Hoi An, I’m your man

One day prior to the CEC drama, I had booked a trip to Hoi An for a solid four days. When I heard about the office closing, I was not cancelling my trip. Anything I’d have to deal with, I would face on Monday. The people at my office are very understanding, which I am thankful for. Hoi An turned out to be fantastische!

I spent my days wandering around the small town of Hoi An which is filled with ancient Chinese culture, silk tailors and dressmakers, and a nice beach about 15 minutes away by biking. I also visited ancient the Cham ruins called “My Son”. I LOOOOOVE RUINS of any sort! So it was very exciting for me. Cham people came from Java in Indonesia and these people practised Hinduism, which was apparent in the architecture. Many of the ruins were damaged by the Vietnam War, yet Hoi An town miraculously maintains its charm of old Chinese assembly halls and houses.

It sounds like my dream town, people. I need culture, fashion, beaches, nature, bicycles and cheap food to sustain myself. However, Hoi An was far from sustainable. Not gonna lie, I spent a lot of $$$ getting beautiful freaking amazing clothes made because that is what the town is renowned for. In Canada, how much does it cost to get a dress made? My mom is a tailor, so maybe $200-500 depending on the fabric and elaboration. In Hoi An, it’s about $25-40 USD for a very nice dress, with the option of having it in silk. It costs more for details. Well, I’m a huge sucker for details, elaboration, and quality. So you can imagine me in a town like Hoi An where all the tailors and dressmakers are lining the streets like crazy. They are almost impossible to escape. Not sure if I was in heaven or in hell. Oh, and for the men, it’s about $80-$150 to get a suit made for you. A SUIT. How many hundreds of dollars does that cost in Canada?!?

Despite the fun times in Hoi An, I felt lonely yet again, but this is a feeling I am getting used to. I kept myself very busy and I chilled out at night by the television. Highlight of Hoi An television: MTV Asia, which played Michael Jackson videos for about 1 hour <3

Other highlights included: the singing garbage truck. Every day, the garbage truck comes by and it sings some sort of ancient Vietnamese tune in midi-format. I thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately, I could not get a video of it, but the tune will forever remain in my heart.

Hoi An sounds like a town of dreams, of course, but some unfortunate things did happen. I won’t go into too much detail about this, but I basically printed out pictures of garments I wanted to get made. I came prepared. I showed many high-end tailors and they were charging $60-80 for one detailed outfit I wanted. I find one (sketchy) place and they said they would do it for $40. I should have known, ohhhh, I should have known…

This is where I learned my biggest lesson: If it’s not expensive, it’s SHIT. It’s absolute shit.

Surprised by the low price, I paid the deposit all dumbfounded. I came in the next day for a fitting, and I almost cried. The outfit looked nothing like the picture. I was fuming. The tailor came up with many excuses. “My machine cannot do that kind of detail”, and “The fabric you chose was too difficult”.

YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT BEFORE, WOMAN!!!!!!

I would have known to avoid your unprofessional “business”.

*Deep breath*. Lesson learned in the tailoring world: Go to high-end places. ALWAYS. I lost $10 deposit and I ended up paying $20 for a skirt that wasn’t even what I wanted, but I thought, whatever. I am going to ask my mom to fix it.

After that, the days started to improve!!! Not. I went to an Agribank ATM to take out some cash. Ten minutes later, I go into a store to pick something up, I looked into my wallet and I see 1.4 million VND missing (around $90 CDN). Yes, I start bawling my eyes out. I ask for help – people in Hoi An speak very good English – but no one could do anything for me. Reporting it to the police wasn’t even an option because nobody knows “who” took the money.

You don’t understand. I guard my bag like a HAWK. A hawwwwwwwwk! How could this happen to me of all people? A poor, blundering yet cautious student loses 1 month worth of food, or almost 1 month’s rent.

I returned back to Saigon and I was happier than ever to come home and just chill. I could have used more days in the beautiful beach in Hoi An, but I just needed to get away from that scheming yet lovely hole. I created some budgeting goals to make up for the lost money. Erin = not a person who is good at extreme budgeting and intense self-control. Let me repeat in different words: I lack a lot of willpower. I am not good at restraints. I do what I feel is natural. I AM ANIMAL.

Now I’m back at work and I’m just procrastinating.