterwards, I log into Heesay (formerly BLUED) and I start chatting with user = CalBOy_18cm. From his profile I can see that he is a sexy 27 year old with a big cock. Note that in Cebu the key words for escorts were "Hire" or "Hire me" - but here in Da Nang, the key words are centered on variations of the words "Call Boy". His English capabilities are near zero, so after many back and forth I think that I have made him understand what I am looking for and then he sends me the below boiler plate message that obviously someone else who knows English better prepared for him. I tell him – oh, I am sorry – that we cannot meet, as it is written that you don’t accept anyone over the age of 40 and “too fat”. I tell him my real age and that I have a belly. There is no reply for a long time so I continue to peruse and write to other profiles. After about 20 minutes he writes that he accepts my proposal (massage + edging). We agree that he will come to my condo at 7pm and at 7:05pm he arrives and we go up to my room. He does not speak at all and he just undresses and takes a long shower. I try to offer him something to drink from the fridge – but he just does not understand me. He writes me a message that he forgot his massage oil and then I give him my coconut cream that I brought with me from Jomtien. The beginning of the massage is perfect – he has good talent and rhythm. However, he has a big erection and he keeps rubbing it on me. At a certain point, he stops massaging me and spreads my legs to start sucking my cock – eventually we turn over and the massage is cut short and we go into an intense 69 and he eventually cums on my chest and he goes to take another shower. He has a beautiful cock and I believe that it was really 18cm. I am waiting for quite a while when he returns to the massage room (I rented a 2 bedroom condo and 1 bedroom is the designated massage room) and I am waving my erect cock at him and he is already dressed ready to leave. I wave the money at him and point to my cock and he then gets undressed and makes me a decent edging until orgasm. What was he thinking? He cums and goes? I thought the mantra often cited in this forum is: “I cum and he goes….” I prefer that we both cum – but in this case his approach was strange. I paid him a premium price (agreed to prior during the chat negotiations - to make an exception to his rule that he does not go with guys over the age of 40 with some fat) = 1,500,000 VND (around $58 USD). Would I hire him again? Probably not because it was difficult to connect with him, he was too mechanical, and the massage part was too short. But it was fun and to-date he was the most sexy of the massage guys that I have had so far here in Da Nang. I clean up and I head over to Casa Loco (the Mexican place that I tried to get into yesterday but it was full) and tonight it is almost empty. https://www.facebook.com/casalocodanang/ I order the delicious and filling Lamb Barbacoa Quesadillas and a coconut Margarita. The Mexican food here is very good and the above menu is only 1 page out of 4 pages. Now I understand why it is highlighted in Samy Social’s Da Nang Treasure map. I head back to my room stuffed, but I need to stay awake, because at midnight it will be the birthday of my good Thai friend who owns a bar in Supertown. So, exactly at 0:00am, I send him his birthday message and gift and he is so happy, because he told me that I was the FIRST person to wish him a happy birthday. We chat for a few minutes and then I tell him good night and I fall asleep. End of day 13 in Da Nang – 6 May 2025

Oops, my bad. Yes, I should have stated M Bar my senility is kicking in.

Then I am the exception to what you wrote above. Already in year 2025, I have resided in Cebu in the Philippines for 59 days and it is planned that I will reside in Da Nang, Vietnam for 130 days this year --> for a total of 189 days outside of Thailand in this tax year. So, this is definitely costing me a pretty penny - but I am doing it for principals sake - as I am opposed to the new Thai government income tax on incoming bank transfers for tax residents. Regarding being a "big spender" - call me a previous "fool in love" where I spend inordinate sums of money on my last 2 Thai boyfriends - both were in Jomtien. I would prefer to NOT be a foolish "big spender" - but matters of the heart sometimes make us do foolish things.... So, probably due to my previous foolishness, I believe that after I return from Da Nang to Thailand, that I will fall into the limited spending category - as I try to rebuild my depleted savings.

Where do the below 3 hybrids fit in? Are they not a type of gogo bar ? The Best Bar in the Jomtien Complex (aka Supertown) has a gogo boy segment in their 4 times each week sexy show. They dance with erections in tight swim bikinis and if you want to tip them they will let you insert the money into their swim trunks and touch their hard cocks inside the swim trunks. M2M - As part of their nightly cabaret show, it has a segment where they are only in bath towels where they reveal what is inside and if you tip them, they allow you to insert your hand behind the towel to squeeze the goods. Also, independently of the sexy show the boys will sit with you and reveal their hard erections where you can use a pillow to gain some privacy for some fun. Gus Bar - You sit on sofas where the boys come and sit next to you and you can play with their exposed private parts using the pillows to create a type of privacy.

Day 12 in Da Nang – 5 May 2025 I wake up with slight diarrhea again 😓😢. So, I pop another Diatabs pill (loperamide). I am convinced that my diarrhea is a result of the Banh Mi baguettes that I am buying from the nearby street vendor. This is sad, as I truly enjoy her Banh Mi, because she sells the rare “Banh mi ga Da Nang”, which is based on chicken and is served in a round baguette instead of the typical French éclair formed baguettes. It is so delicious. The longer I am here the more I am learning about the many varieties of Banh Mi that they are - and of course - everybody has their favorite. You may remember from yesterday’s trip report update that I bought 2 delicious Banh mi baguettes for dinner, that I ate while watching the Conclave movie last night. Official name is: Banh mi ga Da Nang So, for today, I try an experiment (which I also do in Thailand when I get bouts of diarrhea) – which is to only eat farang Western food until my intestinal system reboots. After posting my 4 May trip update in the morning, I head over to and I eat their Gumbo with rice meal as my lunch. After lunch I decided to walk over to the special VB Bank ATM, as mentioned in Samy Social’s Treasure Map that I purchased and discussed at the beginning of this trip report series about living in Da Nang. Samy mentions that there are 2 banks (VP Bank and TP Bank) that allow for 10 million VND withdrawals in one go. I am also using the HSBC ATM that I discovered in my 2024 trip to Da Nang – but since it malfunctioned on Sunday (ATM was out of physical bank notes) – I did not want to schlep all the way over to the far away Vincom Plaza mall and it is good for me to learn about other ATM alternatives. It is about a 20 minute walk to this VB Bank ATM and it granted me 10 million VND with one of my many debit cards (that I use for traveling). Afterwards, I walk down to the My Khe beach for a lovely beach walk (I already posted those beautiful beach photos in my above response to @floridarob, so I won’t post them again). I stop at my now favorite place to have coffee on the beach = Caribou – a bright yellow food truck that you cannot miss. https://www.facebook.com/Cariboufoodtruck Behind the truck, there are those famous Vietnamese low seats to enjoy your coffee under a palm tree in the shade and just observe the calmness of the beautiful sea. Afterwards, I return to my room for a nap (I love afternoon naps) and later on when I wake up, I decide to again use Samy Social’s Treasure map to eat farang food (in keeping with my anti-diarrhea experiment) and I choose Mexican. I see a place, Casa Loco, which is nearby and I walk there – but unfortunately it is completely full – I guess Samy’s map is doing wonders for their business. So, I eat next door at Pizza House https://www.facebook.com/pizzahousedanangvietnam/# I order a Caprese salad, Australia Beef Tenderloin and a bottle of SanPellegrino water. This has been my most expensive meal to date in Da Nang, 725.000 VND ( around $28 USD) and the beef tenderloin was perfect – I could not complain. So, this restaurant is not on Social Samy’s Treasure map – but I think that he should add it, as I truly enjoyed my experience in this Italian restaurant. I head back to my room and I fire up the apps wishing for a massage hookup – but to no avail. There is a very sexy foreigner who has been writing me for many days – as he wants me to edge him, so I tell him that I am available tonight. He insists that I go to his place – but I am reluctant – as I feel safer at my place – you never know – so he gets bitchy and angry and then blocks me – all because I wanted him to come to my place. Wow – so crazy and sad, as he had a beautiful cut cock. Oh well. Noone else in the apps at that hour 10pm to 11pm ish tickles my gonads – so I decide to watch some edging videos on Twitter (X) and after an hour of edging myself I release and then I call it a night - as it has been a happy ending. 🍆💦🤪 End of day 12 in Da Nang – 5 May 2025

As I am writing this, I am now in Day 13 of my 130 days here in Da Nang - so I can give a preliminary comparative assessment. I have not yet experienced: getting a haircut and getting my hair colored - as this is a frequent activity for me - so I would like this to be in the final comparative analysis - to be fair about the true cost of living here in Da Nang, visiting a massage shop - this is still on my list of things to do - as I give a preference to "ordering in" my massages - but I think that this is an important economic detail, gogo bar equivalent - in Cebu there were 2 - of which I visited 1 and reported on it, whereas here in Da Nang I am not aware of any gogo bars. I have already reported on my visit to Q Bar here in Da Nang. I believe that there are 2 other gay bars here in town for me to visit. Excluding the above, I can say the following preliminarily: Condo rental: I already made a comparison in my Cebu report at: So, I can now expand on this above comparison with the reality of Da Nang: Rentals in the huge 41 floor condo building where I am currently residing go on average for 12,000,000 VND (around $462 USD) per month. When comparing this with Jomtien and Cebu on a sqm basis, we can see that Da Nang is clearly the winner: Da Nang = $462 per month / 70 sqm = $6.60 USD per sqm Cebu = $777.53 per month / 44.6 sqm = $17.43 USD per sqm Jomtien = $834 per month / 98 sqm = $8.51 USD per sqm So, Da Nang (from a condo rental point of view) is 22% cheaper than what I pay for back in Jomtien. A bare bones (in your condo room) massage can be had for 800,000 VND (around $31 USD) - but the true average cost for a good massage (in your condo room) costs between 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 VND (around $39 USD to $46 USD). Whereas, back in Jomtien I pay between 1,500 baht to 2,000 baht for a good (in your condo) massage (around $46 USD to $61 USD). So, Da Nang (from a massage point of view) is 33% cheaper for a massage. When eating only Vietnam food versus only Thai food - my comparator is my daily Da Nang breakfast costs me 80.000 VND (Bo Ne + salt coffee) = around $3.09 and in Jomtien a similar breakfast, "Boss Breakfast" + cappucino, costs me 405 baht = around $12.30 --> again, Da Nang is the cost winner, at 4 times less than what I would pay for the same equivalent back in Jomtien. From the beach point of view, Da Nang's beach wins over Jomtien's BIG time, because: the seawater is much cleaner, the beach promenade is awesome and landscaped in a beautiful daily manner, the zones where you can rent a lounge to lay out on the beach are intentionally not crowded and the loungers that you lay on have thick mattresses and are luxurious, the restaurants and bar cafes are situated directly on the beach sand in an esthetically appealing manner. So, Da Nang from an economic and beauty point of view is a clear winner over Jomtien. Additionally, renting a motorbike and having access to the nearby mountains and nature - and the ease of only 15 minutes you are out of the city is truly very appealing. Also, I feel safer when I drive my motorbike here (even though the traffic can be more intense - because they fear to exceed the 40kmh speed limit) than when I drive my motorbike back in Pattaya - because the Thais just drive in a very crazy hi-speed reckless manner. However, when it comes to integrating with the locals - Jomtien is still the clear winner. Because Pattaya and Jomtien have so many gay venues; Boyztown, Jomtien Complex (aka Supertown), and the Dongtan gay beach - it is very easy to have gay contact and have gay entertainment. Unfortunately, here in Da Nang, it is quite difficult to make gay friends and to have the luxury to meet a gay (even if you pay him) to accompany you out for a night out. I sense that the local Vietnamese guys that I have had contact with in my 12 days here - they would not be open to walking around the city together or to go to bars and restaurants. Even when I visited the Q Bar here in Da Nang - the few Vietnamese customers were sitting together and all of the farangs were sitting with other farangs. I did not see the mixing that we have back in Jomtien / Pattaya. Could I live here full-time - YES - but I condition that YES on being able to integrate myself more with the local Vietnamese gays who are not afraid to be seen with an older farang out on the streets of Da Nang. The Vietnamese are VERY family oriented and it seems that as a consequence, very much in the closet. Perhaps, that would explain why so many hot sexy Vietnamese guys come to work as escorts in Thailand and NOT here in Vietnam. In closing, I still have more than 100 days here - so a lot can change - and that is why I do not like answering these questions too prematurely.....

I have similar feelings, which I am sure also stem from my parenting as a child to not waste food or money. It really irritates me when: - I take someone on a date, where I am paying, to a restaurant and they order tons of food, which they do not finish (at least 50% please) and say to me - oh I am just so full = อิ่มแล้ว 👿 - you call down a guy to sit with you and he orders a drink which he does not finish and gets antsy if you are not going to off him. Well at least finish the drink that I am paying for... It makes me feel used and not appreciated - as if I am wasting my time. - the person you are with is on social media almost the entire time. Why are we even spending snytime together? Fuck off and do your social media on your own time and don't waste my time = thank you!!

Wow, after reading this I have just now realized that the TOPS have it much easier - as perhaps the only pre-meeting requirement may be (if required) to pop a blue pill 30 to 60 minutes before sexual activities begin.

I think that they prefer the safety of the "walled garden" --> to avoid the fear of what is beyond and on the other side. The other thing that I don't like about the "walled garden" approach is that there is an inference that I am not intelligent enough to navigate the world outside without having my hands held. I want the freedom of, "the world is my oyster..."

What I saw in Twitter (X) was a meme supposedly published by someone from the Thai military and it sent shivers down my spine and I feared for Mr. Chamber's life. If this meme truly originated from a Thai military official it is quite alarming in my opinion.

perhaps it was a kiss from Optimus ?

Day 11 in Da Nang – 4 May 2025 I wake up to an email from my ex-Thai boyfriend where he shares with me some pictures of his new fruit salad shop in one of the Pattaya food courts. I was impressed, as it looks like he did a good job in creating his new business. He asks me to unblock him in , but I am not yet ready for that – as I need more time to heal. I follow some controversial Thai bloggers in Twitter (X) and they posted some opinion pieces about what is currently happening to the American university professor, Paul Chambers and related Thai military feedback. I won’t say anymore – but I find this entire issue fascinating as it reveals the inner dark workings about Thai politics. Around noon, I go over to eat my usual Bò né and salt coffee breakfast. Today is really hot and since I rented my motorbike for 3 additional days, I try to force myself to ride it in the heat. So, I decide to ride along the Han riverfront towards the HSBC ATM that has high withdrawal limits (10 million VND instead of 2 million VND). Unfortunately, as it is a Sunday, the ATM machine is out of physical bank notes – so I instead use nearby EXIMBANK ATM machine and I limited to a 2 million VND withdrawal (around 77 USD). I drive back to my condo and I visit for a refreshing cold coconut coffee with a decadent pandan coconut pastry. As it is still too hot to drive around on the motorbike I return to my room to relax a bit. Around 4:30pm, I venture out on the motorbike to get a good spot for the sunset up on the Son Tra mountainous hillside that overlooks Da Nang. Unfortunately, mother nature was not cooperating, as there are too many clouds in the sky to capture a breathtaking sunset. In the upper right you can barely see the Lady Buddha and the nearby Linh Ung Pagoda. The good news about today’s trip up into the mountains is that Da Nang has returned to its calm normal self (which makes driving a motorbike pleasant and enjoyable) – as the majority of the gazillions of people who were here for the 50th anniversary of the National Reunification celebration, have by now returned home (i.e., HCMC or HaNoi). This is when Da Nang is at its best – and I can say the same for Pattaya / Jomtien – because when there is a big holiday weekend, too many people venture out of smog filled Bangkok to come out to the seashore and then Pattaya / Jomtien suffers from all of the Bangkokian traffic that they bring. As a beautiful sunset was not going to happen I decide to venture up to near the InterContinental resort – where the road ends – as the views from that vantage point are also breathtaking. The air is fresh with a nice sea breeze sweeps the mountainside. I head back into the city before the darkness takes over and I pick up 2 Banh Mi baguette sandwiches to enjoy as my dinner later on. A friend sends me the blasphemous photo that President Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social account, and so I decide that tonight is the appropriate evening to watch the film, Conclave: I truly enjoyed this fictional papal thriller with all of its illuminating discoveries along the way. As the movie progresses you do not know what surprise is lurking yet to be discovered. And the ending is truly shocking but so apropos. The acting in my opinion is superb. Did any of you see this film? Did you enjoy it as much as I did? Furthermore, after living in Rome for 12 years, anything about the Vatican I almost always find fascinating. I moved to Rome in May 1999, and the local gay community was in a state of agitation with the Vatican because of the prior year’s 1998 murder of one of the Swiss Guard, his wife, and the suicide of one of the new Swiss Guard recruits – as it was covered up by the Vatican to hide the fact that these murders were related to a gay love story. As a newbie to Rome, I was so intrigued by what was going on with the regular gay protests that were occurring near the border with Vatican city on Via della Conciliazione. The below book, City of Sins, published in 2003, delves into this amazing coverup gay love story. It is a short easy to read fascinating book. Afterwards, I call it a night. End of day 11 in Da Nang – 4 May 2025

In all Western countries. Thank GOD Thailand does not put a 200% or 300% tariff on their illegal product that we all desire and cherish.

I think that he has 2 (two] "girlfriends". 🤩

Well here on the ground in Da Nang there are many Chinese, Indian, Russian, and European tourists. I asked AI the same question and it gave a different distribution picture. It states that there are many Koreans, but I don't sense that. When I was in Cebu, Philippines earlier this year, the South Koreans were everywhere, and they were the number 1 tourists in the distribution count. However, there were almost no Chinese in Cebu, because of the ongoing hostilities between China and the Philippines over the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Ironically, there is a similar hostility between China ad Vietnam over some islands, but yet there are many Chinese tourists here. Below is what the AI said about tourists in Da Nang:

When I lived in Italy for 12 years, I found the pronunciation of foreign (non Italian) cities interesting - especially when it might involve booking an airline ticket. For example: Monaco - as in the country, Monaco - as in the city in Germany known as Munich. so, you want to be quite sure which one is your true destination.