Holding on to Hoi An
Sitting here in Singapore on a Sunday night and an old episode of No Reservations has got me thinking.
It's the one where the show's host, Anthony Bourdain, is in central Vietnam experiencing Hoi An for the first time. He's eating banh mi at the local markets. He's walking the little pedestrian-only streets that weave between centuries-old shop houses. And he's discovering he likes it so much he wants to know if it's a place he could actually live for a while.
Enter Ly Tran, wife of Duc Tran, owner of two of the best restaurants you'll find not just in Hoi An, but anywhere (if you ask me). She leads Anthony around the area on scooters, showing him housing options that run the gamut from bare-bones traditional to too-good-to-be-true.
I start to reminisce because everything about the episode is so familiar, right down to Bourdain's lovely tour guide. Claire and I got to know Ly (and, of course, Duc) during our two years living in Vietnam. So much so that they invited us to their wedding. And every time we visit Hoi An (which is often, even since we moved to Singapore), we get to spend time with at least one of them.
That means a lot to us, a couple of expats who wondered at the outset of this adventure if we were going to meet anyone we would click with.
And Hoi An means a lot to us, too. As No Reservations showed, there are so many aspects to it that get under your skin... in a good way.
Which is why we're excited to go back, for about the dozenth time, in a few weeks. Technically, it's a business trip for us. But we'll find a way to walk the town's wondrous side streets, sit riverside one night and soak up the reflection of illuminated silk lanterns, and get some of that banh mi. Can't go without the banh mi.
It's the one where the show's host, Anthony Bourdain, is in central Vietnam experiencing Hoi An for the first time. He's eating banh mi at the local markets. He's walking the little pedestrian-only streets that weave between centuries-old shop houses. And he's discovering he likes it so much he wants to know if it's a place he could actually live for a while.
Enter Ly Tran, wife of Duc Tran, owner of two of the best restaurants you'll find not just in Hoi An, but anywhere (if you ask me). She leads Anthony around the area on scooters, showing him housing options that run the gamut from bare-bones traditional to too-good-to-be-true.
I start to reminisce because everything about the episode is so familiar, right down to Bourdain's lovely tour guide. Claire and I got to know Ly (and, of course, Duc) during our two years living in Vietnam. So much so that they invited us to their wedding. And every time we visit Hoi An (which is often, even since we moved to Singapore), we get to spend time with at least one of them.
That means a lot to us, a couple of expats who wondered at the outset of this adventure if we were going to meet anyone we would click with.
And Hoi An means a lot to us, too. As No Reservations showed, there are so many aspects to it that get under your skin... in a good way.
Which is why we're excited to go back, for about the dozenth time, in a few weeks. Technically, it's a business trip for us. But we'll find a way to walk the town's wondrous side streets, sit riverside one night and soak up the reflection of illuminated silk lanterns, and get some of that banh mi. Can't go without the banh mi.
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