Tam Thanh Mural Village

April 23, 2017April 23, 20171 Comment

You know the feeling when you live in a place for so long that you rarely break out of your own routines to explore your own town? Well, living in Hoi An has been quite a dream for us as we get to enjoy many different aspects of life, from sunbathing by the beach, lunch by the river, sunset cocktails by the rice paddies, to dinner in the old beautiful lantern town…, but sometimes it is so nice to take a road trip into the countryside to have a fresh look at our own beloved town from the eyes of a tourist.

So long story short, we had been meaning to take a day trip to Tam Thanh Mural Village for a while, but it was not until we met up again with our lovely guests Jean-Pierre and Tina, who had also been to Hoi An for three times and were looking for a new experience, that we were determined to drive one hour down South to see what all the hype about this place was about. And then came one of the loveliest days during our whole time in Hoi An!

If Tam Thanh was just another quaint Vietnamese fishing village in a little less than a year ago, it has now completely transformed into a beautiful living art gallery that celebrates the local culture, people and nature. This amazing makeover was thanks to a joint initiative by the Korean Community Art Exchange Program and the Vietnamese People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province to bring art to the people. The project was carried out over the course of two weeks in the summer of 2016 by five Korean artists, seven Vietnamese artists, and a group of local volunteers to complete over 100 murals. And the results are just astonishingly beautiful.

As we strolled down the main road of the village, we felt as if we had stepped into unicorn land with an unexpected explosion of colors. Each house had its own story with unique themes and color palettes, from beautiful Vietnamese girl with the most mesmerizing eyes, to funny character from Frozen popping out of an alleyway, to a piece of satire art with a hidden meaning. We even got to meet a tailor and his family who were the subject of a beautiful wall art in his own home. Every time we looked into an alleyway, we came across more beautiful murals trailing down the houses toward the beach. It truly was an amazing experience.

As a Vietnamese, I can really appreciate the effects of this project on the lives of the locals. In a way, the murals have really added a fresh breath of life into the Tam Thanh village. We met with proud grandmother who insisted us to go down her alleyway to see more hidden artworks. Group after group of young schoolboys with the biggest smiles waved and said hello to us as they passed by on the way home from school. The locals’ quality of living have certainly been improved thanks to large number of tourists visiting their village, but at the same time, you could still feel the warm and genuine hospitality through welcoming smiles and friendly waves. I really hope there would be more similar projects to bring spectacular works of living art to the many beautiful yet sleepy corners of Vietnam.

And here are some of the artworks that Jean-Pierre has skillfully captured to get you excited! Don’t forget to check out this amazing project to see all the other murals for yourself!

Words of Encouragement

October 16, 2016Leave a comment

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Friends always think that we have a really cool job. Making drinks, talking with guests, chilling out by the swimming pool, living in this really cool town… Of course, we are so happy right where we are, but it is impossible to explain the long working hours, the stress of finding the right staff, the burden of getting our place more visible to the world. So, if you can picture how much motivation and happiness and energy and excitement we feel every time we read a review from our amazing guests. Well, multiple that by ten times and that’s how grateful we are with kind words from our guests.

Like this one from Travis and Camille, a lovely couple from the US that chose to spend 5 nights with us back in July. They were also the first couple that we went out for dinner with (a very boozy night at H’Mong Sisters indeed). Thank you Camille for a lovely drawing in our guestbook (it is exactly how we remember you guys!), and Travis for a beautifully-written review (our family thinks you must be, or should be, a writer!). We hope to see you guys again soon, in New York or Hanoi!

“Within this outpost of civilization and good taste, you will find wine, music, architecture, fluffy cotton towels, a gorgeous black-bottom infinity pool, and best of all, two perfect hosts and conversationalists, Loïc and Van Anh Diels. The staff, trained by your hosts and some of their international colleagues in the hospitality industry, is attentive and unobtrusive, which, as travelers familiar with Vietnam will know, is a perk not to be taken for granted. You will remember forever the rice paddies that sprawl into the mountainous distance around you; the loafing water buffalos, the perching storks. You’ll remember forever the house cocktails, conceived and executed by Loïc the artist, of lavender and rosemary infused gins. I say artist instead of “mixologist” because the latter term smacks of too much science. Nothing about this stunningly renovated French Colonial plantation house with gorgeous flooring and fixtures feels like cold, hard science even if your hosts both have masters degrees in hospitality and likely orchestrate very much when you aren’t looking. Finally, there’s the pricing. Belgian beers and imported wines are priced seemingly at cost. Guests will note a sense of honest restraint where they might elsewhere expect absurd mark-ups and service fees associated with, say, having food delivered or day trips organized. Here again we see that at Heron House the dismal science of life is suppressed, and the art of it set free.”

Pomelo Ginger Gin

August 12, 2016August 15, 2016Leave a comment

It’s quite serious, Loïc has turned into some sort of chemist since we opened Heron House. He has dedicated his heart and soul (and probably liver too) to experimenting and infusing the best liquor and cocktails in Hoi An. And goodness, the final results are surprisingly good too. As much as I love the special Lavender G&T, which has become a part of my daily diet, I have to give Loïc credit for his creativity in turning the freshest local ingredients into delicious cocktails. And with the Vietnamese sweet pomelo in season right now, we have been busy testing out the best pomelo gin recipe to offer to our guests.

The Vietnamese pomelo is quite different from the grapefruit in America and Europe. Our rich clay soil and abundant amounts of water and sunshine ensure the distinctive sweet flavor in each juicy fruit. We experimented with mixing two different pomelo varieties in our recipe to produce a sweet but slightly bitter tasting cocktail. The left over pomelo meat after the infusion process was then preserved in the freezer to add texture and more flavor to each drink. Needless to say, this is one of our popular sunset drinks when our guests chill out by the swimming pool.

Enjoy the recipe and let us know if the pomelo or grapefruit from where you are can produce tasty cocktails as well.

Ingredients:

45ml Pomelo-infused gin, using the best quality Vietnamese pomelo
15ml Cointreau
1 large spoonful of frozen pomelo (save it when you make the gin)
Basil leaves for garnish (straight from our garden)
10ml Basil syrup (also made from the basil in our garden)
120ml Soda water
Ice

Instructions:

Place pomelo gin, Cointreau, half of ice, frozen pomelo, basil syrup, and a tablespoon of basil leaves into the blender
Blend on ‘Icy Drink’ setting or equivalent if possible
Pour contents over some ice in a glass
Top off with soda water, stir, and serve chilled
Place basil leaves on top as garnish

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Our First Summer BBQ

July 31, 2016Leave a comment

During our time living in Hanoi, some of our best summer weekends were spent BBQ-ing with our friends at our rooftop apartment. We would shift from swimming in our rooftop pool, eating bellini popsicles, to sitting around the little balcony waiting for Loic’s famous yogurt chicken and Greek burger, and eventually moving inside for some drinking games or random Youtube session. With such great memories, we decided to invest in a nice BBQ the moment summer began. What is summer without nice pool BBQ parties after all, right?

Loic chose a custom-made Texan BBQ from a company in Saigon, and as you can guess from the name, it is huge! The BBQ also doubles as a smoker, which makes us immediately dream of smoked salmon and smoked sausages and smoked everything. We were so eager to try out the big boy that the moment we met David and his family who were hugely into food and having a good time, we had to ask if they would like to let us test out the BBQ and prepare them a special meal.

You can tell Loic was dying to get back on track with his passion of cooking the moment he started brainstorming the menu. After going through what we could pick up at the local market and big supermarket in Danang, we settled on pita with hummus and tzaziki to start, continuing with Loic’s famous watermelon haloumi with tahini honey walnut sauce, and finishing with a grand finale of big coconut-smoked platter: beef tenderloin, red snappers, potato with sour cream, and fresh vegetables from the organic garden (more recipes to come on the blog soon!).

The whole meal was such a big hit, and the conversations that carried on the night were even better. There was so much laughter around the table. David, Arlene, Mel and Alex were another group of guests that turned into our friends. We were even invited to visit their beautiful Airbnb castle near London (yes, we have friends who own a castle!). This new adventure has certainly taken us to places that we never thought of before.

Thank you everyone for such a good night and we hope to see you again in the near future!

Thanh Ha Terracotta Park

July 15, 2016July 15, 2016Leave a comment

We always tell our guests there are enough things to keep them busy for a week at this little town. We love going to the beach, diving, snorkeling, taking cooking classes, bicycling, shopping, sightseeing, eating, drinking and so much more! And just when we thought that we had already known the town as the back of our hands, there were something new to do! This time, it was taking two of our favorite guests to Thanh Ha Terracotta Park by the Pottery Village north of the Thu Bon river.

This is certainly not a full day trip, but it well deserves half of your day to explore all the cool little exhibitions at this museum. Opened in 2015, the park nestles in the heart of Thanh Ha ancient pottery village which is famous for traditional terracotta artifacts. It took us a long walk around the property to understand why it had taken four years of construction to finish. Everything to the tiniest details was made with so much care, from the miniature World-Heritage-list sites around the world to the terracotta walls that told the stories of Vietnam’s struggle throughout history. We also had to laugh at all the quirky statues randomly placed around the park. You can also join one of the on-site workshops to make your own souvenir to bring home, kids would love that I’m sure!

There are several ways to get here but we enjoyed a scenic route through Cua Dai – Tran Hung Dao – Hung Vuong that slowly weaved into beautiful country road all the way to the fish market of Thanh Ha village. The park is just a few hundred meters down the road to the left.

Hope this has given you a nice day trip idea to explore the surrounding villages of Hoi An. And thank you to Jean-Pierre and Tina for sharing the photos as well as a lot of laughter with us!

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Getting from Cua Dai Beach to Heron House

June 18, 2016June 18, 2016Leave a comment

For any poor souls who may worry about finding their way from Cua Dai Beach to Heron House, we wanted to provide a brief instructional video on the 2 km ride by scooter to our little slice of heaven. Hope you enjoy and remember that our staff are always happy to come find you if you should make a wrong turn in the rice fields!

Peace out, time to return to the beach!

Water Apple Jam

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016Leave a comment

With summer officially arriving in Hoi An and our trees full of more fruit than we know what to do with, the time has come to get creative and ensure that our guests get to enjoy our fresh fruit long after our tree has run out of offerings for them. While many people find the water fruit to be a bit too tart for many palates, we believe that with a bit of tampering we have created a universal favourite.

Though some of our guests prefer this jam to be served with our homemade bread at breakfast every morning, I have been equally content to serve it with a cheese plate in the afternoon or even piled atop a bowl of ice cream to be devoured on hot days by the pool.

Whatever your inkling, we find this option to be a new popular item that is moving fast.