Hoi An was our second most favourite destination. The whole town was a backpacker's playground.
Food was cheap and pretty good. 
We had baguettes for breakfast daily with really yummy iced coffee shakes. 
This was Vietnamese-style banana pancake: more dense, less fluffy but rich like butter cake. 
The first thing we did was to check out the tailor and shoe shops. We tailored a whole bunch of outfits and shoes. I loike.
Then we rented motorbikes, a quick and easy way to explore the rest of Hoi An.
Here, Aidil stops for a chat and a photo op with his best friend.
There were more in the paddy fields. 
Moooo. 
I love the countryside. 
We rode to Tra Que vegetable farm. Everything's so green. 
It was definitely my kind of place. 
I love gardens and farms. 
Hoi An has two beaches - HA Beach and China Beach. 
Both were awesome. 
Again, clean sand and great waves. 
How can you not love a beach like this? 
But sometimes the waters can get rough. 
We had to look out for the red flag, advising beach goers against swimming. 
There were several small beach cafes and we stopped at one for a seafood lunch. 
Hot Vietnamese tea and fresh pineapple juice. 
Aidil asked for fried clams with lots of chilli. These were so good we had 2 plates. 
Fried rice with fish. 
Fried rice with crab. 
Apart from the beach, we loved exploring the Old Quarter. 
Here I bought many colourful silk lanterns, ones I had been coveting for some time. 
There's plenty to buy at the Old Quarter: oil paintings by new Vietnamese artists, traditional handicrafts, textiles, beaded accessories and much more.
Again, we had seafood, rice and fresh juices.
And yummy fresh vegetable spring rolls.
Hoi An is a great place to shop, play and unwind.
Food was cheap and pretty good. We had baguettes for breakfast daily with really yummy iced coffee shakes. This was Vietnamese-style banana pancake: more dense, less fluffy but rich like butter cake. The first thing we did was to check out the tailor and shoe shops. We tailored a whole bunch of outfits and shoes. I loike.
Then we rented motorbikes, a quick and easy way to explore the rest of Hoi An.Here, Aidil stops for a chat and a photo op with his best friend.There were more in the paddy fields. Moooo. I love the countryside. We rode to Tra Que vegetable farm. Everything's so green. It was definitely my kind of place. I love gardens and farms. Hoi An has two beaches - HA Beach and China Beach. Both were awesome. Again, clean sand and great waves. How can you not love a beach like this? But sometimes the waters can get rough. We had to look out for the red flag, advising beach goers against swimming. There were several small beach cafes and we stopped at one for a seafood lunch. Hot Vietnamese tea and fresh pineapple juice. Aidil asked for fried clams with lots of chilli. These were so good we had 2 plates. Fried rice with fish. Fried rice with crab. Apart from the beach, we loved exploring the Old Quarter. Here I bought many colourful silk lanterns, ones I had been coveting for some time. There's plenty to buy at the Old Quarter: oil paintings by new Vietnamese artists, traditional handicrafts, textiles, beaded accessories and much more. All the silk items are especially worth getting. These silk boxes contain lovely ties with matching cuff links and hankerchiefs. These were a really good buy because shops here in Singapore sell them for S$30 whereas we only paid S$5 per box in Hoi An. I got 2 boxes for my dad and he loved them. 
I must say, the more I travel, the more I am beginning to realise that stuff sold here in shops and online are so very overpriced. I can understand why stores might mark up the prices but for online stores to sell tops and blouses for above S$30 for example when I know the item might actually retail for S$10 in Thailand or Vietnam and might cost only S$6 to make, now that's just ridiculous. Those online stores which are just re-selling items bought dirt cheap from elsewhere and not actually designing original pieces are so blatantly out to make a quick buck. Boo. 
Anyway! Back to the Old Quarter. Here's the Japanese bridge and here's Aidil goofing around.
We love the alley ways.
Everything's so vintage and oriental. 
Even the cafes have a certain old school charm.
I must say, the more I travel, the more I am beginning to realise that stuff sold here in shops and online are so very overpriced. I can understand why stores might mark up the prices but for online stores to sell tops and blouses for above S$30 for example when I know the item might actually retail for S$10 in Thailand or Vietnam and might cost only S$6 to make, now that's just ridiculous. Those online stores which are just re-selling items bought dirt cheap from elsewhere and not actually designing original pieces are so blatantly out to make a quick buck. Boo. 
Anyway! Back to the Old Quarter. Here's the Japanese bridge and here's Aidil goofing around.
We love the alley ways.
Everything's so vintage and oriental. 
Even the cafes have a certain old school charm. 
Again, we had seafood, rice and fresh juices.
And yummy fresh vegetable spring rolls. Hoi An is a great place to shop, play and unwind. 
