Day Eleven

Hello you please liking to buy something from me please?! Hello you coming to my shop and buying please I make very good deal to you.

So the Vietnamese in Hoi An are wicked gorilla sales people! Bound and determined to make a buyer out of literally every single person walking by, we had to toughen up a bit. We went into the first handful of shops that coerced us - and looked around. The next handful we politely said no thank you, gave perhaps a compliment on the so and so's in the window and walked on saying thanks. The next handful, just a no thanks. And finally a stone cold smile turning our heads away to cut the transaction off completely.

There are hundreds of tailor shops here, literally hundreds. We ended up stopping into the guidebook and hotel recommended A Dong Silk. A good size shop with plenty of samples to see, they are capable of producing pretty much anything you can think of. And there in lies the difficulty. In a store it's easy to shop, because the items are sitting there right in front of you to pick from. Here, you basically tell them, or show them from photos what you want, or if you're lucky find something you like from the samples. Once decided on an item - shirt - pants - shorts - dress - suit - etc you are tasked with picking out the fabric. Again, with tons of fabric bats to choose from, it can be difficult. We ended up having a few pairs of shorts and capris made, and we go tomorrow to have our first fittings. We both gave them a pair that we brought along - hoping it'd be easier to have them duplicated rather than trying to describe something from scratch. The process was a little confusing - but over all pretty smooth. I guess we'll see how things went after our first fitting.

We ducked in lots of different kinds of shops, a few jewelry, a few tailors, a few shoe makers, a few trinket makers - it'd be easy to spend a paycheck here. We've stayed pretty conservative only buying what we had set out to - thwarting the impulse buying they try to enable. I ended up stopping in a glasses shop, just curious to see what they had to offer - and how much something like that might be. I found a few that were decent, and asked how much for frames and lenses. Between 40-50 dollars for everything! Tickled by these prices - it was my goal to stop at every glasses shop in town. At fourth or fifth one - I found a pair that were pretty cool. Something different - thin shinny silver metal frames - made of titanium which makes them extremely durable. After pricing out everything - 51 dollars, I bought them. They'll be ready tomorrow afternoon and I'm  really excited. I was telling Jade, when you wear glasses 24/7, they're a representation of you - or who you'd like to be. It's the first thing someone would notice about you. Perhaps others don't really care much, but I do.

After shopping the day away - we cleaned up and rested a bit before dinner - Jade had a massage at the hotel salon - and then we went to dinner at the restaurant where we'll take a cooking class on Saturday. Amazing once again. The restaurant was quite large with a full main level and a full upstairs, every table taken - thankfully Jade made a reservation. Highlights would be a beef salad with Vietnamese herbs and lime squeezed over the top. It will definitely be something we try and make at home.

Day Eleven - wow, starting to feel like a long time!