Day 15: Hoi An Day 2

Our hotel in Hoi An looks like one of the best we've had so far, and probably would be if you are deaf. There's construction going on and it is LOUD in the very early morning. Pre 8 a.m. early. Suck.

So we were up by 10 through no choice of our own, got ready and went off to lunch at the #3 TripAdvisor rated restaurant in town. I really don't know how people traveled, much less ate on vacation, before TripAdvisor. Great site!

Just the two of us went to lunch, and I don't remember the last time we ate alone. Part of the reason I wanted to do an organized tour is so I would have other people besides Marv to entertain me for 4 weeks. It was nice, and Marv ate his darling little octopus.

We hogged out (2 frufru drinks, 2 Diet Cokes, a bottle of water, 2 starters and 2 main courses) for a tish under $23. I can't get over the affordability of this place!

I was quoted by the tailors that my jacket would be ready at 2:00 p.m. and since we were in the area I swung by at 1:30 to see if it was ready. Unfortunately it wasn't - the suspense is killing me! The girls at the tailor shop were laying down under a fan, as far as they could get from the open store front, so we knew it's not just us trying to stay away from the heat in the afternoons. We took this as a sign to go back to the hotel and bask in the A/C.

When the sun settled down a bit it was time for me to 1. Fetch my fab new winter jacket and 2. Go to the cooking class I had signed up for. It seems like a lot of restaurants in town do cooking classes, so myself and 3 other girls decided to attend one at the restaurant where we had dinner last night.

First things first, here is my jacket! It turned out even better than I expected. It's deep purple wool, brassy gold snap buttons and lining that is lime-ish green (but not lime green). My choice of color combo shocked the girls working at the tailor shop and my tour leader Amy, but the craziness of it was exactly what I was going for - I wanted something that you just won't find anywhere else. I think it looks awesome!

It was then time to cook my own dinner - and pay for the privlege of doing so. Since 1 of the 4 of us at the cooking class doesn't like seafood we got to double the variety of dishes we cooked by adding chicken and beef to the fish and squid. We (loving, by hand) made:

-vegetable spring rolls
-sweet & sour "sauce" (more like salsa) to go over pre-made pork wantons
-fried squid with lemongrass, garlic & chili
-fried chicken with lemongrass, garlic & chili
-macrel cooked in banana leaves
-beef cooked in banana leaves

Everything was good but my favorite thing was the sweet and sour sauce over pork wantons. The sauce was really easy to make so I plan to make it again in the future. It was all super labor intensive! Everything had to be cut very finely and we spent a good 2 hours cooking. I had a great time - entertainment with dinner included for $15. You can't beat that!


Speaking of food: I have been in Asia for exactly 2 weeks now and have not seen one single McDonald's.

There is hope for the world yet!