Self Help Guide: How to get out of a rut

# Go outdoors

I think the sun and nature is the best pick-me-up. Physically stepping out of the house or the office signals a change in sensations and can bring the mind away for a bit. For me, it works best when I stop listening to music and listen to everything around me. Being plugged into my earphones blocks everything out and I stay in the miserable state. People watching or just observing everything as it passes shift my attention away from myself, giving me a break from yourself.

# Make a to-do list

It’s very overwhelming to have your mind racing at 150km/h, with so many things you want to do, but at the same time feeling lost because you don't know where to start. Write everything down (whether it’s a very small errand or a light bulb moment for a new project), this gives your mind some clarity when it’s something tangible – a list. You can organise those points in order of priority, and complete them one by one. It’s very satisfying and fulfilling to cross off a task on a list and it also provides visible progress, so you know how far you are until completion.

Tip on list making: break each point up into smaller chunks so the task won’t seem as daunting.

Where to eat in Da Nang, Vietnam

Da Nang is a very nice place to be, unfortunately it was monsoon season when I went so I was forced to stay indoors. This gave me the perfect opportunity to discover different eateries around Da Nang and I'm really excited to share them with you. 

Quirky Café - Cong Caphe

A popular café in town that is communist themed, a must-go if you are planning to visit Da Nang. Decorated with army-green hues and bright red floral prints, Cong Caphe really creates the communist, dingy atmosphere, very unique. Don’t forgot to try their coconut cream coffee, it’s really refreshing!

Address: 96-98 Bạch Đằng, Hải Châu 1, Q. Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Authentic local cuisine - Ba Duong

We found this place on TripAdvisor as it claimed to have the best Bahn Xeo (sizzling crepe). Bahn Xeo is basically a rice crepe with pork, shrimps, bean sprouts added to it. You eat it by creating a wrap with Vietnamese rice paper, lettuce, pork skewers, and other vegetables/herbs. You then dip it in this fragrant satay-like sauce and just eat the whole thing in one bite. It’s kind of a mess to assemble but, trust me, it’s worth the hassle (the lady had to demonstrate it once for us). Personally, the Bahn Xeo itself didn’t really stand out for me, but the pork skewers combined with the herbs and sauce was THE BOMB. There are plenty of Bahn Xeo places around town, we just happened to go to this one, so you can have a look around.

Address: 280/23 Hoàng Diệu, Bình Hiên, Q. Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Quality food and great atmosphere - Madame Lan

A proper restaurant you can put on your list if you want to try authentic Vietnamese food but is a bit skeptical about eating at hawker stalls. It’s nicely decorated and has a wide range of food choices (you know you won’t have an upset stomach after this). Although it's a proper restaurant, prices are still considerably low. I was a bit more adventurous with my choices (with hygiene not being an issue) and discovered my love for Banh It Tran (sticky rice dumplings). It’s chewy and has so much flavour from the minced pork and beans inside… and that garlic-infused oil/sauce on top. Mmmmm, I’m salivating just thinking about it because, to this day, I have not seen it in any Vietnamese restaurants. You have to give this a try!

Address: 4 Bạch Đằng, Thạch Thang, Hải Châu, Thạch Thang Hải Châu Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

A nice place to chillax - Golem Coffee Da Nang

This was actually an unexpected find. The entrance is a narrow alley, which leads into a half-open space that feels like your own backyard. We weren’t hungry at the time so just ordered coffee. The café takes on a rustic, industrial vibe, repurposing wooden doors as coffee tables and armchairs, barrows as stools and benches into hanging chairs. It’s definitely a good place to chat and just appreciate the creativity put into the café.

Address: 27 Trần Quốc Toản, Hải Châu 1, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

How can you ‘pho-get’ - Pho Stall

You have to stop by a pho stall and try Pho in Vietnam.  See how it’s different from pho in your own country. The pho place I went to had pho with a raw egg in it and both raw and cooked beef. It was a good experience.

Address: Q. Hải Châu, 62 Ngô Gia Tự, Q. Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng, Vietnam

I'm planning to go travel back to Da Nang and Hoi An again (not during monsoon season), let me know if you have any recommendations, I would love to try!

Hope you are well.

Love,

Vivien

Four Summer Skincare Must-haves

I’ve had a very busy summer travelling here and there, especially to tropical, beachy destinations. To save my skin from the piercing sun, I’ve used these products religiously and I’m happy to say that I came back with better, healthier-looking skin. So this is what saved my skin:

ANESSA Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk

A holy grail item right here! I cannot recommend this sunscreen enough, I’ve recommended this to my girlfriends with passion (cut to me shouting at the drug store with excitement). This sunscreen is great for beach and outdoor holidays. It's very water resistant (I could still feel it after swimming) yet feels so light on the skin. Contrary to common belief, it doesn't have that powdery feel (most water proof sunscreens do) when applied, it felt like applying a light gel and very quickly absorbs into the skin. They called this product ‘skincare milk’ because they claim that it contains 50% skincare ingredients to calm, moisturise and repair the skin. Personally, I didn’t see any visible different before and after using the sunscreen, but it does feel moisturising when applied and I never felt gross at the end of the day. Another great feature is their ‘Aqua Booster’ technology, claiming that when in contact with sweat and water, the product provides stronger protection (kinda gross if you think about it, but if it enhances the strength, it’s fine by me). Again, I wasn’t able to test this out with controls but despite being under the 35 degree sun at noon on the beach, I didn't get sunburnt or horribly tanned.

Click here to find out more! (YOU NEED TO GET THIS!)

La Roche Posay Serozinc Spray

I have already used La Roche Posay products for years now, particularly their line targeted for acne-prone skin. This was a wonderful discovery. Like most thermal water sprays, it soothes and calms the skin. It feels great to mist over your face after a full day under the sun. Also, it contains an active ingredient: Zinc sulfate, which helps with skin repair and renewal and also modulates inflammation. This product really does calm my active acne. After using this as a toner, my skin feels less inflamed, the number of blackheads and pumps also decrease after a week of consistent use.

You'll be able to buy it here. 

How to get to the Blue Grotto in Capri || EATALY Vol. 3

When I did my research, the information was quite confusing, so I thought I’d make this to help y’all out. Blue Grotto is definitely worth going to but as it’s located on the west side of Capri, it does take some research to figure out a way to get there.

Getting on the island.

Now this is the easy part. You can take a ferry from a lot of places: Sorrento, Naples, Amalfi, Positano etc. We took the ferry from Sorrento and it was 20 euros, round trip. Once you get to the porto at Sorrento, you will see a mob of people queuing for tickets (so don’t worry). The people will put you on the latest ferry to Capri and they would also give you the return ticket with a return time printed on it. I didn’t take that exact ferry back and saw some other people take earlier ones back, so I don’t think it really matters. As long as you make it before the last one.

Check the ferry schedule here to plan you trip ahead of time.

Getting to the grotto.

There are a few ways you can do this. A, take a tour boat straight to the grotto (well just outside of it), you board the boat straight after you get off the ferry and it brings you straight there. Or B, take the bus across the island to the entrance of the grotto (which was what I did). Now, A is definitely a fuss-free choice: you pay the money and save the hassle, but prices for that tour could range from 14euros to 160 euros (according to TripAdvisor). You wouldn’t need to book in advanced as tour companies would come to you while you’re on the ferry anyway. I didn’t go for this option as it costs more and I wouldn’t have the chance to look at other parts of Capri (it was only a day trip, I was on a time crunch).

Lo and behold! This is how we went to the grotto spending less AND saw most of Capri:

Coffee Culture in Italy || EATALY Vol. 2

Standing coffee
Coffee culture is slightly different in Italy. Coffee is more of a quick fix, a shot of quality caffeine. As we were people watching at a local cafe, we realised that people come in for an expresso, down it within 4 minutes and leave…quite different from our coffee breaks or coffee dates on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Normally at a café, there would be a bar area and a seating area, most locals stand at the bar to have their drinks (or meals even). This could be because drinks at the bar costs half as much as ‘eating in’, so if you’re not planning to stay for a couple hours, it would be a smarter choice just to stand.

Coffee means business

I have been to a fair amount of coffee shops and ordered some lattes. The great anticipation of a graceful swan spreading its frothy wings to cover that expresso shot…was no where to be seen. Instead, was milk being aggressively combined with coffee and served at the bar. I realised I have made a huge mistake… Italy was only famous for its coffee, not for its latte art. I then, disappointedly, did some googling and found that Latte art was in fact invented and popularised in the U.S. Lesson learnt, I guess Italians really focus on the taste of coffee and less on the aesthetics.

Try something new

Coffee in Italy is generally quite nice, at any place really. You may find many more coffee variations (ones that you might need to google to find out what it exactly is), be adventurous and try some out. I ordered a Caffe D’orzo, a roasted barley drink that's caffeine-free (yes, I frantically googled it before reaching the till). It had a slight coffee taste, like very weak coffee. This is a drink made in the expresso machine (like you would making normal coffee), so I’m not sure if it was the residual smell from the expresso machine or if it was what the drink actually tasted like. All in all, I was happy I tried something different.  

Hit up this café in Rome if you’re looking to experience Italian coffee:

Antica Caffe Greco

06 679 17 00

Via dei Condotti, 86, 00187 Roma RM, Italy

(It’s right next to the Spanish Steps)

Hope you are well. 


Love,

Vivien