Having a wonderful time at a weekend BBQ/Braai/Barbie with our American, Canadian, Australian, Singaporean, South African and British friends.

Bread, cheese, salmon, capers, caviar, goat cheese stuffed red peppers. A very decadent and delicious picnic! Much fancier than the PB& J sandwiches I probably would have packed!

The ballet was a compilation of dances from the Singapore Ballet Company and Manila Ballet Company. The final dance of the night was scene two from Swan Lake which was breathtaking.

Daily struggle of poverty (selling packets of toothpicks for 24 cents)

Good Morning Vietnam -best (gorgonzola) gnocchi I have ever had in my life. Loved the food so much we went back the next night and ordered the same thing. Also got a chance to meet the owner who was from Venice. We begged for the gnocchi recipe and he gave us a rough outline of how to make it but its pretty intimidating to try to duplicate perfection.

Bright emerald green rice paddies lined the winding road along our 4 km ride to the beach.


The crystal blue water at the beach was clean and beautiful and the beach was mostly empty mid-morning on a Friday.

The staff were wonderful, anticipating your every need with incredible attention to detail. They remembered that the first day I ordered a cup of green tea with breakfast in the morning so by the time we arrived at the breakfast the next morning my cup of tea was ready and waiting.

Ha An offered the best breakfast buffet I have ever indulged in and the best part was that it was included in the room rate of $70. There was an omelet station, a station making Pho noodles along with tons of fresh fruit, Vietnamese delicacies, pastas, pastries and cheeses.



The icing on the cake for me was the unlimited use of the hotels bright yellow touring bikes with baskets. We road these bikes to and from tailoring appointments, the beach, to explore the city.

The fanciest tailor shop in town is called A Dong Silk. They have the best quality and selection of fabrics and receive amazing reviews from almost every customer. I had 2 Thai silk dresses made there which turned out beautifully! Through this whole process I have learned that part of the success in tailoring comes from multiple fittings. A Dong silk had me return for 3 fittings, the shoe shop had 2 fittings and Emma (the tailor who did all my other dresses) had me come back for 3.

The dresses from A Dong Silk were a bit more expensive but my custom shoes were $30 and custom dresses from Emma's were $20. A bargain if you remember these dresses are made exactly for your body by some of the best tailors in the world!

Emma and I at the end of my 3rd fitting. I was so happy with all of my dresses and Emma was so happy that I was so happy that she awarded me an impromptu (Vietnamese style) Cha Cha Cha dance.

Hoi An is a sleepy little river side town located on the banks of the Thu Bon river. A World Heritage site thats full of fishing boats with eyes painted on and lit up by small oil lanterns at night. Its a romantic place with narrow streets packed with excellent restaurants, beautiful craft shops and lots of tailors.

Although scenic during the day, I found it the most beautiful at night with colorful paper lanterns hanging from trees and small oil lanterns illuminating the river.

No cars or motorcycles are allowed inside the Old Town part of Hoi An. This made it incredibly pleasant to ride bikes or stroll along the narrow streets which we did nearly everyday. By the end of our stay, many of the shopkeepers would cheerfully greet us as we rode by.