So my birthday started off with my team wishing me a happy birthday at exactly midnight as we rode in a taxi back to our hostel. When we returned, we all turned in for the night and then the fun started…
First on the agenda for the day, after breakfast of course, was to call home and talk with my parents!!! It was so nice to talk with them and catch up on news and share stories. And I was finally able to open the present I have been carrying around for the last 5 months. My favorite part of the present was the video message from people back home. It was so nice to see people’s faces and know that I treasured all of the birthday wishes.
Then I just hung out for a bit. As we were leaving the next day, I did some small organizing things and even started packing my day pack…Yay!
After lunch, Jeni, Victoria and I decided to head out and see a museum. We decided to check out a museum. As there are 4 different museums in Da Nang, it was a hard choice, but in the end we decided to visit the one that was the closest to our hostel, the Chem museum. So we hopped on our bikes and peddled our way across the dragon bridge and to the museum. It was very interesting as many of the pieces were stone work that had been recovered all across Southern Vietnam. Some of the plaques were in English, which was even nicer!!!
After we had walked through the museum we decided to go check out a cafe that I had been wanting to visit all month. So we hopped back on our bikes, looked up a map and began the trek over to the Keys Cafe!!!
I am sure you all can guess as to why I wanted to visit this cafe, but just in case you can’t, I will enlighten you all. My last name is Keys and in all of my travels I have not stumbled across something that has borne my name (first or last) so when I saw the name of the cafe on trip adviser, I was very excited!!! It was the cutest little cafe. They had a wall of quotes and a variety of games laying around for customers to play. The drinks were really good aw well. I ordered a blackcurrant yogurt smoothie and it was AMAZING! So good.
After the Keys cafe, we hopped on our bikes again and began making our way across the city towards the restaurant I had decided on for dinner. If you know me, then you know that decisions do not come easily, but after considering my many options from around Da Nang and talking with customers were we were volunteering this month, I finally decided on a Japanese place. It was the best choice I have ever made. We walked in to the restaurant and it was so cute. We were taken upstairs and we got to sit on the floor like in a really authentic Japanese restaurant. It was so cool!!!
So since I have turned a year older and I am on this amazing adventure, I decided to live a little and try something new…Sushi! Yes, I said sushi. I ordered the Roast Beef sushi (so the meat was cooked) and it was good. And I am sorry I forgot to take a picture of the food but here is my empty plate after I enjoyed every bite of the sushi rolls!
And to spice up the evening a little more, Victoria, who was sitting next to me, had ordered a Spicy Tuna Sushi, which she couldn’t finish. She offered one to me and I took her up on it. Her sushi had raw tuna and fish eggs…so to say the least I was very adventurous in my food choices this birthday! (In case you were wondering, it was also very good!)
After dinner we hopped back on our bikes and rode back to the hostel, but on the way we decided to stop and enjoy the last glittering view of Da Nang as we walked our bikes across the Dragon Bridge.
Oh, but the night did not end when we returned to the hostel, for as I walked through the door I was greeted with a resounding HAPPY BIRTHDAY from my wonderful team and the amazing hostel staff and owner. And come to find out it was the owner’s birthday as well, so I have another birthday buddy!
He then insisted on taking us to see the Lady Buddah, as it is the number one attraction in Da Nang, so while the rest of the team piled into his car, I hopped on the back of one of the hostel girl’s motorbikes and enjoyed my last ride on a motorbike in this country.
Suffice to say, it was a wonderful day filled with many adventures and lots of laughter, love and fun. I can not thank my team enough for making the day so special. I really enjoyed my birthday and I think I will be hard pressed to have a better one next year 🙂
So thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes! It was truly a wonderful birthday.
