Suit Day
Trip Start
May 24, 2009
1
28
34
Trip End
Jul 20, 2009
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
We started off the day very late, not waking until like 1:30, which meant we had our customary waiting period for lunch because we took our malaria tablets (you can't eat for an hour after taking them). So we messed around watching the end of The Hulk 2, before heading downstairs to ask about locations of tailors. On the way to lunch we thought we might stop by and ask the pricing. I think we ended up at a different place than was recommended, we went to Nam Silk, and were sucked in. They all tell you that they can't quote a price without you choosing a fabric, so we obliged and ended up getting measured for a suit and shirt. The process was pretty smooth, I only wish I had snapped some photos during the process.
Cool Sign
Afterwards we had some lunch, and then headed to the market. We were really surprised by the incredible number of knock off items (many of which we bought) for such cheap prices. It was a ton of fun to haggle with the shopkeepers and people in the market.
Afterwards we headed home and got some dinner before retiring for the night, a pretty uneventful day really.
The next day followed a very similar patter to the first. We woke up around the same time, had lunch next door to the place we ate the day before (they took credit cards, which helps us avoid the ATM fees they charge here), but before going to the tailor we went traipsing around the city looking at some of the sights. We saw the main post office, which was pretty cool, and the people's hall (their capitol I think), the cathedral, and the independence palace (which you can't really see, except for the guards and walls around it).
After that we went to shower and then to see our suits. We were pretty pleased overall, though we both wanted some of the neck brought in, and I wanted my pants to come up a bit, as I thought they broke too low on my shoes (of course I didn't have proper dress shoes to test this theory). They delivered the fixed products about 4 hours later to our hotel. My only complaint was that they forgot to put the top button back on my shirt after bringing in the neck. All this cost us each $80.
After telling the tailor what alterations we wanted made, we headed back to the market in search of some shirts, but after a couple of hours of haggling and hard work by the sellers, we came home empty handed. Then it was time for dinner, some time online to investigate what we were doing in Hanoi, and off to bed.
