Happiness in Hoi An

---

Finally, a sleep in and up at 7am. No rushing and no packing. We did some washing by hand yesterday and it was all dry this morning due to my chinese laundry system of hanging clothes from windows, travel clothes lines, rails, backs of chairs etc. After breakfast, Bobby needs some more sleep so he sleeps, I blog and Brendan finally starts reading the LP guide. He also gets around to telling me that he was propositioned in the street yesterday. A bloke grabbed his arm and asked "you want girl?". He slapped the guy's hand and told him to f#*k off. Good job we are slumming it in a double bed tonight (refer previous post).

Brendan and I set off down the street while we left the boys to their own devices, namely their ipods and the pool with scantily clad twenty somethings.. We didn't get very far before we noticed a spectacle shop and were gobsmacked at how cheap they were. The part that excited me even more was the great range of frame styles and colours, much better than anything I've seen at home. The free eye test was whether we could read the gigantic "Donga Bank" across the road or not. Just kidding, the bank really is called Donga but they went to a bit more effort than that. I always bring my script when travelling anyway in case they get broken or if it's very cheap to buy.

The place we had dinner at yesterday recommended a good tailor which was probably her sister or cousin, but seriously, how else are going to decide which tailor to go to in the Tailor Capital of the world with over 600 to choose from? Brendan ordered a suit and was told he needed a two vented suit for his sexy bum, which is polite for 'big arse'. Wait until the tailor gets to my boobs. I ordered 3 dresses and a top. Whilst the outfits weren't exactly cheap i.e. It would be what we'd spend at home for a dress, but I was prepared to pay as it is really difficult for me to find a style that suits my figure, and even if do, there is never enough material to amply cover my boobs. We spent quite some time choosing fabrics, getting measured up and bargaining. The Vietnamese people are very touchy, feely, or at least the sales people are when they grab your hand, don't let go and look at you with those doleful, pleading eyes. The thing with the tailor sales people is that they touch you where ever the hell they like and Brendan was enjoying every minute of it. We must've been gone for a couple of hours and thought we'd get back to the teenage boys before they starting eating their own arms off. A couple of hours for a teenage boy is the equivalent to two days for a normal person, so we made sure we came back laden with biscuits and lenty of other snacks and the obligatory 2 litres of water. Everytime we went into a shop with the boys yesterday, we were told how lucky we were having two boys. They also couldn't believe Youngest Born was just 12 last month as the ladies spanned the length of him before resting on his ginormous size 13 feet and then commenting on that.

Back at the hotel we rested for a few hours and then swam in the pool which was huge. At about 4pm we headed off back into the Old Town and went to a Baguette shop which the lady from last night's dinner recommended. From the front it looked like any other local eating place. Not the sort that tourists frequent so perfect for me. It was obviously very popular as their were a constant stream of customers rocking up on their motor bikes and bikes getting served. Gives a whole new meaning to 'drive through'. The fillings were typically Vietnamese and very tasty. We also had banana pancakes and 6 drinks including two mango lassis which set us back a whole $10 our cheapest meal so far. I am also becoming very complacent as the Lassi had heaps if ice in it, but so far so good... I pretty much have an iron stomach. From there we wandered around the old town and bought 5 T shirts for the kids and a couple of silk/cotton tops for about $50. Buy this stage it was turning dusk when all the lanterns were creating a beautiful romantic atmosphere, if it wasn't for the hoards of tourists. Of course, when it was totally dark, we crossed the bridge and I took some stunning pictures of the old buildings and the lanterns reflected in the water. Hoi An certainly is the street photographer's paradise and I'm having a ball!

---