Shoppers Anonymous

Hoi An, Vietnam

So I spent a total of 7 days in Mui Ne and part of me wished that i never left, I've had such a great time there, kite surfing thanks to Louis and just hanging out because of...well because of pretty much everyone (louis, drew, steve, wouter, ross, trish, liu and the family at Lham Thom, tony, and everyone else) in Mui Ne. It's funny how quickly you can grow an attachment to a place...

Any way I told myself i had to keep on moving so I took the bus to Nha Trang the beach resort/party town where i had to stay overnight in order to catch a flight to Hanoi ($40 bucks versus $5 was worth not having to travel by bus for 12 hours and lose a day). Now i'm in Hanoi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It's quite pretty here, very quaint, but lots of tourists and lots of shops. i mean street after street of tailor shops, shoe shops, lantern shops, lacquered pottery shops, just row after row of beautiful things.

Now that i'm here i need help, just take a look at my schedule for today

9:00am - first order at Nhi Trung Tailor shop - 1 casual skirt suit ($35), 1 dress ($22), 1 top ($8), 1 pair of pants ($10)

11:00am - first fitting with the Ha, the gay guy who guilted me into letting him sew me a top (silk blend $7)...let's just say there will definitely have to be a second fitting

12pm - first fitting at the very elegant Yaly tailor shop where i've ordered an off-white summer suit(linen $65) - not bad... told them what i wanted fix and will see them tomorrow.. not before i of course ordered a button down.. hey if it's good i'm ordering more - at $10 a pop why not! The big question is do I get a proper suit made here or do I wait until Dubai.... any advice? (Cashmere/Wool blend suit $100)

1:30pm - at the internet cafe now, need to get a quick bite to eat and decide whether i want anything else made at Nhi Trung.. maybe another skirt, some pants, a few tops....

3:00pm - I've got my second fitting with Ha, regardless of how it turns out don't think i'll be getting anything else made...2 tailors are enough!

4:45pm - meet up with claire and shane (2 ozzies i met in Mui Ne) so they can show me where they've got their 15 or so pairs of shoes made... this is going to get really interesting

8:00pm - back to Nhi Trung for my first fitting

9:00pm - pass out from exhaustion.

And it all starts again tomorrow...

Oh also have been trying some great food..Sunday night about 30 of us went into Phan Thiet for the festival and went to a Ban Xao (sp?) place. Basically these little savory pancakes with bean sprouts and shrimp you place in a soup bowl, add to it some mint/basil/leaves that they give you and 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of a sweetened fish sauce based broth... so good! The great thing about this place is that it's the only thing on the menu!

Hoi An is known for its cao lau (doughy noodles with croutons, been sprouts and greens, shredded pork in a broth that is made out of water from the Be Le Well), fried wantons, and white roses (small steamed dumpling with shrimp) - most of the restaurants have pre-fixed menus with 4 dishes for $2!!! I have a feeling that all this stuff I've got made will have to be taken in once I get home :)

For those of you waiting on pics, I'm sorry but internet is crap here and to upload 10 pics takes like 3 hours so you'll have to bear with me until i get to Hanoi

hope all is well
xoxo
bg