Day 8 - Hoi An - Tailor City

I would recommend that this is the place to go for a hen party, this is heaven city for a bunch of girls, with all the tailor shops its just so amazing.

The previous night, we went to a restaurant and had a Vietnamese cooking class, we all sat at the table and she talked us through cutting the veg etc and then putting it in the pan to boil etc, we made:
Pumpkin Soup - gorgeous
Spring rolls - gorgeous
Papaya salad - gorgeous
fish with a lemongrass paste on it - fish good, paste not so good

I had to heat the banana leafs (this fish went in that to cook) over the gas hob, i kept burning it instead of heating it, and i wasnt particularly great at cutting and grating the veg either.

The girl (Hin) who did the cooking class was lovely, earlier on in the day she had taken us around the market and showed us how to pick the best fruit and veg. She was telling us how she was 21 and her family lived in the countryside and she had come to the town Hoi An and had learnt to cook and was now doing these cooking courses, and she had put her older brother and younger sis though uni and school, she was now saving up to buy herself a scooter. She lived on the floor of the restaurant and worked 7 days a week.

Today was our first day of stalking the shops trying to get our clothes and shoes. Ive dropped my black knackered shoes off at a shop and they are going to copy them for me for 12 quid. The next stop was at the Yale Tailors, we have been told these are very good but slightly more expensive. Simon wanted a suit though so we went into here and you then get given books and books of pictures from next catalogues, fashion mags. Simon seems to know what hes looking for so he was happily trawling through the magazines with the help of Carol the asian girl helping him. They all have english names, my girl was called Angela. Simon picked an Italian Cashmere Grey material for his suit, i didnt like the colour but Si and Carol were adament it was the right colour. I being the quantity over quality picked a black polyester material knowing that yep i might be buying a suit but its not the only thing im going to get made. After being measured and photographed we was told to come back in a couple of hours for our first fitting.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to go out on bicycles. Simon didnt go as he didnt feel so good, and he wanted to go for his first fitting on his suit instead of waiting until the morning. I went but i hired a scooter and a driver like Amber and Carmel, as i was still getting over my cold. Anyway the first stop was at an Orphanage, they asked if we could bring some toys so me and Simon bought a football and as soon as i walked into the orphanage a little boy spotted it and started looking at me with his soppy eyes. He got the ball in the end and we all had a quick game in the yard, it was defo the right pressie to buy so i was really pleased. Going through the orphanage was something i was initially worried about as i had visions of the orphanage pictures from Romania, and while it was bad it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be, there was kids playing in some of the rooms. The room full of the disabled kids was a strange room as it was full of cots and a lot of kids that were disabled, it also had a little baby 4 weeks old that had been left outside and had still not even been named.

After the orphanage we went out of Hoi An into the countryside and was showed around the fields where they grow the food for the whole of Hoi An, we then cycled past 100's of little ducklings that reminded me of the lymm easter duck race, then past a boy on the back of a water buffalo. Im gonna have so many memorys. Sue annoyed me at this stage cos i asked if she could carry my water bottle in his basket, as i was struggling on the scooter trying to hold on to the girl over the bumpy path and video the buffalo. She said no as it would mean she would have to carry it, Erika heard this though and shouted ' i will carry it' i love Erika.

Before we set out Kim asked us if we would mind buying some rice to give out to some of the poorer families, so this was our next stop at these 2 families, the women was lovely, if we took a picture of her with the camera she would then want to see it and would start laughing her head of about it, and try and show it to her friends. She also had the cutiest puppy. I then had to hand over the rice to her, Kim seems to inadvertedly always ask me to hand over either the tips and things to people.

After that we got a boat back to the Hoi An, and was able to watch the sunset.
In the evening we all went of to the Mermaid Restaurant and over to Eden for a drink and a quick nosy at the Karoake. We went up to the 3rd floor and asked could we have a look. Karoake to me is a bar full of drunk people making a fool of themselves, in Vietnam it is about having little rooms with sofas and a big tv and lots of snacks in the middle of the room. very very strange. Speaking to Kym though about it and he said there is 2 types of Karoake in Vietnam - mouth or by hand. Ie, Karoake by hand is another word for a brothel.

Im loving Vietnam, and im loving the people, as you ride through the little villages the kids will run out and all say Hi, i dont however, like the fact that because Amber is a big girl you can see that they laugh and want to touch her, which is partly because she is big but partly because she is so white. To the women being pale is a beautiful thing and you see them on the streets covering themselves up so as not to catch a suntan.