Yoga ~ Travel ~ Joy: Can't. Stop. SHOPPING!!! :)

Today we headed right into Old Town for Jeff and Golien's final fittings and Gavin and my first fittings.

Back of my cocktail dress. This was WAY too small - I had to call Gavin in the dressing room to help me put it on. :)

My more casual dress, also a little too tight. :)

Gavin's overcoat needed some minor tweaks.

While Gavin was getting fitted, I decided to order a coat and a jacket, as with my slender torso and extra long arms I can NEVER find coats that fit. I ordered a peacoat style and a leather jacket. Gavin, in the meantime, really liked the button up shirt they tailored for him for free and ordered two more, plus a third suit. We just couldn't stop... :D In the meantime, while we were getting re-measured for our new items, Jeff got a slightly scary haircut (the experience, not his hair), shave, and ear cleaning in a local barbershop.

Jeff's new 'do.

While we waited for our second fitting, we had lunch at the Cargo Club restaurant, which had a second floor overlooking the river. Gavin and I tried Cau Lau, a must-have dish in Hoi An, and an absolutely delicious shrimp curry served in a coconut, with coconut oil lit on fire on the outside. :)

Flaming shrimp curry in a coconut.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and said goodbye to Jeff and Golien, as they were flying back to the states. Now left to our own devices, we rented mopeds to drive into town instead of being dependent on the shuttle. I was disappointed that they were automatic scooters instead of actual motorcycles like most of the local people were driving.

After driving into town and parking "like a local" (read wherever the heck we felt like it on the sidewalk), we continued to stroll around the town and spend too much money. :) By the end of the day I ended up ordering three pairs of custom leather sandals and Gavin ordered a leather jacket and leather laptop bag. :) We also continued having fittings at Yaly for the things we had ordered earlier in the day.

Also, having fallen in love with the beautiful Chinese lanterns hanging all over the town, we decided to buy a bunch to hang from the roof of our deck. Since we were overwhemed by the number of lantern shops, we sought out Tuoi Ngoc, the place recommended in Lonely Planet. There were people of all ages in the front of the shop putting the lanterns together. We made a special order of some hanging lanterns and some desk lanterns on a stand. In case you wonder how we are going to get these home, they collapse down into a cylinder. :) We will pick them up two days from now on the day we leave.

Picking out lanterns.

Boy buying ice cream in front of the shop.

I'll have 5 of everything, I'm saying to the shop keeper. :) The old guy with the banana was very interested in the proceedings.

Later in the evening we went back to Tuoi Ngoc to take a photo of the lanterns all lit - beautiful!

After some additional fittings at Yaly, we went to dinner at Mango Mango, a lovely restaurant right on the river. From our bar seat in the balcony, we had an AMAZING view of the Old Town bustling with mopeds, cyclos, vendors and tourists.

The intersection in front of Mango Mango.

Me on the balcony.

Cocktail and Lonely Planet. :)

The cocktails had pretty flower in them. :)

Directly under us was the start of the Hoi An night market, similar to the night markets in other cities with a lot of touristy junk for sale, but there were also lots of stalls with beautifully lit lanterns.. We stopped at the first vendor we saw and bought a Vietnamese sugar doughnut, also twice fried to make it warm again. :)

Vietnamese snacks, twice fried to perfection... :)

Panorama of the night market.

A lantern stall at the night market.

Beautiful lanterns!

Souvenirs at the night market.

I had wanted to buy a nice set of chopsticks in a wooden box, and there were plenty in the night market that were "same same, but different." I finally stopped at the very last stall on the street and she must have been desperate to sell, because she quoted me half the price of other vendors, and when I hesitated she went down in price herself two times, so I bought them from her. I can't resist a deal. :)

We continued strolling in Old Town along the river, then made our way to the Japanese Bridge. At this point we had to buy our Old Town ticket before they would allow us to cross the bridge. The Old Town tickets gets you into any of the historical buildings in Old Town, and is good for the entire length of your stay. Across the bridge we got to see the Cam Pho Temple, brightly lit for the evening.