A day of bits and bobs without travelling any great length. We have less than a week left overseas, boarding our plane back to Sydney late evening.
Caitlin getting a Vietnamese haircut. I got a shave from the “barber” next door. DW. The hairdresser paid me many compliments, leading to a suspicion I may be charged many multiples of what locals would pay. She even went as far as to fib about my Vietnamese being very good. CR.Hoi An has a big tailoring scene supposedly due to its merchant history, but it’s all targeting the tourists now. In addition to the normal knockoffs there are ladies trying to convince you to buy custom 3 piece suits on every corner. DWCau Lam is a traditional Hoi An noodle dish with thicker, Japanese style almost udon noodles used. It is more common than Pho in the old town at least. Here are some drying out the front of someone’s house. DWThe Ba Le Well is nearly a millenium old and is the place where water for true Cau Lam must supposedly be sourced. I don’t know if anyone does that anymore. It is also down the back of a completely non-descript alley and very easy to overlook. This is particularly so as an enterprising family has established their Ba Le restaurant in close proximity seemingly to pull in any tourists who may be looking for it and rope them into a meal before they find the real one. DWI was determined to do some form of tailoring. Caitlin and I are getting matching whale linen pyjamas which we did the measure for today. Stay tuned for tomorrow where we do the trial fit and get custom embroidery. Money hopefully well spent. Pyjamas would at least be worn, unlike a suit… DWDeclan is living up to his promise as a model. CR. The old quarter is picturesque but not that big, we did a few loops around it today. The traffic is somewhat restricted in some areas, meaning we can walk side by side rather than in single file. CR.We’ve had two banh mi before this one and I had been disappointed with both – the meats were bland and cold and the bread tasteless. This one was a different, delightful story. The bread was crunchy and warm, the pork juicy. Hopefully a return visit tomorrow. CR.Being in a touristy area has pros and cons. Big pro is that there is ice cream. Con is that the scoops are precariously placed on the cone and on one another, which is why Declan is looking so serious here. CR.
What a happy day. Haircut, noodles, pjs and ice cream! Can’t wait to see you fashion and most importantly what ice cream flavours did you get? M xx
Well sadly for Declan vanilla was sold out so instead he got salted caramel. The second flavour was cookies. The sign outside claims hand made ice cream – a dubious claim in Vietnam.
How much was the hair cut
How much was one set of pyjamas
Do you haggle when you are buying stuff or just go with the flow
When I wear my xxl T-shirts made in china or Vietnam I sometimes wonder if the people in the factory just shake their head at the size of the clothing.
How did you go with communication at the tailor shop.
Are there many western tourists in these types of towns and shops
I just paid 11.50 in Coffs for a single scoop of ice cream with two topping for Kaley.
Hair cut was 150vnd (9aud) which I get the vibe is three times what the locals pay. They kept telling me Declan was handsome and young. All these compliments are signalling you are being overcharged.
The PJs were 70aud, each. Which is totally ridiculous. This was the only time I made a half hearted attempt at haggling, as the initial price was 90aud. I reckon we easily could have got them for 40aud if we’d been more enthusiastic but it’s really the only expensive thing we’ve purchased so I didn’t bother doing anything more. Tailor shop had one lady on staff at all times that spoke good English, in order to ask you if you want to purchase anything more.
Talking about shirts mass produced made in Vietnam, we actually tried to book a factory tour but the only ones we could find were for businesses.
There were HEAPS of western tourists in Hoi An. And also a lot of South Korean/Japanese tourists too in big groups.
11.50 is exorbitant for one scoop, I hope she appreciated it. Did you know the price before ordering? Also what toppings?
Pyjamas are more expensive than I anticipated.
Just think of it as a donation to the local families.
Cookie dough and Nutella.
When they rang it up on the register they charged for three toppings which I knew was wrong but I just let it slide.
I solved the mystery when sitting outside I found in very small writing at the bottom of a board that they charge .20c for a waffle cone but one dipped in the tinniest amount of cheap chocolate sauce was $1.50
There was no mention anywhere inside the shop about the scam pricing on the waffle cone
Really annoys me when they intentionally design a system to deceive people.
Not a good ice cream experience and wouldn’t encourage locals to return.
What a happy day. Haircut, noodles, pjs and ice cream! Can’t wait to see you fashion and most importantly what ice cream flavours did you get? M xx
Well sadly for Declan vanilla was sold out so instead he got salted caramel. The second flavour was cookies. The sign outside claims hand made ice cream – a dubious claim in Vietnam.
How much was the hair cut
How much was one set of pyjamas
Do you haggle when you are buying stuff or just go with the flow
When I wear my xxl T-shirts made in china or Vietnam I sometimes wonder if the people in the factory just shake their head at the size of the clothing.
How did you go with communication at the tailor shop.
Are there many western tourists in these types of towns and shops
I just paid 11.50 in Coffs for a single scoop of ice cream with two topping for Kaley.
Hair cut was 150vnd (9aud) which I get the vibe is three times what the locals pay. They kept telling me Declan was handsome and young. All these compliments are signalling you are being overcharged.
The PJs were 70aud, each. Which is totally ridiculous. This was the only time I made a half hearted attempt at haggling, as the initial price was 90aud. I reckon we easily could have got them for 40aud if we’d been more enthusiastic but it’s really the only expensive thing we’ve purchased so I didn’t bother doing anything more. Tailor shop had one lady on staff at all times that spoke good English, in order to ask you if you want to purchase anything more.
Talking about shirts mass produced made in Vietnam, we actually tried to book a factory tour but the only ones we could find were for businesses.
There were HEAPS of western tourists in Hoi An. And also a lot of South Korean/Japanese tourists too in big groups.
11.50 is exorbitant for one scoop, I hope she appreciated it. Did you know the price before ordering? Also what toppings?
Pyjamas are more expensive than I anticipated.
Just think of it as a donation to the local families.
Cookie dough and Nutella.
When they rang it up on the register they charged for three toppings which I knew was wrong but I just let it slide.
I solved the mystery when sitting outside I found in very small writing at the bottom of a board that they charge .20c for a waffle cone but one dipped in the tinniest amount of cheap chocolate sauce was $1.50
There was no mention anywhere inside the shop about the scam pricing on the waffle cone
Really annoys me when they intentionally design a system to deceive people.
Not a good ice cream experience and wouldn’t encourage locals to return.