Connor and I went bike shopping to find a bike to rent for our trip to Mai Chau. This is the place I visited when I first came here so it will be nice to experience again in a different light, and Connor  has never seen it. Also, this time we are going by manual motor...

I am not a football follower, I have never been into football. But I have always wanted to go to a football match for the atmosphere. In hindsight, maybe Vietnam v Arsenal was not the best match to get a good atmosphere because Vietnamese people are so reserved!...

On Saturday we went to Ba Vi which was awesome. We drove, me on the back of Connor’s bike. We had to stop and ask for directions a few times which involved a lot of gesticulation and pointing at the map, but the route was surprisingly easy and Connor has an excellent...

I am still trying to arrange my flight home for Christmas. You will find that there is just as much red tape bull sh*t in other countries as there is your own! I managed to get through to the airline, who told me that I would have to wait until much nearer the time to...

On Friday night my friend and I went to the local market to buy the ingredients for dinner, which was interesting as we spoke no Vietnamese! It was so difficult trying to explain that we wanted enough pork for five people, and we wanted the part with no fat on… no we...

I have booked my first trip to the magical Halong Bay! A local friend of mine, An* who I had met through my pen friend booked a minibus for eight of us. There was a bit of a palaver over whether Connor was going to be able to come or not, because he was supposed to be...

My friend from home finally arrived! It took nearly 2 and a half hours from when his plane landed to when he arrived on the doorstep, which was a little worrying as my phone wouldn’t let me ring him. He eventually rang, and he was in the wrong place, haha, but we...

That evening I went for dinner to one of those weird restaurants where the plates go round the rotary system and you pick what you want and boil it in a pot. I put chicken in but then didn’t eat it because I had a suspicion I was going to die. I stuck to prawns,...

I taught my last private class with my boss’ daughter (thank God, it had been painful!!) and luckily it was only an hour so not too bad. She even began initiating play, repeating some of the things I said and singing the lyrics to songs, that she didn’t already know!...