Enjoying The Slower Pace of Hội An
Bánh Mì, Custom Shoes, and Gin & Tonics
We had another fun day exploring Hoi An. We decided to take it easy and just see where the day took us — which ended up being all over the town. We woke up early (shocker) and most breakfast and coffee shops were not even open yet, so we decided to check out a local Pho place. And by local, I mean that only locals eat there and they speak no english. Luckily we were able to point to the type of meat we wanted in our Pho (beef) and within about two minutes we had our bowls of Pho, some fried bread(?), and all the Pho fixin’s. When we were done (about five min later), we paid 90k dong (approx. $3.50 USD) for both of our meals. Insane.
It was still very early, so we wandered around looking for a coffee shop to hang out in. We found one with good reviews right on the water and attempted to order some dairy-free coffees for both of us. We asked for two coconut iced coffees with no milk . . . every person that worked there looked very confused. Using our handy-dandy Google translate, we were able to tell them over and over again “no milk,” and they finally agreed and told us to have a seat upstairs. We wandered upstairs and started to work on the blog while we waited for the coffee. About 30 min later, an English-speaking employee came up to talk to us saying sorry she just got in and that the staff didnt know how to make our coffee without milk. 😂 So we ordered black iced coffees which she gladly brought to us about 2 minutes later. Most iced coffee in Vietnam has sweet and condensed milk, which is why we have been running into this problem all over. For the next few hours we worked on the blog, played with Justin’s new camera, facetimed some friends, and generally just enjoyed the view from the empty second-floor of the coffee shop.
After departing the shop, we wandered around the Old Town shops, making our way towards a leather shop our Airbnb host recommended to us. We wandered into the shop with nothing in particular in mind, and ooh-boy was that a problem. As can be implied from the name of the store (Ro Shoes Shop), the two ladies who work there can create custom leather products and specialize in leather shoes. Lauren had no real interest in the shoes until she saw that they make cowboy boots (at a third of the cost that she can buy them in Nashville). And Justin was immediately drawn to a pair of custom fancy leather dress shoes. And of course because none of this was well-thought out beforehand, we were being urged to pick out styles and leather colors and types without doing any research.
And then Justin had the wonderful thought “how in the world are we getting two pairs of shoes AND all of the rest of the custom clothing, artwork, etc home??” This quickly slowed our roll on purchasing the shoes right then and there. Because lunch time was approaching, and we wanted a few minutes to digest what we wanted and how we would deal with the additional luggage, we left the shop with the promise to return after eating.
Justin decided he was going to take a gluten cheat day (because, when in Vietnam), so we headed to a restaurant recommended by a YouTube travel vlogger we had been watching to research our trip. The shop was called Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen, and we each got the “Mixed” sandwich with pickled vegetables, pork, BBQ pork, chicken, ham, egg, pate, egg sauce, papaya, and cucumber on a crispy baguette. Holy cow, the sandwiches were so delicious that we each got another one to split.
After lunch, we headed back to the shop and stopped at a post office on the way to figure out how much it would cost to ship back some items. We did some back of the napkin math and realized that even with shipping items home, the shoes would be a good deal and much cheaper/better quality than what we could get at home. So that will be an interesting experience once we get all of our items.
We got back to the shoe store, and Lauren ordered a pair of cowboy boots and a pair of leather booties while Justin ordered some dark brown leather dress shoes. We were told that they would be ready for a fitting the next day at 6pm.
After the shoe store, we headed back to the Airbnb to get out of the heat, and decided to take a dip in the cold, refreshing pool. On the way back, the clothing shop texted us to come by for another fitting, but we decided we still wanted to cool off in the pool first, so we continued with our plan. The pool felt great, and we met a few of the neighbors at the Villa, including a woman from New Jersey who was traveling to Asia for the first time with her husband who used to travel to this area a lot for business.
After our pool time, we got changed and headed over to our fitting. Justin’s clothes all fit great, but he is still waiting on some adjustments to his dress shirts, which will probably be ready to try on the next day. Lauren’s dress and suit still had some last minute adjustments, so we will hopefully have everything done by Sunday — well, everything that we already ordered. Lauren ended up ordering another pair of pants, a pair of shorts, and another dress. If we already have to ship everything home anyway….why not?
Using the key words “Gluten free” in google maps, we found a cute Italian restaurant which had GF pasta so decided to give it a try. We walked over there straight from the clothing store and ordered 2 pasta dishes - a bacon, red sauce GF fusilli and a creamy salmon tagliatelle. They also gave us each a shot of limoncello after we paid (Justin loved it and Lauren thought it tasted off). We really need to check out Italy so Justin can taste the real deal.
For our last stop of the night, we decided to check out the hidden gin bar which is owned by the same Mezcal bar owner. This bar — named Market Bar — was on the second floor of you guessed it: a market! It specialized in flavor-infused gin & tonics, proudly displaying jars where their gins were being infused with various flavors like strawberry basil & black pepper or pho. Justin tasted the pho one and it tasted exactly like a bowl of pho, but cold and with alcohol. They also had other gin & tonics that had flavors added - Justin also tried a G&T with cured orange, orange peel & cocoa nibs — also delicious! Lauren tried a cocktail called the Dawn in Saigon with rooibos-infused (think tea) gin, Lillet, lime juice, beetroot powder, and egg white. It was also very good and well-balanced. Lauren also had “The Dessert” which was a mini chocolate empanada and a mini cinnamon apple empanada served with a passionfruit coulis. These were also quite tasty.
Because it was raining and 20-minute walk, we decided to catch a Grab back to the Airbnb and pass out around 9pm. Overall, a lovely day.
