Hoi An

Beautiful little town on the river with neat colonial architecture, beach and Cham ruins nearby, and about a brazillion tailors that will make you a custom-fit suit for a fraction of what it would cost in the states. People actually vacation here just to get themselves a new wardrobe. I gave in and had some SWEET silk Illini loungewear made. Orange smoking jacket w/navy trim & belt, navy pants. Just like Hef, my fellow Illini. All I need is a brandy snifter in one hand and my remote in the other. The people in Hoi An were terrific, and I met a lot of cool people from other countries as well - not many Americans, however. Australia and Germany were well-represented (as has been the case in other places I've been as well), along with France, Denmark, Sweden, Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, and Peru.

One of my favorite incidents took place over a bowl of Cao Lau, a fantastic dish unique to Hoi An. The hotel across the street from the restaurant where I was eating had just put up a Christmas tree. My waitress was standing near me and started singing "zingle bells". She only knew the first two lines and then hummed the rest. I started singing it along with her, and she clapped and ran off to the bar. She returned with a pen and paper and asked me to write down the lyrics so she could learn the rest of the words. I did so, and when she kept getting tripped up on "one horse open sleigh", I drew her a picture of said horse and sleigh. She went over and over the song at least a dozen times, then went out to a Brit couple sitting on the front patio and started to sing it to them. Poor girl, the husband didn't want to hear it. Laughing, he told her to knock it off, as he hated the song. She looked at me for support, and I told her to keep singing. So she finished, and then sang it a second time just to rub it in. She then taped my scribbles on the wall behind the bar.

Anyhow, it's a pretty town:






This was in an excellent bar/restaurant called Before-n-Now. Dollar Tigers, good food, and a playlist heavy on Led Zeppelin and Johnny Cash.


Making a living on the river


Sometimes the tides messed things up a bit


I also took a wonderful cooking class. We made our own fresh rice paper, spring rolls, Vietnamese pancakes with shrimp & pork, and eggplant & veggies in a clay hotpot. The class started with an early morning trip to the local market:






Some sort of insect-based snack. I think I heard someone say they were some kind of bee.


Yikes!


Mmmm...eels


Our instructor. Not only a good chef, he was also very funny. I called him Shecky Nguyen.


My Vietnamese pancake was the BOMB