Today, I woke up around midnight. I woke up late because I was up until 5:00 a.m. yesterday. I woke up late, thinking it would be nice to take it easy for the first time in a while. Ryoke-chan said that his back hurts so much from the sunburn that it hurts to put on his clothes. I felt that the cost of a sunburn is really significant.

We ordered lunch and took our time. Today, I ordered a chicken and noodle set.

After that, we went to a local bookstore. We went there to buy some magazines. When we enter the bookstore, the security guard tells us to put our bags in the locker. We tried to buy the magazine I was looking for, but they didn’t sell any magazines. That surprised me, because there were Vietnamese translated editions of Sapiens.

Vietnamese slogan found while walking

Visit the Saigon Post Office, a colonial building designed by the same person who designed the Eiffel Tower!

We went to the Saigon Post Office. It seems to have been built during the French colonial period, and the architecture is French style. It was very beautiful. I was able to send a letter to my Russian friend there.

At Saigon Post Office

The exterior is very colonial.

I also bought a few souvenirs there. It was very hot, but the architecture was so beautiful and impressive. It was full of tourists and no locals at all. In the souvenir area, there was a collection of old Vietnamese banknotes.

Headed to a department store. Take a break there. Buy some sunburn remedies.

After that, we headed to a department store. Ryoke-chan said that doing laundry was a hassle and he wanted to buy inexpensive clothes and throw them away before we left, so we went there. We found ZARA and H&M, but I felt they were a little more expensive than in Japan. There was also a Daiso store, which I thought was great, but more expensive than in Japan.

Taking a break with Ryoke

Then we took a short break at a Japanese cafe called PABRO. It is a cheese store, so there was cheese cream on top of coffee. It was very tasty. After about 2 hours, it was already 6pm, so we went to a different department store to buy some clothes for Ryoke-chan at UNIQRO.

Central area of HCMC. Very beautiful.

Ryoke-chan’s skin was still very sore from the sunburn, so he also bought an ice pillow. The shopkeeper told us to go to a nearby pharmacy, so that’s where we went. We successfully bought some medicine to reduce skin inflammation.

A very scary experience. Go to the Japanese street at night in Vietnam.

Then we decided to walk to a Japanese town nearby. It was really like Kitashinchi in Japan, with many Japanese restaurants and many Japanese lanterns. There were also cabarets and massage parlors. To my surprise, there were a lot of girls.

I took pictures of the scenery of the city from various angles with my camera, and when I had a chance to take pictures of the massage parlor there, three girls outside yelled at me, “Don’t take pictures! and they took pictures of me with their cameras. I think they were probably trying to get back at me. Besides, I wondered if they would get my features with it, and if I showed up in the future, I would be defeated.

Japan Town in Ho Chi Minh City

I was very nervous and took a cab home as if nothing had happened. But although these thrilling things are fun, on the contrary, they made my heart beat too fast and stressed me out. It was very scary. I have a vivid imagination, so I imagine scary things like what if I get caught by the police afterwards, or what if I get tangled up with strange people.

Night Massage Parlor

At the very least, I would not go to a Japanese city. Still, I had a really scary experience. I still think that I shouldn’t take pictures of those places. But this was a good experience as a memorial. I thought I would never take it again in the future.

After that, I had a headache, so I took some medicine and relaxed. Ryoke-chan’s body is coated with medicine to prevent skin inflammation from sunburn. That was the day.