cafe green bit 27 đường vòng
I'm here truly by accident.
Today I had meant to head out to find a cat cafe described to me by one of my students. The address I was given, 15 Nguyen Cong Tru, didn't make sense, so I kept heading up the street. I figured I'd get back onto a street I knew and head into the city centre from there. Instead, my road popped out onto Ho Sen Lake, an area of Haiphong I've been meaning to explore. A circle around the lake brought me here, to Green Bit.
On the outside, I'm reminded of a hipster type bar, with lots of plants and a second level terrace. Inside, it feels like an English fisherman's cottage. The walls are white and brown wooden beams run along the ceiling.
"Where are you from?" the waiter asks me after I order a coconut coffee. I tell him I'm from Australia, and he just smiles. As I sit down, Somebody That I Used To Know begins playing. He shoots me a cheeky grin.
There's only three other people in here, but it is 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon. There's a couple sitting at a window seat, and a younger man across the cafe. He reeks of weed. I know this because, for whatever reason, he decides to sit next to me.
"Hello tay," he says. "What's your name?”
My name is Piss Off. "Kate," I say.
"Where you from?”
Where you not listening earlier, mate? "England," I say, in my best Australian accent. Eyyynglaaahhhn.
"Do you have husband?”
I hold up my hand, thanking my decision to wear jewellery today. It's a cheap silver ring. "Yes. His name is William." His brother's is Harry. His grandmother is Queen Elizabeth. Piss off.
"Oh." He doesn't look deterred. "Do you have boyfriend?”
It's at this point I get ready to level my crude Vietnamese swears at this man. It's also at this point that my coffee arrives.
**
My coconut coffee is nothing special. That's often the way it is in Vietnam. It's all good, not great. Don't stand out.
I down it in a few sips and go to pay (25,000vnd). I don't really feel like sticking around.
Tam Biet, Green Bit.