Where in the world is Donna?: Hoi Anh from the perspective of the proud owner of red boots (that fit)

Hi again,

Still in Hoi Anh and we have had our first bit of rain. The wonderful tropical kind of rain that comes down in sheets, pauses for breath then comes down in sheets again, then parts to let the sunshine back in. There's water everywhere and the streets have turned to Mud. We got caught out in it yesterday and you can see why one of the locals' favourite purchases are plastic raincoats that reach from top to toe, usually spotty or floral. I was absolutely and completely and utterly drenched despite the umbrella! Not that it matters when it's so warm, really just serves to wash away the sweat and dirt - eeew. And I'm still in drought mode, I think, so the rain just seems like a slightly amusing blessing! At least as long as I still have dry clothes somewhere to change into every now and then.

So what to tell you since last time... well I have collected all of my clothing, which of course fits like a glove. The boots are VERY red, must admit that they are, erm, MORE red than I had imagined they would be, all made up, but they will be distinctive and I love them. So yesterday was fairly occupied by the various fittings ("you come back two hours, try again") ("ready at nine tomorrow, sorry sorry not now") ("more tight here, move out here, finish hole for button") etc. etc. Fun really. Compared to most of our group I have been incredibly restrained. One of the girls has spent about $1000 US and I am currently babysitting four pairs of boots for the Melbourne girls, one of whom is three inches taller than me and has bigger feet! Short people will not understand how happy this makes me but I know my Mum gets it. Particularly here where you feel like the jolly green giant most of the time in comparison to teeny weeny svelte little Vietnamese ladies in their Ao Dai. Ah well, can't help those German genes!

So what else to tell... I did the cooking class yesterday, which was great. We made five dishes - sweet and sour soup, Vietnamese spring rolls, banana leaf wrapped fish, eggplant in claypot and green papaya salad. Lurrrrrved the eggplant, it was spectacular. And as for the green papaya salad, words cannot express!!!! Sweet, salty, peanutty.... mmmmm. We visited the local market first, think tiny winding paths between scores of women squatting with simple baskets filled with home grown (or home caught) produce. Wiggling crabs, enormous tuna, tiny, glistening silver fish and every imaginable type of squid. Fragrant in a way that you can't really imagine if you haven't been to an Asian market before! It's that curious blend of fish, mud, sweat and probably some sort of effluent that you only seem to get in Asia.

Our instructor taught us how to pick the best vegetables and fruit and here are some pointers for my readers (and my memory):

1) to pick a good pineapple, try to pull out one of the centre leaves from the top. If it pulls out easily it will be sweeter. Pick the ones that have a green stem and not a brown one (the bottom bit). And they should be firm not squishy.

2) to get a good whole watermelon, knock on it. If it sounds hollow there's no one home, pick another one!

3) Lemon grass should be green at the bottom of the stem for chopping and adding to food. Use the yellow ones to flavour stocks etc., don't eat them as they're old.

The spring rolls were great. Keep an eye out for this in Australia - they have a kind of rice paper here that is more like a flat, lacy sheet of vermicelli noodles than it is like a sheet of paper. The spring rolls taste so much better and seem to absorb less oil (which isn't logical, but there you go). After we cooked, we ate - and enjoyed. We got to keep a recipe book to take home so maybe there is a Vietnamese dinner party planned for sometime in the future in downtown Hampton!

To continue on with the food theme, I'll tell you about the "crazy lovely" dinner at a local restaurant. Our guide took us to this tiny restaurant, which apparently chefs from all over the world, including someone from the Anchorage in Sydney, have visited and raved about. It's the most insane experience. We ducked down an itty bitty alleyway in a nondescript part of Hoi Anh and were seated outdoors in the alley, at a woddly table with chairs that bit (literally - two of us bled!) The "kitchen" was to our left, outside of course, but there was no opportunity for watching the food get prepared. We were basically engufled in a what could be best described as a food tornado. Food arrived faster than you would believe humanly possible and you ate fast, faster! because if you didn't eat fast enough to please the hostess, you got fed. Literally! Madame Mimi (I think that was her name) was the proud owner of red spotty nails that would come at you from all angles, offering pineapple (direct to mouth), demonstrating rolling techniques for the ricepaper rolls (also pushed toward your mouth) or even, in one case, washing a fellow traveller's face like a small boy! Classic. All the food was shared and no plates were on offer, only newspaper that you spread on your lap. Lucky that, as it was incredibly messy! Everything was delicious and needed to be wrapped in rice paper and eaten with glutton-like abandon. We might even head back there again tonight, as I don't think anyone suffered any after effects from that particular meal. As per usual I seem to be weathering the storm OK, gastrointestinally speaking, whilst some of the others are getting to spend a lot of quality time in the bathroom.... ah the joys of travel!