First order of business in Hoi An: find a tailor. Second order of business in Hoi An: decide what you want to get made. If you have the money (and the room in your bags) this is super fun. But, I should probably mention I have an excellent seamstress for a mom among many other excellent seamstress aunts and cousins in my family. From poodle skirts for dance recitals to wedding gowns, my family has got it goin’ on. I’ve been a bit spoiled, and walking through Hoi An simply made me want to sew with my mom more than settle on a certain print/fabric and be able to strip down, try on right in the middle of sewing to make sure the fit was just right. It’s a little bit more of a process in Hoi An. My advice is to get to Hoi An knowing exactly what you want. It’s easy to get railroaded into getting things made that you don’t really need (or maybe even want) once you get there. If you bring pictures and have an idea of what fabric you want, you’ll be more likely to leave with something worth your while (and money)! Nevertheless, it’s still fun and it’s definitely worth it for the boys who want nice suits made on the fly (and if you go to the right place; on the cheap).
Finally (stomach issues be gone)! My first Vietnamese coffee of the trip. My favorite is the white coffee- with condensed, not fresh milk. Try it. It’s delicious.
Andrew can’t exactly buy off the rack like I usually can. He gets nearly half (maybe more) of his wardrobe tailored to fit his slim/long fit. He was on a mission to get a summer suit made, so I tagged along to all of the shops, and sometimes pretended I was going to get something made as well. That is, until they told me that an above the knee A-line cotton dress (without lining!) would cost $75.00! No. way. ThuThuySilk, you are a rip-off. Andrew was less than impressed as well when the first few shops we stopped in all priced men’s dress shirts at $38.00. His research online suggested he could get just as good of quality for a lot lower.
And then we went to Mr. Xe. Maxi dresses were only around $50.00 (which I thought was a good indicator of price) and men’s dress shirts were $18.00. Our aggressive salesgirl kept pushing for Andrew to buy a suit, but we decided to see how the shirt turned out first before he invested in a suit. Mr. Xe came out of another fitting, climbed up on a stool and went to work measuring Andrew. By this point, I was a little worn out from the “You come into my shop?” “You want a dress?” “Come in my shop!” and my ultimate favorite: “Buy something.” so I was intrigued when Mr. Xe (a man of little words) went to work measuring and then sent us on our way. I suppose he has a shop full of girls who are on the aggressive side for him, but he was a lovely break from it all. I’m also a huge fan of Project Runway and as Andrew was being meticulously measured, I imagined what it might be like if Mr. Xe was on the show.
Tailored out, we grabbed a Bahn Mi sandwich to share across the street and then meandered around until finding 1. a pair of hippie pants-that-turn-into-a-romper that I had to have, and 2. a row of cao lau noodle vendors along the river. We sat down on some teensy stools and ordered a couple of bowls. OhMyYum. I’ve never been a huge fan of mint in my food, but this addition to the noodle dish was perfect. It also didn’t help that we also got a dish of limes and a jar of chili sauce to add to taste. “I think this is would be my 회덮밥 (a raw fish salad with red pepper paste and rice meal that we ate at least once a week in Seoul) if we lived here.” Andrew said. I agreed, but didn’t want to talk about 회덮밥. (I miss it so!)
