Monthly Archives: October 2009
Pink eye
One of the downsides to working with children is that you pick up every disease going. Anything remotely contagious spreads like warm butter in an institution like the one we work at: colds, coughs, sneezes and, now, Pink Eye! Owwwwch! … Continue reading
Filed under Health and beauty, Vietnam
Living in Disneyland
The architecture of Vietnam is singularly odd. Most buildings look like they were left over after a secondary school production of something Shakespearean, or perhaps rejected film sets from a reimagining of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. They are, by … Continue reading
Head hunted
It seems amazing to me but apparently there are people out there who are reading my blog. Even more amazing is that one of these people is the editor of an inflight magazine (Tiger Tales). She emailed me on my … Continue reading
Utterly lost in translation
This evening was my first ever journalistic interview conducted through an interpreter. Don’t ask me how it went. I won’t know that til the fruit of my (and the interpreter’s) labours is finished on Wednesday. Or indeed until the pudding … Continue reading
A reason for living
There’s nothing like an unpaid job to make you question your worth, turning an unfulfilling day into a more-desperate ‘What does it all mean?’ Over the past few weeks, the thoughts of our merry band of volunteers have occasionally taken … Continue reading
Filed under Vietnam
Tet Trung Thu, Mid-Autumn Festival
In late September every year the streets of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi fill with hawkers selling lanterns and inflatable toys. Hastily erected stalls clad in red and gold pop up everywhere, flogging pork-pie-like confections called moon cakes, … Continue reading
My Pink Havaianas RIP
Among the essentials that no backpacker could forget is a trusty pair of flip flops. To say that these shoes are an essential is to insult them. A trustworthy pair of comfortable flip flops (or ‘thongs’, ‘sandals’ or even ‘jandals’ … Continue reading
