A month in Hoi An

[GarrettM]

I'll probably share more about this later.
Christmas Eve dinner at The Deckhouse.

 

[GarrettM]

Will detail while the memory is fresh.
Xmas Eve Vietnamese set menu.


The appetiser and duck salad were very good.

The squid was just ok.


The beef, with the oyster sauce vegies were also very good.




The lotus seed sweet soup wasn't to our taste at all.


Thankfully I could order banana Nutella crepes for the kids.


And the hazelnut coffee Martini (ordered separately again) was top notch.


So a worthwhile cultural culinary experience, but at 600,000VND x 3 not at all a value proposition.

The boy had a burger off the a la carte menu and he actually ate most of it. To be honest the regular offerings looked way better. And the spot itself right on the beach is great. Plus they have live music which is always a plus for me. I can see myself going back at least once over the next three and a bit weeks.

 

[GarrettM]

Christmas morning is much the same despite the different location. Starts well before 6am and plenty of mess.

We've tried to explain Santa can't give too much this year cause he knows we wouldn't be able to take it all home. But no six year old will accept that. He'll manage though.

 

[GarrettM]

Best breakfast of the week goes to Nghe Cafe. Bit of a trek but not really. Highly recommend to anyone visiting Hoi An in the near future. The coconut coffee and French toast were top shelf.

 

[GarrettM]

Found a couple little pool mates the past couple days. I'm no expert on amphibians but I think toads more than frogs.

 

[GarrettM]

Also did some guitar window shopping. Honestly not sure I'll pull the trigger.

The quality to price ratio is more than decent, but I'm now concerned about the chances and cost of getting one home, and even then the issues arising from humidity changes going from Vietnam to Perth. Going from wet to dry like that could lead to significant damage.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Also did some guitar window shopping. Honestly not sure I'll pull the trigger.
View attachment 486689
The quality to price ratio is more than decent, but I'm now concerned about the chances and cost of getting one home, and even then the issues arising from humidity changes going from Vietnam to Perth. Going from wet to dry like that could lead to significant damage.

Curious to know the relative cost of a decent hard case @GarrettM
Remember Mr Flyfrequently buying one of his many guitars in Knoxville USA, case was another 30% + and in USD

 

[GarrettM]

The mid-spec guitars are 3.8 million dong, with a hard case another 1.2 million. So getting up past $300aud total. And they are well made. At home an equivalent instrument is easily double the price or more.

But $300 is a big chunk of money to not be 100% sure I'll still have the thing in a month. Better I think to spend that on all of us while we're here. That's a lot of meals, local experiences, and memories.

 

[GarrettM]

Our day started, as many tend to do, with rampant disregulation from the youngest. Centred around his access to the ipad and Roblox. We knew when we decided to give them ipads for this trip there'd be the more than occasional issue. But for the most part they've been super useful.

However when the boy is screaming profanities and blue murder at 8.30am it does put us all on edge. Despite the language difference I've no doubt the neighbours are aware of him. But we endure.

So after we managed to calm things it was pool time. Even with rain and temps in the low 20s they insist on pool time.

And then lunch. Today we decided on something more home like.
Dingo Deli.



They have a rice paddy next door. Not sure exactly who it's connected to, but it's neat.



Good old fashioned latte, burger, and even the boy found something to eat. A clsssic meat pie.

 

[GarrettM]

An otherwise cruisy afternoon with no major upsets, so we braved an evening dinner excursion. Much more locally themed.

Mai Fish

Some fish, a yummy pork soup dish, and some spring rolls.
With a beer of course.


Neither of the kids ate much as we kind of expected. So we had a short stroll to grab them banana nutella crepes, and came across a couple well known Banana Benders to boot.

 

[GarrettM]

Saturday was a pretty relaxed day really. We, the parents, needed a low demand sort of day. Also it was rainy and cold, although that didn't save me from a dip in the pool with the boy.

We did do an excellent cooking class in the afternoon though. Not many pics to share, but we made crispy spring rolls, cabbage spring rolls, and a delicious sea bass dish.



The lady helping us had some puppies and her 11mo baby with her, and the kids adored both so we ended up staying quite a bit longer than planned. It was a really nice afternoon and I was absolutely stuffed full.of food by the time we got home.

 

[GarrettM]

Sunday morrning and back to Cam Coffee, this time for ca phe sua and the German sausage croissant which was was dripping in spicy sauce. The kids had mango and strawberry smoothies and I was drawn to this old Yamaha guitar amp as art.

 

[GarrettM]

We had cleaners in the villla later in the morning so needed to get out for a couple hours. So we ended up doing something I never would have expected to enjoy as much as I did.

We made rings!

Huy Minh Silver

One of the pricier excursions thus far, at almost 1M dong each, but it took almost two hours and was very hands on. Even the kids got to hold the acetylene torches and do their own punching and polishing.

You start by picking a style and size and then you recreate it, as best you can, from a blank piece of silver. I'll let all the pics say more.

These were the options the boy and I chose, with mine on the left.















So we have our own little individual reminder of this trip. Hokey perhaps, but as I said really enjoyable. The kids certainly love their keepsake.

Around the corner from thre ringmaker is Chops where we had lunch. This did cost more than we really needed to spend, but again the kids like it and the boy ate something so worth the money.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Sunday morrning and back to Cam Coffee, this time for ca phe sua and the German sausage croissant which was was dripping in spicy sauce. The kids had mango and strawberry smoothies and I was drawn to this old Yamaha guitar amp as art.View attachment 487397
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Thought the guitar at your cooking class might have piqued your interest @GarrettM
The kids look like they are enjoying themselves!