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# Chapter 3. Local Food in Vietnam
"Language genius."
That was the catchphrase I came up with when I decided to travel around the world.
A catchphrase meant a clever phrase designed to attract someone's attention.
When I decided to become a YouTuber and started researching the field, I thought I needed my own unique strength that could appeal to YouTube viewers.
And that was how "language genius" was born.
Not only could I speak the languages of every country in the world fluently, but I could also read and write their scripts.
My ability was more than enough to call myself a language genius.
It was a little childish, but I really liked it.
"I didn't realize it before leaving, but now that I'm actually wearing a backpack and heading out on a trip, I'm incredibly excited."
My heart continued to race with excitement as I made my way to the subway to get to Incheon International Airport.
It had been five years since my last overseas trip.
And this wasn't going to be a short trip. I was planning to travel for at least six months.
I was more than a little excited about what kinds of things I would experience during my journey.
After getting on the subway, I saw quite a few office workers wearing suits and heading to work. Standing among them with a backpack and another bag strapped to my front and back made me look completely out of place.
Maybe that was why.
It was gradually starting to sink in that I had really quit my job and was actually going traveling.
[This station is Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 Station. The doors will open on the right.]
Thanks to taking the Airport Railroad, I arrived at Incheon International Airport in no time.
I looked at the countless people in the terminal.
The excitement of going on a trip was written all over their faces.
"Whew~ I'm really going on a trip."
Putting aside the excitement of traveling, I checked in, checked my backpack, and exchanged money before boarding.
Before I knew it, it was time to board.
I stood by the window and looked at the airplane. Compared to the other planes, it was rather small.
I waited in line and then boarded the plane.
A flight attendant greeted me brightly.
"Xin chào."
I answered in Vietnamese as well, and she smiled with her eyes.
Since the plane was small and had only one aisle, it was extremely crowded. People were trying to put their luggage into the overhead compartments, searching for their seats, or squeezing their way toward the back.
After somehow making my way inside, I found two young men who looked Vietnamese sitting beside me.
"Sorry. I'm sitting by the window, so I'll go inside."
After barely making it into my seat, I was about to film the view outside the window and say a few words to the camera when the person beside me spoke in slightly awkward Korean.
"You. You speak Vietnamese really well."
"You speak Korean well too."
"Come on, there's no comparison with you. You're incredibly fluent. How did you end up learning Vietnamese?"
"It just looked interesting, so I learned it."
I had never actually studied it, but I answered that way to avoid arousing suspicion.
His eyes widened at my answer.
"What? You learned it because it looked interesting? A-are you a genius?"
"Well, I might be a genius, haha."
He shook his head in disbelief.
The friend sitting beside him looked at me and asked.
"Can you only speak Vietnamese? Or can you speak other languages too?"
"I can speak all the languages of the countries I've learned."
"...Wow, that's insane. You're really crazy."
It was difficult to tell whether "crazy" was meant as a compliment or an insult.
So I showed him my channel and said.
"See this video? That's me. If you don't believe what I'm saying, watch it."
"Huh? Wait a minute. Wow, why does it have so many views? Are you a really famous YouTuber?"
"Whoa! It's an hour-long video, but it has fourteen million views?"
The two of them looked bewildered.
While the guy sitting by the aisle watched the YouTube video, the other guy sitting between us spoke up.
"My name is Huy. This guy is Nam. What about you?"
"I'm Han Minho. Just call me Mino."
"Mino? Anyway, are you traveling around Vietnam right now?"
"Yeah, that's right. I'm planning to travel around the world. That's why Vietnam is my first country."
"Have you ever traveled to Vietnam before?"
"This is my first time. Other than going to Germany five years ago, I've never traveled anywhere."
"Haha, someone who can speak Vietnamese fluently is actually visiting Vietnam for the first time? You're really interesting. Hehe. Ah, you're filming right now, aren't you? Make sure you upload this to YouTube later. I'm experiencing something so unbelievable in real life that my head is spinning."
I gave an awkward smile at his words.
Meanwhile, the plane began taking off.
Nam, who had been watching YouTube, switched his phone to airplane mode and spoke hurriedly.
"Huy, everything he said is true. I just watched the YouTube video for a moment, and there wasn't a language he couldn't speak. The expressions on the people's faces in the video were exactly the same as ours!"
Only then did he seem to believe me.
Unlike Huy, he had been quite skeptical.
Huy then looked at me and asked.
"What are you going to do after you arrive in Ho Chi Minh City?"
"Well, I don't have anything specific planned. Ah, right. I'm thinking about buying a used motorcycle."
I had only drawn the broad outline of my trip and hadn't planned the details.
I thought it would be more fun to arrive at each destination and decide what to do according to the circumstances.
"You're going to buy a motorcycle? What price range are you looking for?"
"Maybe three to four hundred dollars?"
I had set my total budget for this world trip at 20 million won, so I needed to keep my expenses as low as possible.
That was why I planned to look around as soon as I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City and find an inexpensive used motorcycle.
"Hmm. It feels strange for me to say this about my own country, but there are quite a lot of scammers here. They might sell you a motorcycle saying it's in good condition, only for you to find out that it's actually a complete wreck. Things like that happen all the time."
"I'm worried because I don't know much about motorcycles. That's why I was thinking about finding someone who could help me."
"Hmm, should I help you?"
There was no reason for me to refuse.
"Really? I'd appreciate your help."
"We met like this, didn't we? Of course I can help."
"Thanks."
"You don't have to thank me. I was genuinely amazed because of you just now. I can't believe a foreigner can speak Vietnamese as well as a local! It was seriously amazing!"
Huy was exactly as cheerful as he looked.
"Ah, is there anything else you want to do?"
"I want to look around the markets. I've heard that tropical fruits are cheap and delicious in Southeast Asia, so I want to check them out. Ah, and I want to try some local food too."
"Local food? Like what?"
"Well, anything is fine as long as it's Vietnamese local food."
"Don't most people start with pho?"
When you thought of Vietnam, the first dish that came to mind was undoubtedly pho, so of course I planned to eat pho too.
Going to Vietnam without eating pho?
That would practically be dereliction of duty.
I was even planning to choose the best pho during my travels through Vietnam.
However, for my very first meal, I wanted to try something unusual among Vietnamese local foods.
Huy grinned and began speaking.
"Really? You're saying you're okay with anything as long as it's something distinctive?"
"Yeah. Why? Is there a dish you want to recommend?"
"Hehe, of course. How about having dinner with us? If you go to a traditional market, there are street restaurants there. The atmosphere is great, and it'll be perfect for your YouTube video."
My ears perked up.
I could already picture it.
Vietnamese local food being eaten on a distinctive Southeast Asian street while motorcycles passed by.
"Okay. Let's give it a try."
"Great!"
We quickly hit it off.
It was also possible because I could speak Vietnamese fluently.
We continued chatting about this and that.
Most of our conversation consisted of personal stories.
As we passed the time, the plane gradually approached Vietnam.
I looked out the window and could clearly see the outline of the city.
Ho Chi Minh City came into view below us.
After the plane landed at the airport, we got off and were crossing the boarding bridge when I felt hot air mixed with damp humidity.
The tropical heat and humidity told me that I had finally arrived in Vietnam.
"I'll be on the first floor, so contact me when you come out."
After exchanging contact information with the two of them, I headed over to immigration.
I cleared immigration without any trouble, retrieved my backpack, and exchanged 100 dollars for Vietnamese currency.
It was much better to exchange money in the city, but I wanted to have some emergency cash in case I needed it.
Then I bought a SIM card and went outside, where I saw Huy and Nam.
"Mino, over here!"
The two of them were standing beside a car, and there was a woman I had never seen before sitting in the driver's seat.
After putting my backpack in the trunk, I sat in the passenger seat.
The woman in the driver's seat greeted me with a smile.
"Hi. I'm Truong. I heard you speak Vietnamese incredibly well. The guys wouldn't stop talking about it."
"Ah, you can just call me Mino. Nice to meet you, Truong."
"Wow, your pronunciation is really good. There are Koreans who can speak Vietnamese, but it's rare for them to have fluent pronunciation too. But you're so good that I think I could believe you were actually Vietnamese."
"Haha, thanks."
"Are one of your parents Vietnamese?"
I scratched my head and answered.
"No, neither of them is."
I knew she was asking because I spoke Vietnamese too well, so I could simply answer with a smile.
"Anyway, I heard you wanted to eat some local food?"
"Yeah, that's right. Huy said he really wanted to introduce me to something."
"Okay. I'll head out right away."
She immediately drove the car out of the airport.
I held up my camera and filmed the streets of Ho Chi Minh City outside the window.
The first thing that caught my eye was the motorcycles.
There were more than thousands of motorcycles weaving between the cars, to the point that calling Vietnam a country of motorcycles didn't feel exaggerated at all.
They looked like they could easily collide with one another, yet they moved so orderly that the sight was almost mysterious.
Meanwhile, I saw Vietnamese people naturally crossing the roads while avoiding the motorcycles.
Westerners wearing backpacks, on the other hand, were struggling to cross the streets because of the endless stream of motorcycles.
Before long, we arrived at our destination.
After parking by the roadside and getting out, I found that a traditional market was right beside us.
I took my camera and headed inside.
It felt similar to a traditional market in Korea.
There were vendors selling snacks at the entrance.
When I asked, they said they were mango bread.
Truong smiled and said.
"It's called mango bread, but there isn't actually any mango inside."
It was called mango bread because it looked like a mango.
As we went farther inside, we found street restaurants set up deeper in the alleys.
They were doing business with small tables and tiny plastic stools set up outside.
The closer we got, the more a pungent smell pricked my nose.
"You can sit here."
After taking our seats, Huy looked at me and asked.
"Have you ever eaten Vietnamese food before?"
"I've had pho and cha gio."
There were several Vietnamese restaurants in Korea as well.
But most of them served food that had been adapted to local tastes.
They mainly sold dishes that were already widely known.
"Hmm, you might not be able to eat this. Are you still willing to give it a try?"
"I've come all the way here. Of course I should try it."
When I answered confidently, he went to order the food and came back.
I looked at him and asked.
"What is the name of the dish?"
"It's called bun dau mam tom."
I immediately understood the meaning.
"Bun" meant thin noodles, "dau" meant tofu, and "mam tom" meant shrimp paste.
Someone sitting nearby was eating bun dau mam tom, so I glanced over.
They were wrapping fried tofu, noodles, herbs, boiled pork, and offal in rice paper before dipping it into a fish sauce with a faint reddish-brown color.
The mam tom sauce came first.
Following Huy's instructions, I added lime, sugar, and chili and stirred it until it became foamy.
The pungent smell continued to assault my nose.
While I prepared the sauce, noodles, fried tofu, boiled pork, offal, and pig's head meat were brought to the table in a bamboo basket.
I placed the various ingredients onto a sheet of rice paper and rolled it up.
Then I dipped it deeply into the mam tom sauce I had prepared myself.
Before taking a bite, I looked at the camera and said.
"I'm at a street restaurant Huy introduced me to. Apparently, this is a local Vietnamese food called bun dau mam tom. I'm going to give it a try."
What would it taste like?
I was half excited and half worried.
I brought the rolled rice paper toward my mouth, then discreetly glanced around.
Good grief.
Was it because it was unusual to see a foreigner eating bun dau mam tom?
The locals around me were staring directly at me.