Hoi An Day 3

On day 3 in Hoi An we were up early for a cooking class with Thuan Tinh Island Tours. I wasn't feeling great after a night of frequent toilet trips, which did not seem to be letting up! Our first stop was the market, where we were to pick up all the food we were using to cook. I actually skipped that part due to not feeling well, but the rest of the group said it was interesting... The indoor meat market was full of women cutting up huge slabs of meat. In the fish section there was a lot of fishy juice on the floor and the people working there were wearing wellies - not a great time to be in flip flops!

After the market we took a 45 minute boat ride to an island for our cooking class. There were 12 people total in our group which was a nice size for this sort of thing. We made four different courses, which all tasted amazing. I wish I could cook that well on my own at home! Everyone really loved this part of our trip and I would highly recommend it if you are in Hoi An. Our guide was excellent, and the female chef made everything so simple for us, while making us laugh throughout the four courses. We also got some cooking chopsticks plus the recipes to take home.

On the way back Andy and I had to stop in at Yaly Couture to pick up his suit and my dress. Andy's suit was well done, he was pretty happy with it, and I think there was very little that had to be done to fix it up. My dress, however, was a disaster! I think a pregnant woman's measurements were not something they were used to sewing. I almost wanted to just walk away and lose my deposit, but they were insistent on fixing it. So we went to get something to drink while they altered the dress, returning to the shop after an hour. When I got back it was better, but still not perfect. They could see that I wasn't happy, so took the dress to be altered again. I lost track of how many times I got them to take it back, but there was a point where I was satisfied enough to just take it. So I wasn't overjoyed with my experience there, but I do have to say their willingness to keep working on the dress until I said it was fine was appreciated. Upon returning home I've worn the dress to work a few times and actually got quite a few compliments on it, so I supposed it's turned out ok in the end! The fabric is stretchy so it's grown with me through the pregnancy, and because of the way it was cut I think it will be easy to get it altered again here to fit my once the baby is out. (And all the baby weight is gone...) So, definitely not a total loss! 

When we got back to our hotel we celebrated Lee and Claire's engagement with a bottle of Dom Perignon that Craig had brought for them. How gutting is it to be pregnant while there is expensive champagne to be had?! After that everyone went out for dinner, however I was exhausted from the day, and still having to use the toilet, ahem, rather frequently. I opted to stay in and order room service, and read my book (The Girl on the Train... GREAT holiday read!), and of course take advantage of the worlds best bathtub and have another bath before we left our beautiful accommodation at East West Villas.

The next morning we were up early for our flight to Hanoi. I was sad to leave Hoi An, it was definitely my favourite place we visited in Vietnam, but I was also excited for the last leg of our trip. We had a cruise in Halong Bay to look forward to, plus we were meeting up with our friend Alison from England as well!

Check out my talented husband's video of the first half of our trip...