Doing my dong on banh mi? Pho sure!

[GarrettM]

TR304 SIN-SGN
A320 9V-TAV "Sunshine Paradise"
Seats: 2DEF
Scheduled pushback: 0735 - Actual pushback: 0740
Scheduled arrival: 0830 - Actual arrival: 0820

Not much to say here. Short, easy flight into SGN.

 

[GarrettM]

Made our way through immigration and baggage claim without hassle.
Grabbed a Viettel SIM for 200,000VND. Data only and with 2GB they say it will easily last my time in Vietnam. we shall see.
Because I was initially unsure of how long it would take to clear customs, collect bags, and transfer to the domestic terminal for our next flight, we left plenty of time for contingencies.
And of course, nothing at all went wrong. Sooo... we have more than four hours to kill at SGN before we fly to DAD.
We did try to jump an earlier service, but were denied. Oh well.

We passed the time plane watching (MissGM's favourite past-time), checking emails and social media, and just chatting/people watching.


At 1130 we figured it was lunch-time, and with a few options to choose from we went with Hue Vietnam.
MrsGM had the rice noodles with clam, MissGM the duck fried rice, and I had pho with US beef. The clam soup was very briney and not at all my sort of thing. But the pho was delicious.
And bub enjoyed the rice as always.

 

[GarrettM]

SGN-DAD VN126
A321 Seats:19ABC
Pushback: 1330 Arrival:1455

I'd been interested in this VN flight as I had read a lot of good stuff about their service and such. Naturally none of that would be on show for what is basically a commute service. But it was a very smooth and easy flight, and their A320 is a much nicer fitout than Scoot's for sure.


I am definitely keen to try VN's J-class on their 787 if I ever get an opportunity. You never know.
Here in the real world though I had no complaints. Kept myself busy reading more of Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs. Good one for those so inclined.

MissGM kept herself busy finishing off a solid lollipop we'd had lying around since last year's trip to Japan.


Another simple flight, and we collected our bags and quickly located our booked car service for the 40 odd minute drive to Hoi An. That was an eye opening ride in itself.


It reminded me a lot of Honiara, but massively bigger. There is so much construction going on in Da Nang right now, as the tourist dollar continues to roll in. But I am not sure all of that building is of the highest possible quality.

Traffic everywhere. All of it seeming to be going in all directions at once. We saw blokes dragging lengths of bamboo behind their scooters. People looking at their phones while riding. And even two blokes on two different scooter showing each other what was on their respective phones! Madness!

Nevertheless we made it safely to our destination, and were soon at our hotel.

 

[docjames]

I like how mini-GarrettM is wearing a Japan T-shirt.


Guess that means VN clothing on her next trip?

 

[GarrettM]

I like how mini-GarrettM is wearing a Japan T-shirt.


Guess that means VN clothing on her next trip?

We have a few items from that trip that are still too big. You've got to shop long term.

 

[GarrettM]

Sunday March 4 - Emotion Villa Hoi An.
Check in was a breeze and we were shown to our second floor suite.
That means STAIRS, and a very happy little girl. She goes mad for some stair action.
The room itself is as you'd expect. Quite spacious, a small balcony, shower, bath, toilet et cetera.


One of those window into the bathroom jobbies. No one likes those really do they?


And someone made herself at home straight away.

 

[GarrettM]

The balcony opens to the west which means lots of afternoon sun, and the heat. But it's not awful. Although we are running the aircon full-time. Noise level outside is ok. Constant for the most part, but not excessive.


We aren't expecting to order much room service, but at these prices the drinks list may get a turnover. Although at $3-4 a shot I'm sure we'll find it cheaper elsewhere too.

 

[GarrettM]

It was already 4pm by the time we'd dropped our bags and just took a moment to relax. We'd been travelling for 24 hours by that point, and we were all pretty tired.
But since there was no chance of sleep we figured why not get straight into it.
Reception ordered us a taxi and we were soon walking through the old town.


We'd managed to luck into some sort of holiday crush. In particular a lot of Koreans, as KAL has just started direct flights to DAD. The place was absolutely packed with people, and we were wondering what the hell we were doing.
But despite the crowds everything was peaceful and there were no issues.
Just have to get used to routinely knocking back hawkers and boat sellers and such. They are politely pushy, but not in your face so much.
No pics of the Japanese Bridge from this night. It was too hard to even see it with the crowds. But we did cross it on our search for dinner.
That search took us to Madam Kiew, which is right next to the entrance of the night market.


Got some of the famous Hoi An White Dumplings, some sweet and sour squid and chicken, plus some duck fried rice. All for about 250,000VND, or roughly $15 including a couple of beers. And it was all delicious.

 

[GarrettM]

After the meal we strolled back through the crowd, took a couple more snaps of the many lanterns and other exoticness, before grabbing a taxi back to the hotel for another 30,000VND.


But despite being one extremely tired toddler, MissGM fought to stay awake for longer, and by the time she did settle down, we were absolutely buggered ourselves, and were in bed straight after at about 8pm.
Nevertheless it had been a very pleasant evening and a nice start to the holiday proper.


Tomorrow would see us doing more walking, a fair bit of eating, and also a trip to one of Hoi An's more highly rated tailors, as I try to decide if I'll get one suit or two.
Spolier alert: the answer turns out to be two.

 

[GarrettM]

We'd booked our accommodation through Wotif, and it came with breakfast included.
No one is going to mistake it for Epicurean at Crown, but it's doing a job.
They have a mix of fruits, cereals, toast, salads, bacon, small sausages, and then some more local dishes they seem to change every day. Plus eggs your way - although they don't seem to know what poached eggs are.
And then some pastries. Also tea, coffee and juice.

 

[GarrettM]

The view from the restaurant.


After breakfast on Monday we arranged an electric car to take us into the Old Town. It's done through the hotel and costs 40.000VND, so just under $2.50. The walk itself is not that long, but in the heat and having to lug the toddler we need to take shortcuts where we can.
Here is the electric car...


It's a smooth ride, and the openness means breeze, which you can't get enough of around here.
There are no cars allowed in the Old Town itself, so you get dropped off on the outside, and have to explore by foot.
That's just fine.
No shortage of fresh fruit around here. There'll be more market pics later, from our market and cooking class tour.

 

[GarrettM]

And you can't walk anywhere near the river without people endlessly exhorting you to take a ride on their boat. A polite "No thanks" is generally enough to let you pass though.


The view across to the other side...


It was already getting pretty warm so we decided to stop in for a cold drink. The main game in coffee around here appears to be the Hoi An Roastery. They have at least three outlets in the Old Town that we've seen - and enjoyed - so far.
The coconut icecream iced coffee is rather good.


MissGM had the first of what may well turn out to be several fresh coconuts. She likes to get at the meat, but they don't make it easy here. We suspect they serve them this way to tourists, and then take the unfinished coconuts back to the kitchen to cut up for personal use. Sneaky.

 

[GarrettM]

For the most part we just strolled around dodging endless scooters, bicycles, and tourists, before getting a taxi back to the hotel. That cost us 30.000VND, just a bit under $2AUD. Can't complain about the prices here.

After a quick refresh we were keen for lunch, but didn't want to head too far away.
Luckily there's a restaurant right across the road on the riverfront. It doesn't look like much - but nothing around here does.


It's open on both the street and river sides - again good for the breeze.
The view to the river... you wouldn't call it pretty.


But the beer was cold, and suitably priced at 30.000VND.


We ordered a couple different things that escape me now. And they were all really good. But I do remember the deep fried pork spring rolls. Perfectly salty, crunchy, savoury and just superb.

 

[GarrettM]

After the meal it was back into town to look into getting a suit or two made. I'd done a fair bit of Googling and researching on TripAdvisor about the differences in quality on offer, and had basically narrowed down the likely shops to three or four. Namely Vanda, Kimmy Tailor, BeBe, or A Dong Silk.

As it turned out the first one I walked into was Kimmy, and that's as far as I got.

Kimmy Tailors

They sure are effective saleswomen. And they are ALL women. Not a bloke to be seen, except the ones being measured up.

I was served by a young woman named Thuy (Tea) who showed me through the styles, and then laid out the prices based on fabric options and other possibilities.

I'd been thinking whether to get one or two suits, as I don't often need to wear one for work, but they are handy things to have for various occasions as you know. Plus I'd beed keen on a good grey suit for a while, and MrsGM has been dying to see me in navy blue. So in the end I had little choice but to get two made.

Fabric wise I went with the cashmere - silk blend, and Thuy had me sized up in no time, literally.

In the end it's working out to $490 for the two suits, or $US378 as that's how they price them. I get a 5% discount for buying two.

Even so $500 is a massive whack of money for us, and not something I do very often, so I'm quite conscious of the need to get good use from these suits.

But I've been back for two more fittings, and from what I can tell they've come together superbly. Previously I've only purchsed suits straight off the rack. And while they've done a job (and cost more than these new ones) they've never been overly flattering or sat comfortably.

But having tried these on, and had them double-checked, and tried them on again, tested the freedom of movement, walked in them, sat down, bent over, done the twist et cetera... I am pretty pleased with the result.

Obviously the real test will be in the long term, but these higher rated tailors are well regarded for a reason, and I am confident I'll get excellent work out of them.

My wife forgot to take pics of me while trying them on unfortunately, so I'll try to get some once I pick them up.
Or wear them to the next AFF meet and greet.

 

[GarrettM]

After the suit shopping we needed another break, so came back to the hotel to reax before heading out for dinner.

I say relax, but we don't do a lot of that, because our child simply refuses to nap during the day. Not even when she's totally exhausted. She just has this disturbing ability to ignore what her brain and body are telling her, and make life difficult for mum and dad. Rest assured I'll be returning to this topic again in coming updates.

Having enjoyed lunch across the road, it was decided we'd head back for another crack at it. It is LITERALLY right across the road. You could spit it on from our hotel.

 

[GarrettM]

Someone has decided she wants to order the food now.


Duck clay pot.


Cao Lau - a local dish I am told. Quite good.


Got to love these drinks prices. $4 coughtails. The wife enjoyed the mojito.


Mind you I went even cheaper and had a beer. Two in fact.


Dinner set us back the princely sum of 249.000VND, or about $15AUD. I'm converting roughly here everytime I do this though.
We ambled back across the road, got the child to bed (aslo a nightly ordeal of storytime, demand for hugs, talking, offer/counter offer, eventual acceptance and finally blissful silence) and prepared for Tuesday's adventure - a market tour with boat rides and cooking class.

 

[GarrettM]

Oh we had one very annoying setback on Monday in between buying suits and dinner.
I tried to withdraw some cash through my 28 Degrees Card, as cash is still king here despite most places taking card.
Whatever I did wrong (the machine said I used the wrong pin which is not correct) my card has been blocked.
I've contacted 28 Degrees and they've sent me an online form to fill-out to rectify the issue.
I haven't got to it yet, as we've been using the Citibank card with no dramas, but it did give us a little stress for that afternoon.

 

[cove]

Good to hear Citibank debit works. Two suits sounds like a great deal. You are missing some humidity in Perth.

 

[Pushka]

Oh we had one very annoying setback on Monday in between buying suits and dinner.
I tried to withdraw some cash through my 28 Degrees Card, as cash is still king here despite most places taking card.
Whatever I did wrong (the machine said I used the wrong pin which is not correct) my card has been blocked.
I've contacted 28 Degrees and they've sent me an online form to fill-out to rectify the issue.
I haven't got to it yet, as we've been using the Citibank card with no dramas, but it did give us a little stress for that afternoon.

28 degrees can do annoying stuff like that. They are so vigilant. However they did catch a fraud transaction before I did but that was after multiple false alarms (like your experience) that were very inconvenient.

 

[LadyC]

Those vietnamese pork spring rolls are delicious ...... seriously drooling right now.