A story about a tailor

Still in Vietnam folks, gad could this be more paralysing slow than what I'm posting at the moment! (sorry, writing on my other blog www.keeponmovinggirls.blogspot.com with countdown to the Oxfam trailwalker event underway!)

Hoi An in Vietnam is a gorgeous little french influenced town, a few kms away from a lovely stretch of beach - think China Beach, South China Sea, and with a lovely little, totally walkable "old town" with stunning building and good shopping. But for many Hoi An is all about tailors and getting clothes made for next to nothing in next to no time at all. Those in the know turn up with picturse ripped out of Vogue magazines, fabric preferences, and all the details they need to copy whatever they're wnating. They go to Hoi An for their cheaps suits, their copy designer dresses, their new wardrobe. But not me. Knowing we had only a day and a half in Hoi An, I didn't bother doing any research into what I could have made if I had the chance. Nup, I'd do other stuff I thought, I'm not going to spend our time faffing around with fittings and indecision. In fact they have been my actual words. What I had done though was look at my trusty friend Trip Advisor and see what the top 10 things to do in Hoi An were, with the No 1 being - to visit To To Boutique. This is what it said:

To To Boutique is a professional tailor in Hoi An who makes clothing made to measure. They use excellent traditional tailoring techniques and high quality garments and fabrics to ensure a perfect fit. They are considered one of the best and most reliable tailors in Vietnam and have a wide range of designs covering both classic and more modern designs. Whether looking for a suit, evening dress, shirt or even casual clothing To To is an excellent choice.

Whatever, I thought, but as we stepped outside our hotel for the very first time, the first thing I saw right beside our hotel was....To To Boutique. This was too good an opportunity to miss, so I told The Husband I'd just ENQUIRE how long it would take to make "something" and then we'd be off. But they told me they could turn something around in 24 hours. So it started. My first mistake...I paniced into what I needed or could have made. I had absolutely no idea, just random thoughts. The sort of helpful people showed me some old Next catalogues circa 2002, they would have to do. So i started flicking. Then I remembered that my extremely stylish friend Sarah had a gorgeous A lined white linen racer back sun dress made in NZ. Righto, I wanted one of those. Next I remembered I had tried to buy a Witchery white tuxedo racerback waistcoat, but they had sold out, I'll get one of those too, and lastly I realised a few days earlier that I needed something other than short shorts to go out in in the evenings in Vietnam (remember I had only packed 12 kg of luggage shared with the Husband), so a pair of black wide legged linen pants was added to the Must Have list. So 3 items, for around US$150 (hmm, maybe not quite the bargain I thought but was on a roll by now). Are you thinking how random this collection is, if not convinced of it yet let me tell you this decision was made in about 20 very hot minutes (complete with measurements). So two fittings later my outfits were completed, 15 mins before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport. Verdict 1/3. My black pants are ok, my white waistcoat is ok, but quite short and gapes, well, where my boobs are, and the white dress...a complete disaster. As The Husband said, "that will be perfect if you ever need a nurses outfit". Approx $70 USD for a white nurses dress. What was I thinking????

Vietnam Again

No this isn't a travel blog but goddamn, Vietnam is such an interesting, dirty, smelly crazy place that I need to fill you in....Hanoi, we landed and since we were on such a short trip we had to squeeze as much as possible into each day. Even the day when we arrived. The Husband will agree with me when I say it normally takes me a day or two to get into the groove of any holiday, especially ones overseas that have required leaving my kids and doing lots of organising beforehand. But as we were driving in surrounded by poverty and mad traffic, all my senses were heightened and alarm bells were ringing - I haven't got time to ease myself into this I have to be running as soon as we arrive. And that's what we did - straight into a DIY walking tour of Hanoi, complete with Saturday afternoon craziness, markets, motorbikes, people and general OMG'ness! Each meal had to count, each hour had to count - and what we realised is that I'm the MasterChef (god I love that programme) when it comes to pre-trip planning, but The Husband , well on-the-ground trip management is his strength, he broke the day into chunks and sort of knew exactly what we'd do in each of them. And so our 1/2 first day was walking, immersing ourselves and finding ourselves perfect spots for Bier Hoi sundowners (the local beer brew - about AUD$1). Our first day was capped off with a crowded outdoor street "bar" packed full of Vietnamese men sitting on tiny stools drinking beer. We joined them, and then when the guys next to us ordered food, we got what they did and had one of our ultimate Vietnam food experiences - Spicy Papaya salad and cold beer, sitting on tiny plastic stools in the rain. Now that's a long way from Sydney.

My article

I won't do this often I promise .....

http://blog.cruises.com.au/

Backpacking

I know I've been back from Vietnam for weeks now, but I'm in the midst of a writing course as well as writing my other blog about our Oxfam training so sorry this has gathered a few cobwebs lately. I have a zillion stories to tell and I will gradually get them down!
So Vietnam, The Husband and my objective for this 10 day trip was to have the kind of holiday we couldn't have with our kids, to be together again as a couple (rather than as parents who are a couple) and to go hard and have fabulous experiences. And to get in the zone we thought that instead of taking our smart luggage on wheels, we'd dust off our backpack and travel like we used to, before we had kids, or smart suitcases on wheels. We packed so conservatively that our total luggage weight was only 12kgs. In fact we even decided to catch a bus and a train to the airport rather than a taxi, although the reality was a taxi would have only been ever-so-slightly more expensive but so much less hassle. In the interests of saving money, we'd booked with the cheapest airline we could find online (Malaysian Airline), however there is lots to be said for booking through travel agents, because you actually get a real itenerary, flight times, transit details, even flight routes, none of which we had with our booking. So it wasn't until we were at the airport did we realise that we were actually flying through Brisbane - a small 3 hour diversion, and that we had 5 hours in Kuala Lumpar airport. Small details, we thought. Anyway I won't bore you with our long flight, apart from the fact that those hosties on Malaysian Airline had the teeny weeniest waists I'd ever seen, they were smidges of women impeccably dressed in tiny, tiny dresses. First feeling starting to develop of feeling like an elephant, and a badly dressed one too.
Arriving in Hanoi and in the midst of the swine flu fears, we were herded through a temperature measuring station kind of thing. No swish electronic heat detecting equipment like you'd find in Sydney Airport, no, instead we lined up and had a thermometer rammed in our ear. And was it like at the doctors when a new hygienic cap is placed on it each time it is used? Unfortunately no, just the same thermometer being used over and over and over again.... What would you have done? The time we had to make a decision was about 3 seconds when we realised what was about to happen.. Option A) Make a fuss in front of everyone, raising fears that you have swine flu and potentially getting put in hospital or the next flight back out or Option B) Have a dirty well used thermometer rammed in your ear, then move on and continue your holiday.

Lets just hope that swine flu can't be transmitted through ear wax.

Oh, and when we picked up our luggage from the conveyor belt, we saw that one of our backpack straps was ripped and broken. Possibly bad handling by airport staff but more likely from rot and the trauma of being used for the first time in 10 years.

Only in Australia...

Before I start my Vietnam stories, here's a article from the local newspaper. Now my sincere apologies to anyone who may be offended by my inclusion of this as an "item of interest" on my blog, but really, we're talking about a freaking possum here...

"Fur Flies Over Possum Death"
An Ingleside company has lost its contract with City of Sydney Council after it accidently killed a possum while cutting down a tree last week. The company said the possum's death was the result of poor communication and has apologised for the incident. It said one worker had been stood down and counselling for other staff was being arranged. A council spokesman said "The City of Sydney deeply regrets the incident and shares the anger and disgust of residents..." The Tree Services owner said "Our company deeply regrets the pain caused to any living being and apologises unreservedly for this incident".

This was a serious news item. And it's about a possum.

A Gig!

I have my first writing job! Admittedly it's a non-paying one, but still it's a start and a good one. Exciting!!! Now I just need to do it!

Given Up on Me Yet?

Gad, I'm here , I'm not, what am I doing??? Well I'm actually busy for a change. I'm doing an awesome online writing course (with homework), that I'm squeezing in between my actual writing, as well as spending about a zillion hours and dollars at the dentist (that will learn me for not having gone to the dentist for about 10 years - I have a clean slate now, as well as almost exceptionally excellent teeth!!!). Anyhow free time that doesn't involve children, teeth, training, house stuff or writing have been scarce. But hang in there, I haven't even begun to bore you about Vietnam, although I have some awesome photos from our new flashy camera to show you! Also if you're interested in checking out a new blog I've started for our Oxfam walk then go to www.keeponmovinggirls.blogspot.com and check that out weekly where I'll update on any walks we've been doing. Become a follower, even maybe make a donation and we'll love you forever!!!