Lady Buddha
I've Found My Inner Value Through Helping Others
🎬 Sometimes the story keeps writing itself even after it ends – A behind-the-scenes moment is waiting at the end of this post, for The Secret Journey members only.
📍Hoi An, Vietnam
One morning in Hoi An, I found a particularly impressive coffee shop on my street. It immediately looked different from the other local coffee shops - its entrance is a large and impressive wooden door, the designed chairs and round tables outside create a European atmosphere, and the name caught my attention - Lady Buddha.
I peeked at the menu displayed at the entrance and immediately opened the heavy wooden door. I felt like I was entering a pleasant bubble designed with good taste. In the middle of a bustling city, I found an oasis.
You already know I have a weakness for coffee shops, especially unique ones, with a statement, with a clear atmosphere where someone here thought about the customer, someone here thought about me. I felt it from the first moment I saw the dark walls, the pink sofas, the paintings of Frida, the jewelry shelf, and I understood that I'm exactly the target audience of this place.
The pink tones complement the gray concrete so well, the lighting is just right, and maybe I'm biased, but yes, it turns out this is a factor that shouldn't be taken for granted - it has not one, but two air conditioners.
I ordered my cold coffee, and was surprised when I received a small silver tray with dried flowers and a cinnamon stick alongside my tall and hearty coffee cup. The modern design of the place and the kindness of the barista immediately made me feel at home.
The menu also winked at me with various types of tea, and desserts that sound like heaven in the mouth, including cheesecake with Dubai chocolate that obviously contains pistachio. I almost succumbed, but decided to save something for next time - I have a feeling I'll visit here a lot.
In conversation with the barista, she told me about the couple who own the place who came here a few years ago from Sweden, and on the table I found an explanation about their charity fund. They sound like fascinating people.
While browsing through the tea shelves and sniffing the scents with pleasure, I discovered combinations of roses and lychee, and guava and watermelon, so I understood I must return here to taste everything.
The next day, I came ready to taste the lychee tea, because those who know me know I have a weakness for this magical fruit. This time, too, the presentation captured my heart, and the taste was exceptional! I felt like I didn't want my tea to end.
This time I sat a bit with my laptop, and at one point a man approached me and asked how I was doing. I saw him walking around the coffee shop and immediately understood this was the owner - you can recognize that energy anywhere, with anyone who cares.
He introduced himself, and asked about me, and for almost an hour we sat together and talked. His story is simply fascinating! I might say this about many people, but here I found myself impressed by every detail he told me.
He owns several coffee shops in Sweden and helps disadvantaged populations in various countries. He and his wife wanted to leave Sweden and decided to move to Australia, to the Gold Coast, which is the most amazing place in Australia, but even after they received the visa and all approvals, they were there for three weeks and decided it wasn't for them.
They came to Vietnam, and a week later, COVID broke out, so they had to decide whether to stay there or return to Sweden before they closed the border. They decided to stay.
"Because people here needed help," he said, and I saw the intention in his eyes.
They stayed and helped businesses, especially in a city like Hoi An that's based on tourism - people here had no livelihood. The Vietnamese government gave them all the support they needed to stay here and help the population. They also brought additional people from Sweden to help, and when I heard his words, I felt my heart expanding.
Our conversation naturally moved to the topic of education when he told me about their children, triplets, currently ten years old, and how it changed his life when he became a father.
We talked about education, and he told me that when his children visit Sweden, they tell him that the children there aren't nice, and we agreed that children can be mean, and that it all starts with education at home.
I said that in my opinion, it's excellent that children get to grow up in other countries, because just as it broadens adults' horizons and changes our perspective, for children, it's even more important.
People think children need stability, but maybe they need more to know the world and learn to be better people, because that's what traveling the world does to the soul. You can't continue wandering and remain a fixed person, thinking dark thoughts, you can't remain indifferent; you can't not become a better person.
He said he couldn't agree with me more, and told me a story that gave me chills.
He told me that one day, when he went out in the morning to distribute food products to villages located in Vietnam's remote mountains, he saw a bag full of dolls at the entrance to the house.
He asked his children what it was, and they told him they had collected all the toys they no longer played with, so he could take and distribute them together with the food.
Even as I write this now, I get emotional. This is exactly what I meant to say.
"Wow. You should be so proud of them!" I said as I felt tears rising to my throat.
"Yes, absolutely, I so understand how important it is to show children the world and teach them values, because now I'm sure they'll grow up to be good people," he said, and melted me.
We continued talking about the coffee shop, and he told me the place itself has only been open for five months. He told me his wife is an interior designer, and she designed the entire place.
"You can see it!" I immediately jumped with excitement, "You can immediately see there's an advanced design eye here, and certainly of a woman," he agreed with a smile.
"It wasn't easy to explain to the Vietnamese workers what we wanted, but in the end it came out exactly as we wanted," he told me and described how he had to intervene in every design nuance because the workers simply didn't understand and weren't familiar with this type of design.
When I told him about my writing, he mentioned that his wife also writes a bit. I told him about Substack and about how you can generate income from it, about "buy me a coffee," and about the endless inspiration there.
"Wow, I didn't know that! My wife would be happy to meet you! She's looking for someone to talk to about writing, if you're interested, of course," he said excitedly.
"Sure! I'd be happy! I love talking about writing and would be happy to help her with what I can," I replied with a smile.
At that moment, something changed inside me. Before that moment, I hadn't thought of myself as someone who has knowledge that someone else needs. I remembered the conversation with the friend from Brazil who wants to write a book but doesn't know how to approach it - we sat by the sea for hours, and I gave her so many tips I didn't know I knew.
I understood that it's excellent for me to organize my thoughts and understand that during these years I've been writing, I've accumulated quite a bit of knowledge, and today I feel like I'm doing it quite professionally. So yes, I'd certainly be happy to help others, especially when it helps me improve my confidence, and understand deeply the value I can give.
Sometimes it takes one meeting with a complete stranger to understand things we didn't see in ourselves. In a world where we're all busy with comparisons and self-doubt, it's easy to forget that we have unique knowledge, experience we've gathered, and real value we can contribute to others.
The meeting with the owner of Lady Buddha didn't just introduce me to an amazing coffee shop - it reminded me that just as he and his wife do good in the world, each according to their ability, I too can share my knowledge.
And maybe that's exactly what the world needs - more people who remind each other that they have something beautiful to give.
This time, I'll also write notes for myself.
Your support helps me to continue experiencing new worlds and sharing them with you through my words. Sometimes, a single cup of coffee can make a difference.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
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