Doing my dong on banh mi? Pho sure!

[love_the_life]

Oh yes that's how she gets in you. Nothing but sweetness and light. And then... BOOM! Fire and brimstone and burning death.

You say that with an air of authority, from one with firsthand experience. Notwithstanding the occasional meltdowns, she looks like someone who loves travel and new things. Whilst temperament does play a role, I think parents opening children up to these new experiences and modelling how exciting it is, play a huge part. I am in awe.

 

[GarrettM]

You say that with an air of authority, from one with firsthand experience. Notwithstanding the occasional meltdowns, she looks like someone who loves travel and new things. Whilst temperament does play a role, I think parents opening children up to these new experiences and modelling how exciting it is, play a huge part. I am in awe.

Yes she loves it. And we know we put great stress on her with these trips. She handles it well. Even the non-stop attention from people who love to touch the unusual white child. I'm on constant alert. Last night a young Korean girl actually asked me to give her my child for a photo. I think not!

 

[GarrettM]

Hopefully by the end of the trip in a few days she'll have mastered counting to ten in Vietnamese. We're up to the number three right now.
She's already got there in English, Spanish, and Japanese
Proud dad here.

 

[GarrettM]

So Tuesday night we kept it relaxed and found another restaurant on An Hoi. Can't recall the name, just one of dozens of similar looking joint. The view across the river was nice though.


And the beer was the right size, even though it's just not cold enough here. Because they don't have fridges!


The food was ok. Certainly well-priced but not especially great and not worth a pic. We did enjoy crowd watching as the sun went down, before walking back to the main road to get a taxi.

 

[Boca68]

Want the beers colder. get the staff to put your bottles in a bucket of cool water with a lot of ice, throw in a handful or 2 of salt with the ice... presto in 10 to 15 minutes nice cold beer!

 

[GarrettM]

Wednesday was earmarked for some of the Ancient Town sights. As many know the ticket gives you access to five of your choice, although you can't choose more than one temple, or family house et cetera.
We picked the Quan Cong Temple, Tran Family Chapel, Tan Ky House, the Japanese Bridge, and the Folklore Museum.
We actually only managed to get to four of these, and only three of them on the day.
First up was Quan Cong Temple.

 

[GarrettM]

More Quan Cong...

 

[GarrettM]

Just outside the temple I noticed the hardcore electric wiring for the first time, and the very prominent wifi infrastructure. Took me a while to figure out why they have them like this, until I remembered the routine flooding.
as someone mentioned up thread the internet here is fast, mostly free, and very good. Very impressed.
Not sure if the caged bird plays a role in this though.

 

[GarrettM]

Next stop was the Tran Family Chapel.

Not many pics here because it's quite dark inside and doesn't seem the kind of place to be waving the camera. We were told a bit of the history of the family, and the differing styles of architecture in the building. Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese. And then a look at some coins dating back through the centuries, based on the reign of each king, and featuring the yin and the yang. All about harmony apparently.
And then they try to sell you things. Makes sense. I bought some coins, although I have doubts about their authenticity. For a start this "monarch" Caul Duc doesn't appear on Wiki's list of Vietnamese kings. Hmmm.
Oh well here is a monkey teapot I did not buy. You can also see some of the aforementioned coins in this pic.

 

[GarrettM]

Actually I think I have tracked down my Vietnamese Emperor. Just a matter of going through timelines and cross-checking spelling and posthumous naming.
His name was Le Long Dinh, and it seems he was a real mean cough.
Lê Long Đĩnh - Wikipedia

Apologies for photo quality but I am working in the dark here while bub sleeps.

 

[GarrettM]

It was a pretty warm day and we were starting to feel it, so we stopped for an early lunch and a cold drink.
Another cold coffee was quite welcome, along with some spring rolls and paninis. Tasty.

 

[GarrettM]

After the early lunch it was back our self directed walking tour, with the Japanese Bridge our chosen destination.
As far as bridges go it's pretty underwhelming, but it has an important role in local history.

 

[GarrettM]

It was seriously warm by now, and we needed another break. So we opted for a ride on the cyclos. Cost us 600.000VND, which I thought was a bit steep. But then I wasn't doing the peddling. Plus the movement got the child to sleep which is priceless. She eve stayed asleep when we transferred her to a taxi. Of course she then woke up as soon as we were back at the hotel, so no afternoon nap for mum and dad. The kid has a sixth sense.
Pics from the cyclo.

 

[cove]

Is demon child delaying something?
It was our second child that was the problem wanting to be held non stop.
Bike riding in that heat and humidity would be rather tough by itself let alone some folks on board.

 

[GarrettM]

Is demon child delaying something?
It was our second child that was the problem wanting to be held non stop.
Bike riding in that heat and humidity would be rather tough by itself let alone some folks on board.

She's delaying my capacity to keep this report up to date.
We have a timeline in mind for what you're alluding too. She won't interfere with that.
As for YOUR second child, he's never struck me as the emotionally needy type.

 

[cove]

They both turned out ok GarrettM but they both suffer in humidity like me.
Seems pretty well priced food , transport and accommodation for thos who can handle that humidity.
Lovely pictures regardless of demon child so well done so far.

 

[GarrettM]

In HCMC now and the girls are in bed after a very nice dinner not far from our apartment. I am staying up to put myself through the torture of another Southampton match on the tv. I was going to go to a nearby sports bar, but the game will be on regular broadcast here, and I have beer in the fridge. Why bother.

Anyway back to Wednesday and our sightseeing of Hoi An...

The weather saw us in the pool for a large chunk of the afternoon, while we discussed dinner options. I'd seen a likely looking place along the river on our walks so we agreed to give it a try, and we were not diappointed.

Dao Tien River.


Crispy wontons.


My drink.


Prawn and cashews - minus prawns because MissGM just grabs them out.


Chicken in pandanas leaf.


Five flavoured fish.


And an incredible chocolate fondant. Superb.

 

[GarrettM]

We returned to the hotel very satisfied, and looking forward to Thursday's walking food tour and some of the "lesser seen" sights of Hoi An.

 

[tuppence47]

Thank you for your TR GarrettM. I am enjoying it immensely, as I spent just one day in Hoi An and DaNang at the end of January whilst on a cruise. I would like to return and spend more time there one day, but will satisfy myself with your report for now.

Meant to say that I am enjoying your photos as well.

 

[GarrettM]

So for Thursday MrsGM had booked a walking foor tour of Hoi An, to try some of the things you may not get too by yourself.
Incidentally these things are all arrangeable and payable through the hotel, and from what I can see without any additional cost. This one cost us 1,200 000 VND or about $60 odd. But it took more than four hours, and we ate a heap of different things. I'll do my best to show and remember them all. Taking pics and notes is hard while carrying a toddler on your shoulders.
Starting with banh mi of course. All the stalls have their own personal recipes. This one was made delicious through the generous mixture of beef heart and lunh minced through the butter. Very tasty.


Something with noodles.


Nothing fancy about these kitchens.


Kid loves dog spotting.


A street side jack fruit seller. Very sticky and chewy. Tastes like custard. Can see the possibilities.


Vietnamese pancake. This is very good.


Our guide Dum, who goes by Dum Dum. In Vietnamese Ds are generally pronounced as Zs, so her name sounds like Zoom Zoom. Here she is helping the child force feed herself chicken rice.


The supplier of the chicken rice.