Done and done. We finally completed our fashion extravaganza here in Hoi An. After all is said and done, we don't like everything we had made but the stuff we do like is awesome!
Here's a final breakdown:
Carolyn:
jacket - 1
casual dresses - 3
smart dress - 1
shirt - 1
shorts - 2
pants - 1
boots - 1
Flip flops - 1
sneakers - 1
Michael:
jacket - 1
Linen (short sleeve) shirt - 2
Long sleeve shirt - 1
Pants - 2
sneakers - 1
flip flops - 1
We initially set a budget for clothes and I only through sheer determination did we stay under by 20%!!!! Good job us! Actually we probably would have hit our budget if we'd liked everything.
Anyway, after a quick fitting this AM we made our way to another beach a but further away. It might as well have been 10 miles away. It seemed like it took forever to get there. It may have been the 147 degree heat and the giant buses zooming past us (smashing the horn of course) that made the journey seem so long. Coming to the beach we're greeted by several Vietnamese ladies on either side of the road yelling for us to park our bike in their yard. It was like riding the gauntlet, ladies yelling 'here, here, park here!!!' Anyway we parked and paid the going rate of 5000 dong per bike and walked over to the beach. A few more ladies started yelling from the beach asking if we'd like to sit in their chairs. We decided on a particular chair and were told if we ate at her restaurant the chair was free. No problem.
The beach was lovely, soft yellow sand, clear cool water and a decent breeze. The boss and I made our way into the water only to be greeted by the 2nd grossest creature on the planet ... Jellyfish (roaches being #1 of course and onions being #3). Giant ones. And they were stinging us. We were immediately not happy. Ohwell, back to the chairs.
We had fruit shakes, read a little and fought off the numerous locals trying to sell us random crap ... Everything from newspapers to tiger balm to chop sticks. We did buy a couple postcards and a coffee brewing thing. Anyway, we realized later that the whole 'eat at my restaurant an chair is free thing' wasn't a great idea. 2 fruit shakes and an order of spring rolls were 100,000 dong (about $5). This may not seem like much but it's a small fortune here. Ohwell.
Later back in Hoi An we had our final fitting, I got a crash course in the Vietnamese language (I can now say 5 phrases! I'm almost a local!!!!), we stocked up on snacks for our trip and I found the best tasting Dr Pepper I've had since San Diego!!!!!
We had dinner with our great new friends (Marisa and Carly) and said good bye, then upstairs to pack.
We're at the point where we need to repack for Italy and send unneeded things home. Our room looked like a plastic mess bomb exploded. After some serious organizational origami, we got our Italy packing sorted out and readied some things to ship home.
The rest of the night was spent booking our first 10 day in Italy. More in that in another post. Suffice it to say traveling in Italy is so far the complete opposite of how we like to travel. Planning every single day is so stressful and not fun that 2 nights ago we were wondering if Italy is a mistake. But we'll soldier on and take one for the team :)
Ok, bed time for us. Tomorrow we make our way to Hanoi. This trip is going to take 20 friggin hours! We leave Hoi An at 1300 and arrive in Hanoi the next morning at 0800. I'm going to be grumpy smurf.
Pics:
1) me with the tailor at Peace.
2) me enjoying the heavenly taste of Dr Pepper.
3) me with the tailor at Lana.
4) all of my clothes!!!!
5) is it hot out here or is it just me?????? Who is this minx??
6) we bought these silly pillows in Thailand for the slow boat trip and never used them. So after 2 months we're finally giving them a new home ... The garbagio!
7) An Bang Beach.
8) our view of An Bang Beach.
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