Hoi An - I'm in heaven ;o)

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June 17th 2007
Published: August 9th 2007
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my dressmy dressmy dress

and lots of silk
OK, I'm seriously behind schedule with these blogs but the internet time seems to be happening only when I'm waiting to hop on some bus or when I've had enough of everything else and it's so hot that I want to hide in a dark place and do something like typing for example - why not?

I am actually in Bangkok when I'm writing this, so have loads more latest things to tell you but it'd be just terrible if I skipped Hoi An and what I did next. So, here we go: Hoi An - the tailors' capital of Vietnam, if not the whole world really.

The town is rather small and lies not far from a beautiful beach that stretches for good 30 km. The main "attraction" of the the town are tailors - just like every bar in Vang Vieng had a tv, every shop in Hoi An has a tailor! They are literally everywhere you turn and they all want to sew like you wouldn't believe! So, I decided to put one of out her misery ;o)

You must be wondering what the whole fuss is about - there are tailors in every country
but what you need to understand is that your order is pretty much ready the next day and it costs you next to nothing. Check this out: one of the suits I had made (a dress, trousers and a jacket) was made from 100% cashmere and cost me something roundabout 100 GBP! A work shirt was 7 GBP and a winter coat 35 GBP. How can you go wrong?? You can imagine how happy this place made me - I could decide about everything: the cut, the length, the colour and the fabric! Heaven.

There is one problem with this whole tailor enterprise: it never stops. You order one set, you go for the fitting and somehow you end up getting a few more things. Apparently, that doesn't apply to boys, which I can understand. It's always us women who fall for these things. Oh well, as long as you can pay for that, who cares!

When you get tired of tailors, you can go to the beach and chill out there (while willingly or unwillingly thinking of new designs). I feel I'm scarred for life now. I even got hold of this good tailor in Bangkok (hmm, hmm, a couple of more suits won't hurt) who comes to London from time to time - a bit dangerous acquaintance but then again, we are being so ripped off in the UK, it's good to have contacts in Bangkok! He even showed me a book full of measurements of his clients from London - half of them were people from Deloitte - made me smile that one.

One more thing that is worth mentioning about Hoi An is a certain French bakery and the most amazing lemon tarts that you could find there. One thing that bothers me is that I won't be able to drag you lot there to share that heavenly experience. You just have to be satisfied with that cheesecake from Octave - sorry!

Alright then, I guess it's a good moment to stop this blurb for today. Next trip was to a peaceful place on the beach full of cows. And no, it was not in India!

Until the next one then! xx

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My SonMy Son
My Son

ruins of the Chama kingdom
turned into stoneturned into stone
turned into stone

...that's what happens if you meditate too long...

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