our first full day in hoi an kicked off with a cooking class at 'brother's cafe,' which had been pre-arranged for us (thanks for the suggestion, VK!). turns out its one of the nicest restaurants in hoi an - we'll take it! before we got down to cooking, we were guided through an awesome tour of the market, getting quizzed on spices, vegetables and sauces. some we could identify (garlic, salt), some we couldn't (fish sauce, fresh lemongrass, dragonfruit). we were most proud of our recognition of morel mushrooms (andrew) and taro root (kim). also, since we've been wandering through so many of these markets it was great to finally know what we were looking at. we were also coaxed into trying a few things along the way, like a hunk of actual cinnamon bark that looked more like kindling than anything edible, or a full-on bite of "dalat garlic" (pretty much just like taking a bite of real garlic, if you're wondering. we paid for that one later.)
got back to the restaurant via a boat ride along the river and got down to business. the menu included fried springrolls, pork sauteed in lemongrass, and claypot eggplant in garlic. spent an hour chopping, peeling, mixing, frying and had some good laughs along the way. (note: andrew's version of peeling an eggplant looked more like he took a hacksaw to it; his knife skills were top notch, though). then ate the yummy lunch we cooked out on a beautiful breezy veranda overlooking the water.
after lunch we made a quick pit stop back at the tailors for kim to get her first fitting -- and surprise, surprise, andrew was tempted into getting something for himself! so, picked out some fabrics for a suit and sportcoat for andrew and they took his measurements. in case you haven't done this yourself , there is actually no such thing as a quick pit stop at one of these places...we wound up spending several decent chunks of time here over the next two days. well worth it given there wasn't a whole lot else to see in this town, but warning that its a time investment. also, we had the best sales person ever - Thu aka "Danielle" for the anglo tourists - who greatly eased the process for us. kim believes she would do well with gentlemen in the u.s.
afterward we stole an afternoon relaxing by the pool at our hotel and even dozed off for a while in the sun. the town, not surprisingly, is a crazy mix of motorbikes, markets, tailors and custom shoe shops and endless souvenir offerings, so it was nice to have some quiet time.
but having gotten our fill of relaxing, we headed out for what become one of our more raucous nights here (so far). dinner at a place that resembled an outdoor cafeteria, where there are about 8 chefs cooking at individual stations designated for their corresponding picnic table. we sat at mr. dong's station, if you're wondering. ordered (4) blissful 20 cent beers and some food, for a grand total of $4. then headed off to a few bars and did some mingling with canadian and australian travelers. one of the most classic moments was in the last bar when the entire roomful of vietnamese and tourists alike united in a soaring rendition of bon jovi's livin' on a prayer. turns out some things are just universal.
next up: sightseeing in hoi an
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