Suits, trousers, dresses, shirts and Harry Potter Robes - Fine Tailoring in Hoi An

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Granny and Grandad’s departure did not mark the end of our regular trips in and out of Yaly (our tailors in Hoi An). In fact it is a close thing as to whether we spent more time there or in our hotel while in Hoi An and remember the hotel had a decent and refreshing swimming pool! We ended up with 3 suits, 2 dresses, 9 shirts, 3 pairs of trousers and 2 pairs of Harry Potter robes between the 4 of us. Will our children be the only ones with bespoke hand made robes with a silk lining? Possibly, but they were cheaper than the ones in Marks and Spencer anyway. Look out Aunty Kirsten - there is a danger that a pair of boy wizards may make an appearance at your wedding! Jake was beaming when he received his, and one glance made Elliot determined to have a set too.

After G&G departed we spent the afternoon by the pool, in the tailors and in various cafes (actually that is not a bad summary of most of our time in Hoi An!) It is decidedly strange that after more than two years of almost never going out to cafes, bars and restaurants since leaving Sri Lanka we have been to several every day. Life is an endless stream of mocktails and fruit juices, hot and iced teas and coffees and the odd cake, pastry, ice cream or shared beer. Life in England is going to take some getting used to, and not only the weather.

The day after they left we hired automatic scooters (checked brakes and crash lids carefully) and had great fun nipping about in the traffic and out to the beach. After a swim in the sea, and a little reading and play we called into a beachside restaurant for lunch for the boys, and then raced a storm back into Hoi An, arriving moments before the deluge started. We had barely used up any of the petrol we had purchased, and managed to negotiate free use of the scooters for an hour the next day based on that. It was interesting that the bikes were again empty when we came to them, though they rapidly refilled from a plastic bottle. They obviously siphon the fuel off to leave them empty for every tourist.

On our final night in Hoi An we returned to Hai Café, the courtyard restaurant affiliated to the cookery school we attended where we had spent our last night with G&G. Again the food was excellent and the ambience delightful. We had noticed that during the day the streets had been quieter than usual and in the evening although they were busier, they were more beautiful even than usual, with no electrical street lights and houses and streets festooned with lanterns. There was some strange entertainment in the street outside which Elliot was enthralled by. It involved masked members of the public trying to hit a clay pot with a stick to cheers from the crowd.

When we had finished the meal we wandered down for a final look at the Japanese bridge which was equally lantern clad. It was exquisite but what really took our breath away was the river, calm under the glare of the full moon it stretched out as a silvery line, bejewelled with multi coloured paper lanterns, both on the usually lit up sacred animal statues, and just floating in the water. There were no motors in the old part of town, neither on the river nor even scooters on the streets, and instead a gentle procession of pedestrians on land and traditional rowed craft on the river, all carrying candle lanterns illuminated and animated the scene. Utterly bewitched we boarded one of these vessels and floated a small way up and back, the boys both laying lanterns on the water near the bridge.
Jake was as taken with the beauty of the scene we had witnessed as he had earlier been disgusted by the fish and meat markets, leading to an interesting discussion about appreciation of beauty and whether it is innate or acquired (Jake says a bit of both!) Sadly we had no camera, but Elliot has promised to produce a masterpiece so we can all remember it. We were already fond of Hoi An but this serendipitous discovery of their celebration of the full moon left us enchanted.

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Photos

Green linen with a striped shirt
Never find a tie to go with that.....(shame)

Enjoying cafe life
Banana Split to cool down!

Comments

[Chaz]

Joe you are always ...
smart! Thanks for the blog - what a great record of the trip. You are a wizard in your own right - a computer one. Ah well, Joe, back to the painting and it is not abstract expressionism. Take care, Joe, and best to the family, Chaz

[Joeandnicky]

Thanks again Chaz
Hope your painting is going ok - my worst painiting experience was the outside of our house on a wobbly and slightly too short ladder ended up standing scared on the top rung with nothing to hold on to. Hope whatever you are up to is not that unpleasant! Clearly strong chemicals in the paint though, I have never been accused of always being smart (other than a smart****!)

[Kirsten Hope]

the robes are very welcome at the wedding - after the official photos!