29/4/25
Overnight we managed to correspond with Microshift about the bar end shifter. Sending emails to the UK required us to message in the early hours. Fortunately their technical support considered it be a non issue providing it held the derailleur in place. Which it did. We still contacted a bike shop in Hanoi to organise a replacement. We figured it couldn’t hurt to have a replacement.
When we woke up we watched a film called the Incredible Life of Ibelin. It was a touching film about a young man who’d died young from a rare muscle disorder which caused him to deteriorate slowly. His parents thought he’d wasted his ‘life’ gaming on World of Warcraft. Not making any friends or having meaning relationships. But after he died all his online friends showed themselves and the indelible impact he’d had on them.
We took a stroll to nearby coffee shop. This time we managed to get some hot black coffee more easily. But just an espresso. Frankie ran across the street and found a tin of coconut milk. It wasn’t the same untainted brand we’d had in Thailand and Laos. It was sadly stuffed with emulsifiers.
We took a slow walk back past a little market. It was larger than we’d expected. The women manning the stalls were excited to see us. It was comforting to be so welcomed. We bought some tofu, cucumber, carrots and long beans. Jonathan succumbed to a watermelon.
We washed some more of our clothes. Then ate our lunch. We carried on watching Flight Attendant and then a film called A Real Pain. It was a film about two Polish Jews. Luckily it didn’t focus much on being Jewish.
After sending a message to check they were open we took another electric taxi into town. But Quay Sen restaurant had the shutters down when we arrived. It was 20 minutes from the other restaurant we’d been to so we made to walk. As we left we discovered the side gate was open and the woman was napping. She happily rushed into the kitchen and cooked up a storm. We didn’t have to order at all. Ideal. The woman was very kind. She kept coming back to the table to check we were happy.
Another swift ride back home and we spent the evening watching the Shield and eating our leftover rice. We couldn’t let go of mango, coconut milk and rice. It was too tasty. We ate our nuts and Jonathan ate an unreasonably large number of bananas. All the while planning our journey north for the next day.
Surly They Won't Make It 