Tobias, a visitor from Canada, is surprised to see that Vietnamese can bring food from one restaurant to another to eat.

Tobias Bremner, 28 years old, is from Canada. At the end of 2019, he decided to move to Da Nang to live and teach English. While living in Vietnam, he noticed a number of interesting differences in food culture.

The most favorite Tobias's dish in Vietnam is bread. He thinks that the bread has the look of Western cuisine, French baguettes and Vietnamese flavors. "A perfect fusion of Eastern and Western culture," he said.

Tobias has his own 4-5 bread shops. Whenever he has the opportunity to visit Hoi An, he likes to eat at the famous bakery Madam Khanh. Seeing that customers often buy bread and sit down at the smoothie shop next door, Tobias was surprised to know that it was posible to do it in Vietnam.

Curiously, he tried this method. "Now every time I come here to buy sandwiches, drop by smoothies and dine there. Bread and smoothies are the best combination," he said.

According to Tobias, in Canada, people are not allowed to bring food and drinks from outside into the restaurant. Because this is often considered to cause cross-contamination of food, causing food poisoning. "In my hometown, I can't bring sandwiches from the outside into the smoothie shop. I have to stand outside to finish eating the cake before getting in," he said.

Another difference is the coffee drinking culture. He assumed that most of Vietnamese people like to sit for a long time at a coffee shop, sip coffee, chat or use the phone. At first, he was surprised by this. "In Canada, we usually buy a cup of coffee and take it home or to work. Coffee is seen as a catalyst for alertness, not a place to chat or meet friends. Young people. often do not sit back at cafes, only the elderly or the retired people sit for a long time"

Since living in Vietnam, Tobias said that going to the coffee shop has become a daily routine of him. After lunch, he often goes to his favorite coffee shop, orders Cafe sữa đá (coffee with milk and ice) and brings a book to read.

"I love the Vietnamese coffee drinking culture, love the taste of Vietnamese coffee. It makes me excited to be able to sit and relax and do nothing for many hours," he said.

In addition to teaching English, Tobias has a hobby of driving a motorbike to many provinces in Vietnam to learn and explore culture.