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Pho for breakfast:
Then my stepmum took me fabric shopping at the local 'markets with everything'. And I literally mean everything, from shoes and jewellery and clothing, to fabric and kitchenware, to meat and fish and vegies:
The problem with me is that I have a very limited shopping tolerance, and after a couple of shops with very much the same thing, I get bored and start taking pictures of architectural interest.
I just love the melange of house styles in Vietnam, all squished up next to each other and very distinct:
So, um, yes. There I am, in the middle of the markets, with a gap in the plastic roofing, where someone hasn't yet put up a tarp to shade them from the sun. Cheap goods all around me, my stepmum is trying to pick something as a gift for my mum (more on that in a minute)...and I'm neck-cricking with my camera pointed up at the sky while an elderly Vietnamese gentleman gives me the eyeball of "what is this strange tourist girl doing?"
But this house has balcony gardens - you can see the melons hanging down from the pergola up the top!
Way more interesting than buying stuff.
Although I did buy some stuff at the fancy dress shop (no bargaining).
This dress shop makes ao dai - the Vietnamese national dress, most commonly worn by women these days for weddings and suchlike. They had some beautiful fabrics:
And I bought two pieces in the end - same print, different colours:
They're going to end up as slip-dresses for summer. I have no idea where I'm going to wear them, but I couldn't go past the fabric...
Finally, as a pre-dinner 'snack', there was bunh xao
I had a little, but not much (and none of the shellfish) since we were going out to dinner 90 minutes later.
It was a French restaurant, the food was okay, but not particularly noteworthy in my books. (Yes, I'm a food snob.)
The architecture on the way home, however...
And now for the story of my stepmum trying to buy my mum a gift.
My stepmum is nearly 50, but looks probably 40ish. She loves bright and colourful (also: garish) things, and she's very Vietnamese.
My mum is past 60, and tends towards the classic and classy.
And the stepmum wants to give things to mum. Gifts and clothing and suchlike.
The last thing my stepmum gave mum wasn't very well thought-out. It's not that mum doesn't like the stepmum, I think she's kind of happy that my dad's finally settled down with someone who isn't a leech like my half-brother's mum. It's just that their tastes differ. A lot. Stepmum tends, um, a bit trashy. Mum, um, doesn't.
I had to veto about four things (too garish, wrong style, not something she'd ever wear, wrong colour) before I directed the stepmum to a slip dress that I think there's a chance mum might wear. Possibly.
*sigh*
Anyway, the stepmum bought it, and if mum doesn't wear it, there's an outside chance that it might fit me. Maybe. Oh, crap, I hope it fits mum. *facepalm*
Ladies, gents, and others; the dangers of shopping with enthusiastic stepmothers...
On the other hand, she can bargain things down like you would not believe!
Then my stepmum took me fabric shopping at the local 'markets with everything'. And I literally mean everything, from shoes and jewellery and clothing, to fabric and kitchenware, to meat and fish and vegies:
The problem with me is that I have a very limited shopping tolerance, and after a couple of shops with very much the same thing, I get bored and start taking pictures of architectural interest.
I just love the melange of house styles in Vietnam, all squished up next to each other and very distinct:
So, um, yes. There I am, in the middle of the markets, with a gap in the plastic roofing, where someone hasn't yet put up a tarp to shade them from the sun. Cheap goods all around me, my stepmum is trying to pick something as a gift for my mum (more on that in a minute)...and I'm neck-cricking with my camera pointed up at the sky while an elderly Vietnamese gentleman gives me the eyeball of "what is this strange tourist girl doing?"
But this house has balcony gardens - you can see the melons hanging down from the pergola up the top!
Way more interesting than buying stuff.
Although I did buy some stuff at the fancy dress shop (no bargaining).
This dress shop makes ao dai - the Vietnamese national dress, most commonly worn by women these days for weddings and suchlike. They had some beautiful fabrics:
And I bought two pieces in the end - same print, different colours:
They're going to end up as slip-dresses for summer. I have no idea where I'm going to wear them, but I couldn't go past the fabric...
Finally, as a pre-dinner 'snack', there was bunh xao
I had a little, but not much (and none of the shellfish) since we were going out to dinner 90 minutes later.
It was a French restaurant, the food was okay, but not particularly noteworthy in my books. (Yes, I'm a food snob.)
The architecture on the way home, however...
And now for the story of my stepmum trying to buy my mum a gift.
My stepmum is nearly 50, but looks probably 40ish. She loves bright and colourful (also: garish) things, and she's very Vietnamese.
My mum is past 60, and tends towards the classic and classy.
And the stepmum wants to give things to mum. Gifts and clothing and suchlike.
The last thing my stepmum gave mum wasn't very well thought-out. It's not that mum doesn't like the stepmum, I think she's kind of happy that my dad's finally settled down with someone who isn't a leech like my half-brother's mum. It's just that their tastes differ. A lot. Stepmum tends, um, a bit trashy. Mum, um, doesn't.
I had to veto about four things (too garish, wrong style, not something she'd ever wear, wrong colour) before I directed the stepmum to a slip dress that I think there's a chance mum might wear. Possibly.
*sigh*
Anyway, the stepmum bought it, and if mum doesn't wear it, there's an outside chance that it might fit me. Maybe. Oh, crap, I hope it fits mum. *facepalm*
Ladies, gents, and others; the dangers of shopping with enthusiastic stepmothers...
On the other hand, she can bargain things down like you would not believe!
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You did well, resisting all the beautiful fabrics! So nicely displayed too.
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The roof garden was fascinating anyways. Rafter melons!