Serendipity meant that we couldn’t get into Morning Glory – the much hyped must-do restaurant in Hoi An. It was heaving, and even though in theory we could have waited for a table none of us really fancied the queuing element, or the being squashed in when we got there element. Instead we decided to go off-piste, and found ourselves traipsing the streets until we followed a sign that took us down a dark alley way to a small eating place. Hoi An does feel really safe, but it was good to be in a group as I felt more confident exploring with others especially at night in the dark.
The place we stumbled on had a Vietnamese group already eating there, and some empty plastic tables and chairs. A rather harassed looking woman beckoned us in, and we looked at the menu which unexpectedly was in both vietnamese and English – though due to Tet we understood that not everything was on offer. We sat in a sot of courtyard, the family living area on one side of the square, with TV and motorbike in evidence, then the kitchen on another, and you could see into the washing up area. There were two very small girls playing with a new toy (presumably a Tet gift) which looked like a sort of hard plastic minature football. You put in a large key to wind it up, put it on the floor, and it played a tiny version of the theme tune for ‘Beverley Hill Cops’ I think, whilst lights flashed, not for very long, it being a wind-up mechanism, but long enough for the little girls to dance delightedly around to its tune. If only we’d had them too at New Year’s Eve we could have had even more of a party!
The problem was, that the winding mechanism was tricky, and the littllest of the two girls kept pleading with her mother to wind it again for her, but her mum was trying to take orders, clean tables, do everything else. There was an older boy (son) who was industriously making our passion and pineapple milkshakes. From the time it took for them to appear this apparently involved growing, harvesting and peeling them, as well as crushing them into our shakes. It was a scene of great activity.
I don’t really do small children on the whole, I don’t know how to interact with them properly, but these girls were just gorgeous. One of our group enticed them over to show us their toy (but in an appropriate Mary Poppins rather than mean child-snatcher way). Once their confidence grew they were all over her, and the games and dancing and interactions got more and more affectionate and elaborate. It was joyful to watch! With the permission of their mum, our group member gave each of the three children 1,000 VD (not a big sum, 100,000 VD is about $5) for Tet. At this their mum visibly relaxed and was delighted to see her kids interact.
There was much photographing and the two girls posed proficiently, delightedly they demanded that photos were taken again and again, and then earnestly examined the pictures on phones and mobiles before doing it all over again. It was really great. It kept us all entertained whilst we were waiting for the food to arrive and seemed a meaningful exchange. At various points the girls took possession of the camera/ phones and did their own random shots, completely filling the memory on our companion’s mobile phone. Hilarious. Hilarious and joyous.
As we paid and left there was much mutual thanking and cries of Chuc Mung Nam Moi, and the proprietor thrust her restaurant’s card in our hands and urged us to return. Unlikely, but if possible their is an intention to send photos by post at some future date (there is no email alas, through which to communicate).
Another grand night out through embracing the possibilities of the unknown!
Quietly Terrified 