Life in Hanoi, Saigon and Brighton

Long list of ELL websites gleaned from Twitter

2011-09-25T17:42:00.001+01:00

ELT
http://www.angelfire.com/az/english4thechildren/krashen.html
http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index.html
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/Krashen.htm
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/9/3/105.full
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/next-gen/beta/index.htm
http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_07_lw.php
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.sussex.ac.uk/doi/10.1111/weng.2010.29.issue-2/issuetoc
http://web.ku.edu/~idea/
http://accent.gmu.edu/
http://esl.about.com/od/intermediateenglish/a/setobject.htm
http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/12/tefl-forum-ten-reasons-why-english.html
http://edition.tefl.net/reviews/linguistics/world-englishes/
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/06/04/Lingua_Globa_How_English_Became_Globish/
http://www.modlinguistics.com/Sociolinguistics/internationalEnglishes/International%20Association%20for%20World%20Englishes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_imperialism#Critique
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/3/199.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/3/199.full.pdf+html
http://www.csulb.edu/~gilsdorf/st%20eng%20world%20eng%20jbc.htm
http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan/text/white01.htm
http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/World_Englishes
http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Schneider%27s_Dynamic_Model
http://neptune.spaceports.com/~words/native.html
http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLearnerBecomeNativeSpeaker/dgmzj/post.htm
http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLearnerBecomeNativeSpeaker/2/dgmzj/Post.htm
http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowWouldDefineNativeSpeakerEnglish/5/xwmc/Post.htm
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/trudgill.htm
http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowWouldDefineNativeSpeakerEnglish/3/xwmc/Post.htm
http://matadmissions.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/english-as-lingua-franca-2/
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/link.htm
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/history/
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/history/NE.htm
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/stage4
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform
World Englishes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-way-we-speak-now-2174495.html
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/infosuss/referencing/h_bibliography.shtml
http://www.univie.ac.at/voice/
http://elfconference.univie.ac.at/home/
Principles and Practice in ELT
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/using-texts-constructively-2-intensive-input-output-work
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/search/node/listening%20type%3Aarticles
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/listening-top-down-bottom
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/making-listening-authentic-experience
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/a-framework-planning-a-listening-skills-lesson
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/inventions
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/tertiaryplace/
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/TeachingEnglish-3772247
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/
http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/
http://blog-efl.blogspot.com/
http://david-dodgson.blogspot.com/2010/10/ma-reflections-reading-screen.html
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/burcuakyol/5-reasons-becoming-a-blogging-teacher
http://david-dodgson.blogspot.com/2010/10/so-youre-doing-ma-no-2-organising-your.html
http://the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com/
http://lessonstream.org/
http://lessonstream.org/2011/01/24/the-blue-whale/
http://lessonstream.org/browse-lessons
http://vickyloras.wordpress.com/
http://ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org/
http://alarmtube.highimpactnoise.com/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/britlit/pink-bow-tie
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/node/139/%20http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Pink%20Bow%20Tie_Pre-reading.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17404275/Hospital-Role-Plays
http://bogglesworldesl.com/JuicyBaek.htm
http://www.speaktothefuture.org/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/angelac/what-early-school-teacher-do-you-remember-most-vividly-why
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/lesson-plans/film-festival-season
http://ictforlanguageteachers.blogspot.com/2009/12/21-things-that-became-obsolete-this.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/21-things-that-became-obsolete-this-decade-2009-12#pdas-1
http://www.ict4lt.org/
http://www.eslemployment.com/esol-efl-teacher-southampton-united-kingdom-1378482.htm?utm_source=Careerjet&utm_medium=Paid&utm_campaign=Careerjet
http://www.eslemployment.com/
http://bcnpaul1.blogspot.com/2011/02/barefoot-teaching-journal-slight.html
http://jeremyharmer.wordpress.com/
http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/
http://cerij.wordpress.com/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/whats-pronunciation
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/teaching_village/
http://networkedblogs.com/d3Agi
http://networkedblogs.com/cwmGO
http://www.youblisher.com/p/74950-The-Number-1-in-ELT/
http://eflclassroom.com/
http://www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf
http://www.cict.co.uk/textoys/rhubarb.php
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1102/110224-sidewalk_rage-jc.htm
http://seanbanville.com/2011/02/25/online-pair-work-dictation/
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/general.html
http://voice.univie.ac.at/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teachers-of-English-in-Greece-DO-blog/279272313402
http://edition.tefl.net/guest/eltpics/
http://twitter.com/#!/teachingenglish
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/evab2001/train-your-students-be-good-vocabulary-learners-part-1
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AclS3lrlFkCIZGhuMnZjdjVfNzQ5ZnpiczlxYzM&hl=en_GB&authkey=CN7tirgG
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2010/12/5-tasks-to-teach-yourself-to-teach-with.html
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2008/09/using-word-clouds-in-efl-esl.html
http://www.luizotaviobarros.com/2010/12/present-perfect-songs.html
http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-it-mean-to-know-word.html
http://www.teachingvillage.org/2011/02/28/fun-in-practice/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/forum60sec
http://lessonstream.org/browse-lessons/
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/my-best-of-series/
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/resources/topics/pass-the-paper-games
http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2009/04/best-videos-for-teaching-business-and.html
http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2011/01/speaking-tips-for-teaching-english-with.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq13dvtZjP4&feature=youtu.be
http://iteslj.org/games/
http://iteslj.org/games/9951.html
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/dogme-a-teachers-view
http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/ClassroomGames/Quizshow/Word%20Building%20Game%20Intermediate/index.html
http://eltchat.com/2011/03/03/how-do-you-revisit-taught-material-and-recycle-effectively-eltchat-summary-02032011/
http://coursetree.ca/blog/?p=1013
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine/tobacco
http://www.netsupportschool.com/?gclid=CIW15KLMv6cCFUtC4QodwGmS-w
http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx
http://www.newsenglishlessons.com/1103/110308-glee.html
http://www.xtranormal.com/
http://educationland.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/avoiding-mother-tongue-in-classroom/
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/f-is-for-first-lessons/
http://bighugelabs.com/badge.php
http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/2011/03/play-word-games-to-improve-your.html
http://www.wineverygame.com/wbg.php
http://www.fastcompany.com/1733627/mit-scientist-captures-his-sons-first-90000-hours-on-video
http://www.magicflipchart.co.uk/
http://voxy.com/blog/2011/01/25-quotes-about-the-english-language/
http://voxy.com/blog/2011/02/why-it-pays-to-be-bilingual-infographic/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Service_List
http://esolcourses.blogspot.com/2011/03/english-word-of-week-protest.html
http://quizlet.com/4750503/new-english-file-upper-intermediate-5b-flash-cards/
http://timjulian.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/new-english-file-elementary-4d/
http://quizlet.com/4749646/new-english-file-elementary-4d-flash-cards/
http://voxy.com/blog/2011/01/15-insightful-language-culture-infographics/
http://voxy.com/blog/2010/12/no-more-english-or-chinglish-in-china/
http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
http://www.fodey.com/generators/animated/talking_tomato.asp
http://waykate.wordpress.com/free-and-useful-gadgets/
http://www.slideshare.net/
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1103/110311-libya_no-fly_zone.html
http://edtechsec.blogspot.com/2010/10/classroom-camera.html
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/03/12/useful-updates-on-japan-earthquake/
http://www.lyricstraining.com/game1680.htm
http://www.deltapublishing.co.uk/titles/methodology/teaching-unplugged
http://the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogme-hard-with-vengence.html
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/617009
http://busyteacher.org/wordpuzzle/
http://eflclassroom.com/newsletter/main/news/march2011.html
http://www.onestopenglish.com/teenagers/topic-based-materials/festivals/festivals-webquests/festival-webquests-st-patricks-day/550903.article
http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/lesson-share-archive/grammar/grammar-the-adverb-game/145106.article
http://www.rrrather.com/questions/top/10
http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/2009/06/read-film-script-for-pronunciation.html
http://cerij.wordpress.com/images/tiles/
http://www.japanenglishteacher.com/
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/uk-culture/new-words
http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2011/03/ted-videos-for-business-english-part.html
http://thetoolshed.posterous.com/
http://dailyinfographic.com/win-rock-paper-siccors
http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2011/03/18/7-tips-for-teaching-speaking-for-academic-purposes-at-graduate-level-1/
http://busyteacher.org/4666-teaching-ielts-9-vital-tips-tricks.html
http://busyteacher.org/3424-teaching-english-one-on-one-tips-and-tricks-for-a.html
http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/puzzlemaker.jpg
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildWordSearch.asp
http://the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com/2011/03/something-for-weekend.html
http://www.mikejharrison.com/2011/03/reverse-reading-comprehension-writing-lesson-activity/#comment-946
http://www.mikejharrison.com/2010/11/wanderous-whiteboard-challenge-with-entry-one/
http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2011/03/using-mini-sagas-10-ideas.html
http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2011/03/tools-to-go-paperless.html
http://www.elllo.org/english/0051.htm
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb11/index.htm
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Alkire-Dictation.html
http://nesrineren.edublogs.org/
http://david-dodgson.blogspot.com/2010/11/our-first-time-with-dictogloss.html
http://cerij.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/writing-to-learn/
http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Teacher-tools/Te-Whakaipurangi-Rauemi/Examples-of-second-language-learning-tasks/Dictocomp-Wajnryb-1988-1990
http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/2008/08/sitemap.html
http://www.thebluesmaker.com/
http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2009/10/crazy-comparatives-superlatives.html
http://eltexperiences.blogspot.com/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100216101326.htm
http://www.onestopenglish.com/upload/public/attachments/37/osephonemicchart.swf
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/interactive-phonemic-chart/
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/studentnews/03/24/transcript.fri/index.html
http://richardteachesenglish.blogspot.com/
http://www.virtual-round-table.com/events/not-just-a-pretty-cloud-using
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/vocabulary-games/pic-your-wits
http://busyteacher.org/4817-how-to-test-esl-students-best-practices.html
http://www.kirstenwinkler.com/how-to-start-teaching-online-in-2011/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+KirstenWinkler+(Kirsten+Winkler)
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/seminars
http://networkedblogs.com/g3pB7
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011/sessions/live
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/mobile-learning/sounds-right
http://www.classtools.net/fb/home/page
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/teaching-without-a-coursebook
http://www.slideshare.net/bcnpaul1/tesolspain-presentation?from=ss_embed
http://waykate.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/why-i-love-speaking-clubs/#more-204
http://www.deltapublishing.co.uk/development/the-worst-thing-about-educational-technology-is-educational-technology
http://www.almadreams.com/RRRhowto.asp
http://busyteacher.org/4791-top-5-countries-with-best-esl-salaries.html
http://busyteacher.org/4667-esl-high-school-teacher-8-little-known-secrets.html
http://busyteacher.org/4872-8-most-typical-esl-characters-youre-probably.html
http://busyteacher.org/4794-top-5-dream-destinations-for-esl-teachers.html
http://busyteacher.org/3578-classroom-management-tricks.html
http://busyteacher.org/3577-3-classroom-management-tricks.html
http://busyteacher.org/4835-esl-teachers-meltdown-problems-solutions.html
http://www.tefl.com/
http://www.eslbase.com/jobs/oman/10767
http://www.tesolzone.com/esl-stories.html
http://posterous.com/manage/#settings/contact
http://www.soundspronapp.com/?utm_source=Macmillan%2BResource%2BMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=First%2Bemailing
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/diary-of-a-beginner-second-lesson/
http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/2011/04/why-are-you-a-demotivated-teacher/
http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/collaborative/607124/kettling
http://www.tagxedo.com/
http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2011/04/rolls-off-the-tongue-cartoon-idioms-blog.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/53030128/34-Tools-for-Digitising-your-ELT-Course-Book
http://transl8it.com/
http://www.wallwisher.com/
http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/Tinitial.htm
http://azargrammar.com/materials/beg/BEG_SongLessons.html
http://shaunwilden.com/
http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2011/04/17/are-teenagers-really-reluctant-readers/
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011/sessions/2011-04-17/keeping-them-interested-motivating-strategies-teenagers
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011/sessions
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-ia.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/index.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pven7BQcFY&feature=youtu.be&a
http://www.bl.uk/evolvingenglish/maplisten.html
http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/worksheet-generator/
http://educationaltechnologyinelt.blogspot.com/2011/01/teaching-english-through-songs-in.html
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/adventure/grammar1.htm#
http://www.mrshurleysesl.com/smartboards/smartboardfavorites.html#ESL
http://www.teachhub.com/news/innovator/cat/25/item/702
http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/searchjobs/?Keywords=esol&Mostrecent=&RadialLocation=5&RadialTown=&CountryCode=GB&Salary_Min=-1&Salary_Max=-1
http://quizlet.com/teachers/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49973068/Task-10-Create-a-Video-Q-A-Booth
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/04/6-solutions-for-educators-who-want-21st.html
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/tools-for-the-21st-century-teacher/
http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2011/04/teaching-unplugged-two-bubbly-generalisations-to-be-careful-of.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://busyteacher.org/tilepuzzle/
http://eltchat.com/2011/04/08/how-do-you-use-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom-tips-apps-best-practices/
http://busyteacher.org/5501-top-5-productivity-tips-for-esl-teachers.html
http://www.bangkokpost.com/education/basic.htm
https://www.pamela.biz/shop/?language_code=en
http://www.seeta.eu/
http://esltweets.com/forum.php
http://the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com/2011/05/teaching-with-technology-basic.html#comment-form
http://busyteacher.org/5541-a-fictional-characters-biography.html
http://www.eltworld.net/2011/05/delta-to-be-recognized-as-equal-to-a-masters-degree/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.mikejharrison.com/2011/05/setting-up-a-framework-to-investigate-dogme-in-practice-with-esol-learners/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mikejharrison+%28www.mikejharrison.com%29&utm_content=Twitter
http://missfearnley.wordpress.com/
http://www.englishspellingsociety.org/journals/j17/caos.php
http://harvardgenerator.com/
http://edtech-hub.blogspot.com/2011/04/teaching-with-technology-plan-b.html
http://www.wikiled.com/Tools/analyze.aspx
http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2011/05/06/10-commandments-for-motivating-language-learners/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://chiasuanchong.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/10-things-teachers-should-never-forget/#comments
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/npro6979#utm_campaign=twitter.com&utm_source=7305420&utm_medium=social
http://community.eflclassroom.com/
http://www.mikejharrison.com/2011/05/setting-up-a-framework-to-investigate-dogme-in-practice-with-esol-learners/
http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/the-kiss-method-how-to-make-learning-and-teaching-english-easier/
http://www.tefl.net/teacher-training/teaching-tip_18.htm
http://www.tefl.net/teacher-training/teaching-tips.htm
http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2011/05/the-fork-in-the-road.html
http://ascd.org/conferences/annual-conference/conference-daily/2011-eight-tips.aspx
http://www.scoop.it/t/world-languages/p/116927843/the-bilingual-advantage
http://thailanddelights.blogspot.com/
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/thailand.shtml
http://esljobs4teachers.com/tag/teaching-jobs-koh-samui-or-phuket/
http://www.roadjunky.com/article/2179/teaching-english-in-phnom-penh-cambodia
http://www.deltapublishing.co.uk/order/united-kingdom
http://busyteacher.org/5731-what-motivates-esl-teachers-motivation-ideas.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBrbvGoZGMM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z83DSyDdZO4
http://www.antimoon.com/how/input.htm
http://www.scoop.it/t/nik-peachey/p/127548549/bbc-british-council-sense-of-humour-in-the-elt-classroom
http://www.minddump.org/a-framework-for-teaching-with-twitter?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+mcleodminddump+(Mind+Dump)
http://eslarticle.com/pub/articles/english-as-a-second-language-esl/cultivate-curiosity-in-students-820.htm
http://www.englishcentral.com/watch/video/11811/the-story-of-stuff
http://jeffthomastech.com/blog/?p=10394&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TechThePlunge+%28Tech+the+Plunge%29
http://www.netspeak.org/#query=where+are+you+*
http://audioboo.fm/boos/358866-the-best-things-in-life-are-free
http://bcnpaul1.blogspot.com/2011/05/iwb-interactivity.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.tefljobslondon.co.uk/
http://hellocruelworldalanmtait.blogspot.com/2011/05/want-fight.html?spref=tw
http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/2011/01/10-contemporary-motivation-theories-and-how-they-explain-why-your-students-just-arent-into-it/
http://www.lexiophiles.com/language-lovers-toplist/time-to-vote-for-your-favorite-language-facebook-page-2011
http://llohe-ocd.appspot.com/
http://www.wondersay.com/Do-you-not-see-how-necessary-a-world-of-pains-and-troubles-is-to-school-an-intelligence-and-make-it-a-soul?
http://www.doink.com/
http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/
http://www.classtools.net/twitter/tweet.php?message=45%20Websites%20For%20Students%20To%20Create%20Original%20Artwork%20Online&url=http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/3442983
http://www.ncuk.ac.uk/jobvacancieslist/kaplan-china-eap-teachers
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ACO894/junior-teaching-fellow-in-english-for-academic-purposes/
http://languagemoments.wordpress.com/
http://busyteacher.org/5963-10-keys-to-promoting-class-discussion.html
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/pg/2011/taught/1587/23649#tabs-2
http://cecilialcoelho.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/the-fluency-dichotomy-writing-x-speaking/
http://coffeeaddict.edublogs.org/
http://mag.digitalpc.co.uk/Olive/ODE/ELGAZETTE/
http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/Rhys
http://www.schoolsworld.tv/search/all?q=John+Bayley
http://www.scoop.it/t/tools-for-learners/p/188068415/concordle-not-so-pretty-cousin-of-wordle
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/07/tefl
http://www.scoop.it/t/nik-peachey/p/192594353/understanding-facial-expressions
http://www.youramazingbrain.org/asp/resultsMF.ASP
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/train/downloadable-worksheets
http://efllecturer.blogspot.com/2011/06/dave-allen-haunted-house.html
http://seanbanville.com/2011/06/10/10-ideas-for-teachers-to-change-the-world-no-1-show-diversity/
http://www.multilingualliving.com/2011/06/08/12-common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-bilingual-children/
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan08/
http://busyteacher.org/6293-mail-call-turning-your-classroom-into-a-life-size.html
http://paper.li/ELTExperiences
http://www.ukteachersonline.co.uk/blog.php?id=8290718779795799442
http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=124124
http://www.triptico.co.uk/
http://ipa.typeit.org/
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2011/05/26/what-will-you-learn-this-summer-23-professional-development-resources/
https://sites.google.com/a/students.halldale.org/tech-tool-reviews/home
http://www.hccweb2.org/web2/
http://www.searchplanit.com/
http://www.phrasemix.com/
http://busyteacher.org/6421-10-most-popular-tesol-destinations.html
http://www.esltrail.com/2011/06/esl-pronunciation-tip-rising-and.html
http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2009/12/21-things-that-will-become-obsolete-in.html
http://www.lyricstraining.com/
http://thoughtweavers.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/94/
http://community.eflclassroom.com/Wpage/chat-bot
http://gordonscruton.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/websites-to-get-your-students-onto-immediately/
http://www.freerice.com/
http://www.tefl.com/jobs/job.html?jo_id=47786&from=rss
http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/trend-vocabulary-ielts/
http://busyteacher.org/6504-strategies-teaching-literature-esl-classroom.html
http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-delights-image-editing/p/262225457/obamicon-me-create-your-webicon
http://textify.it/
http://www.tesolzone.com/tesol-books.html
http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=31754
http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2011/07/09/fun-classroom/
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-reading/how-to-improve-scanning/
http://www.scoop.it/t/reading-news-for-ielts/p/276857710/how-to-scan-in-ielts-reading
http://www.scoop.it/t/madares-al-ghad-education-technology/p/279484898/50-best-websites-2010-time?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://wiggio.com/
http://www.listen-and-write.com/
http://www.scoop.it/t/madares-al-ghad-education-technology/p/282080453/listen-and-write-dictation?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/ipatypewriter.htm
http://busyteacher.org/6514-write-comparing-contrasting-essay-tips.html
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/p-is-for-practicum/
http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/websites.htm
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59614794/NATECLA
http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2011/07/13/need-energy/
http://busyteacher.org/6567-10-creative-esl-photo-activities.html
http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/
http://www.ielts-blog.com/ielts-writing-model-answers/ielts-writing-model-answer-for-a-letter-from-a-recent-exam-in-sri-lanka/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ielts-blog+%28IELTS-Blog+-+best+help+for+IELTS+you+can+get%29&utm_content=Twitter
http://edte.ch/blog/2011/07/11/interesting-ways-to-get-to-know-your-new-class-2/
http://busyteacher.org/6580-what-you-can-do-with-a-blindfold-10-fun-esl-games.html
http://busyteacher.org/6607-third-conditional-board-game.html
http://busyteacher.org/6579-games-that-work-without-fail-esl-classroom.html
http://voicethread.com/
http://www.digitalang.com/2010/07/blogging-with-efl-students-part-1-setting-up-a-blog/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dogme/message/16472
http://tenbyten.org/10x10.html
http://www.tefl.com/jobs/job.html?jo_id=48026
http://www.baleap.org.uk/
http://www.baleap.org.uk/jobs/current.aspx
http://busyteacher.org/6644-j-journaling-in-seven-out-of-the-ordinary-ways.html
http://play.magpogames.com/create.cfm?k=1
http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-delights-for-learners/p/287128552/www-gizawavemachine-com
http://www.languagemonitor.com/global-english/number-of-words-in-the-english-language-1008879/
http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-delights-for-learners/p/317000336/a-fun-way-to-learn-a-new-language
http://www.twittermagnets.com/
http://busyteacher.org/6653-cold-cold-water-damien-rice-song-worksheet.html
http://www.tefl.com/jobs/job.html?jo_id=48149&from=rss
http://www.wordhippo.com/
http://blueblots.com/tech/24-websites-offering-free-full-length-tv-episodes/
http://www.apostilles.org/apostille-prices.html
http://www.ajarnjobspace.com/job-mVtjWw==.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.soas.ac.uk/ifcels/eap/summer-teap-full-time/
http://esllist.com/indonesia/638-language-school/293-the-british-institute-tbi-multatuli-campus
http://www.tefl.com/jobs/job.html?jo_id=46832
http://lifehacker.com/5826509/how-to-build-a-computer-from-scratch-lesson-1-hardware-basics?utm_source=Lifehacker+Newsletter&utm_campaign=90e6c3ada6-UA-142218-1&utm_medium=email#viewcomments
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/z-is-for-zero-uncertainty/
http://www.teacherplanet.com/
http://www.research.cambridgeesol.org/
https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/
http://coursetree.ca/blog/2011/rscon3/
http://coursetree.ca/blog/tag/milking-material/
http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/;jsessionid=0ECD89B81247CD29D76651888C81196E?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
http://english-tutor-brisbane.blogspot.com/2011/07/website-of-month-new-english-file.html
http://www.eslreading.org/poems/listening/fiveways2listenbetter.html
http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2011/08/06/survey-on-the-use-of-social-networks-for-foreign-language-teachers/
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/ways-continuing-professional-development
http://www.britishcouncil.org/hongkong-about-us-working-with-us-detail.htm
http://www.britishcouncil.org/hongkong-about-us-working-with-us.htm
http://awordeachday.blogspot.com/2011/08/englishamerican-accents.html
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/seminars/20-steps-teaching-unplugged
http://teacherclaudiamedeiros.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html
http://www.davedodgson.com/2011/08/teachers-in-turkey-no-3-why-am-i-doing.html
http://www.listio.com/web20/app/EclipseTV-1/
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/three-million-page-views/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/why-ppp-is-unfashionable/
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/teaching/variations-on-ppp/
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/t-training/qualifications/ppp-rip-part-two/
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/1000-posts/
http://community.eflclassroom.com/resources/categories/games-power-point-games/listForCategory
http://community.eflclassroom.com/?xg_ppc=s1
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2011/08/16/ferlazzo_fiveways.html?tkn=YZODHsubyn6mzFSrsyq/v5cRDMnSOah5wZcn&intc=es
http://blog.english4hr.com/2011/08/phrases-for-meetings.html
http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/100-online-brainstorming-tools-to-help-you-think-outside-the-box/
http://vickyloras.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/more-than-140-welcome/
http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/ramadan.html
http://kwout.com/
http://www.scoop.it/t/topical-english-activities
http://c4lpt.co.uk/library/janes-articles-and-presentations/25-tools-a-toolbox-for-learning-professionals-2009/
http://everydaylearnwithborin.blogspot.com/
http://everydaylearnwithborin.blogspot.com/2009/07/adventures-of-pinocchio-chapter1.html
http://everydaylearnwithborin.blogspot.com/2009/08/adventures-of-pinocchio.html
http://60-minutes.bloggingshakespeare.com/conference/
http://lessonstream.org/2011/07/14/passive-quiz/
http://kalinago.blogspot.com/2011/09/10-speaking-english-activities-using.html
http://busyteacher.org/6976-diary-5-ideas-to-get-students-writing.html
http://jeffthomastech.com/blog/?p=6887
http://busyteacher.org/3370-7-best-ways-to-end-a-lesson.html
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/09/12-useful-youtube-accessories-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29&utm_content=Twitter
http://sixthings.net/
http://www.scoop.it/t/learning-technology/p/471177261/japan-creates-online-chat-robots-to-converse-with-language-students-telegraph?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
http://www.happycatstefl.com/tefljobs/view/full-time-part-time-efl-teachers/
http://www.happycatstefl.com/tefljobs/
http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/there-rules-ed-pronunciation-118/
http://english-language-skills.com/item/234-improving-your-vocabulary-homonyms-1.html
http://www.elb-brighton.com/jobs.htm
http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/2465/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States

Dissertation on Differentiation in ELT

2011-08-12T14:23:00.000+01:00

As the dissertation is almost finished I thought I had better refresh the blog.

I actually ended up doing a study of just one lesson at my university as the language school teacher didn't have the time to do it.

The group were given a questionnaire asking about learning styles and 7 self-reported skill levels, such as fluency, grammar, reading etc, then filmed and recorded the lesson, transcribed 2 1/2 hours (which was a hell of a task!) analysed number of student utterances and teacher questions and st answers. I also looked at grouping in the lesson.

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theories was used with the self-reported questions in differentiating, Bloom's taxonomies in question level and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development to consider grouping.

My conclusion is going to be that the teacher did a fairly good job of differentiating without knowing anything about differentiation!

Dissertation

2011-05-07T19:37:00.001+01:00

I was talking to Martin Sketchley (@ELTExperiences on Twitter)(my fellow teacher on the MA in ELT course) and he said 'I looked at your blog and think you should write more about the course'. So time to take him up on his idea. (I am @Hibbitweet on Twitter)

This blog is called Life in Hanoi and Saigon and now I live in Brighton, on the south coast of England so I really should change the name. Name now changed :-)

I finished the portfolio for the diploma part of the course a few weeks ago and handed in the Easter essay which was on how to teach a reading lesson and seemed to go quite well. You never know though so I am looking forward to the marks for both.

So having put those two to bed we have all now started to think about dissertations. We have until September to do some research and write 15,000 words. I have chosen differentiated teaching as my topic. I chose the topic because on the diploma course we had some very able and confident students and quite a few able but more quiet students. This made me wonder whether all the students were getting equal shares in the teacher's time and energies and whether there was anything I could have done to improve everyone's learning experience by teaching in a more differentiated way. The following is where I am so far on my dissertation journey. It is not far I know but it is a start and I'm sure I will update it as I travel along the path.

Where I am on my dissertation path
Dissertation Topic: differentiated teaching

How to Research type books:

Wallace, M.J. (1998) Action research for language teachers. Cambridge CUP.
Wajnryb, R. (1992) Classroom observation tasks. Cambridge CUP.

A couple of quotes from #ELTchat Summary 23/02/2011
The consensus seemed to be that ‘all classes’ are mixed ability in some ways. Wilden S. (2011)
Teaching mixed ability in the first sense is just teaching, none of us are the same

Differentiation in the ESL class RREALS 2007
Source: Montérégie—Research and Development Project
Workshop leaders: Gwenn Gauthier and Rachel Lalonde

How I might go about it:
Observations

Observe classes looking for quiet/loud high/low level sts and see how the T copes with this.

Interviews

Conduct interviews with Ts asking questions about how they deal with high/low level sts in the same class.

Conduct interviews with sts asking for opinions on the way best and worst teachers deal with it.

Questionnaires

Questionnaires asking a wide range of Ts for opinions on how they cope with high/low level sts in the same class.
Questionnaires asking a wide range of sts for opinions on how Ts cope with high/low level sts in the same class.

Do please comment

Did I do the right thing returning to UK?

2011-03-14T20:47:00.001Z

It has been a long time since I blogged so thought I would put some feelings down to try and get some ideas out into the blogosphere.

Up to a few days ago that would have been an easy question. I have been hard at work studying for the MA and doing the Advanced Teaching Practice, which took all my energy, teaching skills and time and was something I was really enjoying. When you have your head down, working hard and then get a break, your body says look he's not working I can be ill now. Sometimes you forget to consider how you feel and when you get a break suddenly realise that something is not right.

So I have a bit of a dip.

I have suddenly realised I have few friends, no girlfriend, no one who cares whether I feel up or down, all I have is studying, studying and more studying. I know it is only one year and will be finished in September, and I have done the hardest part, but I have also done the best part. I love teaching and the group we taught were a very friendly and interesting group, so I didn't mind all the preparation.

I am not looking forward to the dissertation - it is 15,000 words and the last one I did for my degree was very nearly a disaster and I ended up with only a C grade. So that makes me worry about this one. I hope I get better guidance than last time.

Today a language school rang and asked me to work for them, but they wanted 5 mornings a week and I had to say I couldn't. Uni work is going to take up most of my energy for a few months yet. They said they might have some part-time work and would email me with the details, but nothing yet.

On a high note a squash club has offered me a very good student rate and I am definitely going to start playing again. Something which should get those endorphins moving and cheer me up a bit...

All the World's a stage William Shakespeare

2011-01-21T23:20:00.001Z

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

My favourite Shakespeare sonnet

2011-01-21T23:15:00.001Z

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
Lest the wise world should look into your moan
And mock you with me after I am gone.

2010-05-19T12:25:00.001+01:00

Things I’ll miss in Saigon:

My girlfriend and all the friendly people I’ve met.

My motorbike and the freedom it gives.

The hot weather and never having to wear a jumper or coat.

Freezing cold Saigon Red beer.

Banh Mi Thit -- French bread with a mixture of paté, cold meats, salad, chilli, soy sauce, etc all freshly made while you wait. Also near the Asian High School there are some ladies who sell Banh Mi Trung va Thit - French bread with 2 fried eggs, barbequed, spicy red meat, salad and chilli with sauces, that are absolutely delicious too. I often buy one of those before work then go and sit in a coffee shop and eat it with café da or a very strong shot of coffee over ice.

My students at UVT, who are lovely and always willing to learn, and some of the children at Asian High School.

Having a cleaner so no housework, living in rented accommodation so all the little jobs around the house are someone else’s responsibility and being able to eat out every night even though you don’t work many hours.

The prices of food and beer.

Being close to the rest of Asia so being able to visit neighbouring countries easily and cheaply.

The bottom spray in the toilet. Toilet roll just isn’t clean enough on its own.

What I look forward to about living in England:

Sunday dinners! Roast chicken or lamb or pork (with crackling), mashed potatoes and roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, sprouts and cauliflower, onion sauce and lashings of gravy.

Poundland and Primark plus Lidl, and those other cheap German supermarkets.

Fast Internet, and once I get somewhere to live, a decent, fast computer.

Being closer to my family.

Summer barbecues.

British pubs, luke-warm, brown beer and beer festivals.

British culture, including theatre, especially Shakespeare, newspapers and magazines and British TV instead of all the American crap we get here.

Being able to speak to anyone and everyone and be understood and being able to have a laugh and a joke instead of being restricted to just a few words and phrases due to my poor language skills.

What I don’t look forward to about living in England:

Speed cameras.

Never-ending winters.

High taxes.

Expensive food and beer.

Any other ideas are welcome. I am sure there are lots of other things to add.

Pics of the Local Park at Lunar New Year

2010-02-27T05:14:00.002Z

Pics of Trip to Phu Quoc

2010-02-27T04:56:00.000Z

2010-02-26T04:37:00.001Z

Phu Quoc by Motorbike for Tet 2010

2010-02-24T11:05:00.007Z

So Dudley (my housemate with a Russian built Minsk motorbike) said 'I'm thinking of going to Phu Quoc by motorbike for Tet!' Well, Phu Quoc is at least 2 hours by boat from Vietnam and much nearer Cambodia. So I thought about it for a few minutes, then asked him how you can get there. He said there's a ferry from Rach Gia on the Southern coast, and it might take motorbikes. So I asked a few people about it and was told you cannot get there as the ferries don't take motorbikes. They knew people who had tried or they had tried themselves and it is definitely impossible!

I mentioned this to Dudley and he said the Vietnamese always tell you things are impossible when they don't really know something, which is true, they do. So I had a search around on Google and came across a video on YouTube which showed a trip by motorbike from Phu Quoc to Ho Chi Minh. I txted Dud and told him and he replied it's all on like Donkey Kong then. And so it was...

We had nearly two weeks for Lunar New Year, so on Tuesday morning early at 9am we set out, to the local post office! Dud had a parcel to pick up before setting off. It took nearly an hour as I waited outside, but eventually he had it and Donkey was on his way.

The next 5 or 6 hours were extremely painful. I was riding my Honda Wave, which is a city bike and not really ideal for long journeys. I had strapped my big heavy bag (I never travel light) along the seat and it was gradually working its way forward, leaving me less and less seat for my boney arse. For the last leg to Can Tho I tried putting the two bag straps over my shoulders and carried it on its end with most of its weight on the seat, which was a lot more comfortable.

With just one ferry river crossing and millions of bridges over the lovely Mekhong delta we eventually arrived at our way point, found a hotel for about $10 a night each room, had showers and went out to see the highlights of Can Tho have a couple of beers and eat dinner. After wandering around for a while we decided to eat at the night market. We ordered crabs claws in a tamarind sauce and kho muc which was supposed to be squid but turned out to be dried squid which was as chewy as old boot leather. The crab claws had almost no meat in them and we both gave up after a few minutes of cracking and trying to get the no-existent meat out and ordered pork and chicken with rice from another stall, which was edible.

The next morning about 9.30 we set off and decided to take the longer but more interesting 61 road to Rach Gia. There was a road which was totally straight, numbered 80, on the map, but it looked a little boring.

About 1 or 2pm we arrived in Rach Gia and after searching around for a hotel mentioned in the Lonely Planet we were met by some guy offering us tickets to Phu Quoc on the Savannah ferry. After talking to the hotel owner they could sell us two tickets but could only offer us 1 motorbike passage and if there were any cancellations they would let us know in the morning. So we booked with the hotel owner, dropped out stuff and went out to see what Rach Gia had to offer, which wasn't much. But as we walked along We saw an office for Superdong II ferry. We decided to ask if they could take two people and two motorbikes and they said they could. So we went back to the hotel to cancel with Savannah before returning to the office and booking us on Superdong. He gave us our tickets but nothing for the motorbikes, which surprised me. He said motorbikes weren't ticketed and we just had to turn up the next morning at 7am and we would get them on. When we got to the hotel the owner said he had some bad news for us. We had to pay for the booking we had taken. He wanted 30,000 VND (about £1) of the 270,000 VND each. We argued him down and got it for 20,000 each, so it wasn't too bad. He told us we should go to the Superdong office the next morning and confirm our motorbikes. But this proved unnecessary and a waste of time. We did that and a man led us to the boat which we could have just driven to ourselves. After a nervous half hour we paid them about 150,000 VND each and saw them load our bikes onto the boat. After a couple of hours of all systems go we arrived at the beautiful island of Phu Quoc.

Watching the men unload our bikes was worth the 30,000 VND it cost us each. The Minsk especially is very heavy and not something I would want to lift off a ferry for a pound. We decided to stay at Long Beach for our week on the island. As we had just had Christmas and New Year, when I had gone to Cambodia, we were both a bit broke. So we needed to find somewhere a little on the cheaper side.

The first place we came across after getting to Duong Dong and then finding the road that ran near the beach was $25 a night for nothing much and we decided to keep looking, the next few places were offering rooms at around $17 or 18, and we were starting to get a bit tired after the long journey. Near Eden bar we had tried all the bungalows and had just about given up when we saw a closed gate and decided to try one more place, without much hope. The lady at the bungalows turned out to be very friendly and helpful and although the bungalows were all taken she said we could stay in reception that night and she would have a bungalow free the next day. So I slept under a mosquito net on a mattress in reception that night and Dud slept on a hammock outside with a mosquito net over him. The next day Dud moved into some bungalows nearby as she only had one bungalow and he didn't want to sleep outside again. He moved into the bungalow next to mine after a couple of days. She charged us $7 between us for the first night and $10 for the really nice bungalow. It had cold water, as most places do on the island, but not too cold, so it was not a problem.

We spent the next week getting suntans on the lovely beaches, eating fantastic food, especially at the Oasis restaurant near our bungalows, which has wi-fi, and serves delicious western food including shepherd's pie, fish and chips and chicken pie, as well as strawberry crumble with custard, and very reasonably priced, too. The beach at Bai Sao is particularly attractive, with the clearest water you'll ever see and the softest sand. We also did some biking around the island and saw just about everything it has to offer. My worst experience was when I got a puncture about as far as possible from home as we were riding through the National Forest on New Year holiday when most places were closed. I had to ride about 10 kilometres with no air in my front tyre until we came across a small motorbike repair shop, which also sold petrol which was great as I was almost out and still had a way to go on the fast darkening, dusty, stony roads that epitomise Phu Quoc. We were absolutely covered in red dust, dirty and tramplike and were exhausted as we pulled into a posh seafood restaurant not far from our bungalows, by now in total darkness. We hoped they would serve us as we were starving, and decided to splash out on a barbecued whale size Red Snapper, and of course they were happy to take our money. The food was fantastic and worth every penny.

After a day or two sunbathing to recover from the around the island trip we decided to take a "see four islands, snorkel and lunch" organised tour for $15. The weather for the whole trip had been fantastic and it was no different this day. The minibus picked us up around 8am and almost immediately took us to a pearl selling place. A reason why I rarely take these organised tours. It was full of hundreds of tourists all trying to buy pearls and about as much fun as breaking your leg. After half an hour of purgatory we carried on to the boat. About an hour of chugging along we arrived at the first stop for snorkelling. After snorkelling in Tioman Island in Malaysia the snorkelling was very disappointing, with little colour on show from the coral but quite a few small fish. We then stopped at another beach for a swim and lunch on the boat, which was quite filling if a little uninspiring. The promised seafood noodles tasted more like rat and had no seafood whatsoever. I paid 30,000 VND for two sea anemones. The type you see everywhere with sharp black spikes. They cut off the spikes, cook them and there is just a little stuff inside. They were quite tasty though.

Then on the way back you can either snorkel again or fish. Apparently the snorkelling was much better this time but I chose to fish and really enjoyed the fishing. I got lots of bites and luckily caught the first fish of only two! It was only little but it was a fish and I'd caught it LOL Oh so proud...

After a short trip we arrived back at the pier and back to terra-firma. The next day we had to leave the island, and because we had left it late to book the ferry we had to go to Ha Tien which meant an even longer journey back to Ho Chi Minh. This time we did go on the 80 road and made it to Vinh Long. Unfortunately all the local restaurants were full that night, so after walking all over town and being turned away we ended up in a tourist restaurant that gave us two dishes exactly the same even though they were supposed to be very different.

The next morning we left about 10.30 after Com Tam or broken rice and chicken or pork and iced tea, near the hotel, which had cost us another $10. That day I got another puncture on the way, this time on the rear, but not too far from a repair shop, so it wasn't too bad and we eventually arrived back in Ho Chi Minh City around 3pm.

So whatever people tell you it is possible to go to Phu Quoc by motorbike! You may not want to go too far for a couple of days after getting back, I know I didn't. But it is all well worth it, with some lovely sights of the Mekhong, some interesting towns along the way, a fantastic challenge that is hard to beat and a wonderful island to relax on and enjoy. Altogether we travelled about 800 kilometres going to the island, around the island and back home to HCMC.

Pics in Bui Vien Street and Van Tanh HCMC

2009-06-30T11:10:00.002+01:00

Well here are some pics I took. The first is one where I got out of bed and put my head on the wrong way up. Next is a very odd dolphin at Van Tanh followed by banh mi and then crabs, with the new buffalo on the Bui Vien/De Tham crossroads. There was a lovely old Indochine type hotel on the site but who is to stand in the way of progress.

The Quiz at Le Pub, Saigon

2009-06-23T18:25:00.006+01:00

We Won!!!!

Although one housemate was the writer/producer of the quiz, she did not tell us any of the answers. Our other housemate also took part in writing the quiz but stuck to her guns and also refused to tell us any answers.

The quiz was very international and we had a very international team. So that is why we won a whole bottle of wine!

The last quiz I won, in Wolverhampton, UK, with Daniel (hello Dan), we won £50!!! and were fortunate that night, too.

Tonight's questions were incredibly hard, about things like when were certain cheeses, like cheddar and Gouda invented, where were french fries first eaten and where was the plant rhubarb first discovered.

So altogether, I think we deserve a round of applause, and so does the quizmistress, Arielle, but I won't hold my breath...

Urban Dictionary Definitions of Graham

2009-06-15T18:55:00.000+01:00

1. Graham 303 up, 64 down love it hate it

Graham is an old SCOTTISH name (not english you limey bugger). It means Grey Home and the earliest known Graham was the Earl of Mountrose.
Read the definition of Graham.
graham gram greame grey home scotland scottish graham crackers golden grahams
by C.W. Graham Oct 26, 2006 share this
2. Graham 86 up, 11 down love it hate it

A tall handsome and utterly fuck worthy dude that has no place on this earth as it is entirely beneath him. Women fall at his feet and are often found exploding in orgasm as he may pass them by.
"Whoa dude is that a 'Graham'?"

"Yeah, what's he doing on earth, I thought he was like on another level"

"Oh my god I think I just came"
graham grum gorgeous handsome fit
by MandaLovesIt Apr 1, 2009 share this
3. Graham 50 up, 53 down love it hate it

A tall, skinny, permanently awkward boy.
Someone who explodes every time he is given a compliment, and is likely to fall over if ever given a hug.
A Grahams natural habitat is in the cold confines of his own room, and is rarely seen in any other surroundings.
Despite tendencies to fall over and say the wrong thing in any situation, he's also lovely, and obviously one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Graham's awesome :)
grumpy tall brilliant alcoholic daft
by lakencake;; Feb 7, 2009 share this
4. Graham 135 up, 159 down love it hate it

A guy who is incredibly good looking, athletic, smart, and loves to get blumpys
Graham's the man. He got the biggest blumpkin last night from Ronald McDonald
blumkin blowjob hot carl alabama hot picket cum
by Grambo Oct 29, 2007 share this
5. Graham 46 up, 74 down love it hate it

Guy who constantly says the wrong thing to girls and his peers. Completely oblivious to the fact that everyone thinks hes a douche. Often says "hilarus" instead of "hilarious" and waggles his hand around when he talks.
Dude, why were you such a graham yesterday? The was really lame.
douche wigger cracker duncan racist
by johnlewis42 Jan 29, 2009 share this
6. Graham 97 up, 151 down love it hate it

"Graham" is a simplistic term used commonly to describe thy holy father that resides in the heavens. Rumour has it that the only remaining specimin lives in an area called parkwood among other inbred bastards. This is only legend however.....
Holy shit, its a graham! BLESS ME WITH THY PANTLESS GENETALS!!!
graham god bible hooper allah
by Steven Dickinson Aug 10, 2006 share this
7. graham 42 up, 127 down love it hate it

A fresh bloke that constantly hooks up with fat ugly girls.
Oh my god i did a graham
Dude ur so out the group
grahma grigga brett howdy lolw
by winngerwanger Aug 7, 2006 share this

Looking for New Housemates and House

2009-02-07T09:01:00.000Z

The year has flown by and it is nearly time to leave this house. My housemates are going travelling and not staying in HCMC so not only am I looking for a house I have to find new people to live with! The contract finishes on March 15th, so not long to go..

So if you know of anyone in HCMC who needs a good housemate or who wants to start looking for a new house then tell them to get in touch at
grahamhibbins at hotmail dot com

Christmas in Nha Trang

2009-02-07T08:28:00.012Z

Vi and I had a lovely time in Nha Trang over Christmas. We could only manage about 5 days, and it rained a lot, but we managed to pack a lot into those days. We had a day visiting islands on a boat trip and another day visiting VinPearl island which you get to by cable car, and has lots to do, including a huge tank full of fish, sharks and other sea creatures, a water park, which was fun, computer/fair type games, including boxing and shooting, as can be seen in the pics, fair rides and lots of other "free" stuff. We also went to a fantastic spa type place where, amongst other things, we had a mudbath together, which we enjoyed and there is a fantastic hot, thermally heated swimming pool. Here are a few of the pics.

2009-02-07T07:54:00.007Z

Pics of Cambodia

2009-02-07T07:24:00.019Z

For Christmas I went with my girlfriend to Nha Trang, where we had a great time, then for Tet/Lunar New Year Vi went to Vung Tau with her family and I went to Sihanoukville in Cambodia for a week on my own. My housemates went to Phu Quoc, the Phillipines and stayed home working.

I really enjoyed the beach and especially the food in Sihanoukville and had a really nice room right on the beach for $20. So it was a little lonely but still an enjoyable week and it was better to go there on my own for Tet than stay at home in empty HCMC.

A Post at Long Last

2008-11-12T05:18:00.004Z

If anyone still reads my blog:

I have plenty of time now because my school, who said at the end of the 12 week course I had been teaching on, there would be a new course for me. However, it transpired that all they had was a link to someone else who had a "live in" job somewhere in the provinces. Which, of course, I turned down.

So I am looking for work again, just at the wrong time of year when there are few jobs around. With Christmas and Tet holiday coming up and bills to be paid I hope something comes up soon. I have applied for a few so far, so now waiting for replies.

Pics of my birthday

2008-09-01T11:36:00.003+01:00

Pics of my birthday spent with my girlfriend Vi followed by cocktails with Kevin and John my housemates

Please let me know if you can see the pics, as I cannot.

Back thanks to a Saudi Arabian proxy

2008-09-01T06:56:00.005+01:00

I am having to go via Saudi Arabia using a proxy to get into my own blog! It is very strange that all Blogger sites seem to be blocked in Viet Nam.

Oh well at least I'm in...

I am on holiday from work this week, so have a little more time for blogging.

Hope everyone hasn't forgotten me.

Edit: A Saudi proxy which won't allow me to upload pics...

A long forgotten blog...

2008-05-18T17:18:00.004+01:00

Well it has been a while and I apologise to my reader for that. I spent 8 days of wine women and song in Cambodia, then when I got back the internet connection was down. I had to buy a new modem and hub even though the hub was only a few weeks old. Then the internet company had to come and configure it so it all took time. Also I am still working seven days a week, which leaves little time for blogging.

But for some good news I have just sent my resignation email to the school I work weekends for, so soon I should have a lot more time.

It is exhausting teaching 2 hours for teenagers, a 15 minute break then having to teach boisterous ten year olds for another two hours... It is a great school with very helpful staff and great facilities, but it is just too tiring. After leaving home at 9.20am to getting home at 7.30pm 4 days a week, plus teaching two hours on Friday, I don't need weekend work I need to get out and meet people and have some fun...

And write my blog...

My favourite blogs

2008-04-13T16:39:00.002+01:00

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/

http://anenglishmaninosaka.blogspot.com/

http://gaijintonic.com/

http://gorillasushi.com/

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Housewarming Party and John's Birthday

2008-04-12T03:41:00.003+01:00

We had our housewarming party Thursday night. About 20 or so people came. I cooked Mashed potatoes with Scrambled egg and ham, two types of sausages, what were called Arabian sausages in the gourmet shop, but as they were pork sausages I think it's unlikely they came from Saudi Arabia, lol and pork sausages from a local shop. They were quite both tasty sausages, which was surprising. Vietnamese sausages have a different taste to Western sausages and are not usually nice, for me anyway. We also made a big salad with Emental cheese and ham. As I didn't get home from work until 7.30 I didn't have time to do everything, so two of our guests, Elizabet and Thuy made the salad, thanks guys, and it was very good. Heidi prepared some sandwiches and make-your-own spring rolls.

We started off with Bia Hoi, with John buying 4 or 5 litres for 30,000 Dong, £1 or $2, with ice. We had a couple of crates of Tiger and 333 beer but had to put them in the freezer to cool. Someone bought a bottle of brandy and there was some bourbon and Heidi bought a bottle of Absolut vodka.

As ever, the Vietnamese had to leave by around 10ish but the rest of us continued until late. I fell asleep in my chair and had to go to bed at sometime in the early hours and the last people, I hear were still going strong until 3.30am.

We moved up to the balcony around 11 or 12 and John played his guitar with Louis, one of the guests, playing along on his harmonica. Which was the highlight of the night for me. They are both superb musicians and played some excellent blues type music.

The guy who puked in the toilet, all over the walls, floor and toilet, and didn't even try and clean it up wasn't so much fun, as I had to clean it the next morning. The only pictures that were taken were by the guy who puked in the toilet, so I doubt if I'll be able to see them or put them up...

So a great night seemed to be had by all. All the food I cooked was eaten and everyone said it was good, so the effort was worth it. Everyone seemed to have a good night and we had no complaints from the neighbours, which was pleasing. It does seem a good place to live and it was a great party.

Bun Cha in HCMC

2008-03-30T13:44:00.005+01:00

I went for a walk this evening and after about an hour's walking I came across a very unusual sight in HCM. It was a Bun Cha restaurant! In Hanoi Bun Cha was my favourite food, so how could I not go in? In Hanoi Bun Cha restaurants are the dirtiest in town because it is barbecued pork in a soup with rice noodles and a big bowl of herbs and salad. So the charcoal gets everywhere and Hanoi people throw all their rubbish on the floor and then it gets swept up at the end of mealtime, which makes the places look a bit messy, but, of course doesn't affect the taste of the food. They are not only the most delicious places but also one of the cheapest. Bun Cha generally costs 10,000 Dong, or 60 cents US, 30p Brit. If you have a couple of equally delicious but very filling Nem or spring rolls then it may be 15,000 VND altogether.

This place had shiny silver tables, no sign whatsoever of charcoal dust or rubbish strewn floor. It had waitresses in uniforms and everything was sparkling clean and spotless.

So in I go "Bun Cha va Hai Nem" (bun cha and two spring rolls) I say. They were amazed at my perfect Hanoian accent... (well they didn't laugh too loud, anyway). It arrived at the table fairly quickly and I put in some garlic, a little chilli and looked through the herbs for the coriander/cilantro, but none there, only the normal herbs you get in HCM food, which was disappointing. Bun Cha needs coriander. I began eating, but the chilli, even though I only put two small pieces in, was extremely fiery, and I began coughing. "Mot Chai Coca." (a bottle of Coke) I said and waited for it to arrive. After a few minutes and asking where it was, I got a glass of iced tea and was told in English, your coffee is coming soon. Oh well, so much for my perfect Vietnamese accent! I don't think I have ever managed to ask for Coke and got them to understand. I need to do more work on my pronunciation... But at least it was better than a few days ago at a different restaurant when I asked for "mot chai bia" (bottle of beer) and was brought a spoon, which made everyone in the restaurant piss themselves when I took her over to the beer and showed her what I wanted. The bill for a coffee, the Bun Cha and two spring rolls? 48,000!

It never pays to eat in a clean restaurant, always look for the grubbier ones, it's always easier on your wallet.

It is another week til I get my first wage paid into my bank account, which took three weeks to open, endless form filling and lots of patience. My passport was needed for each of the six visits, even though they photocopied it several times on the first visit, but it's now ready to accept the money and I have an ATM card all ready to go...

House in District One

2008-03-30T08:47:00.007+01:00

Well, last week I promised pics of the new house and never delivered. The camera battery died on me so time ran out. So now I have taken some pics of the house and here they are. The two small bedrooms are not there, but they are sorta square with a balcony, bed and wardrobe and AC. My room is great, with 3 seater and two seater sofa plus chair, great furniture, a small balcony but no wardrobe. We all have wired internet which has got a bit quicker since we moved in and now isn't too bad, but not shockingly fast.

The house has four bedrooms and a shower room/toilet on the ground floor (1st floor for u Americans) The ground floor is mainly open plan spans two smalls alleys and has electric shutters on both sides of the house. There is plenty of room for motorbikes and a small room we don't use much which can be converted to a guest room. At the top of the house is an open sided washing area with a good quality washing machine. We all share the big balcony off of Kevin and Sandrine's room but we need to buy some chairs as there are only two now.

The Big Move

2008-03-18T15:55:00.005Z

The internet at the hotel I was staying in was awful and wouldn't let me into Blogger. So here is my first blog for a long time...

Well I have eventually moved into a house in HCM City, it's in District 1. I moved my bags by Cyclo! Which cost just over three dollars, and I have a lot of bags. It is a fantastic house with four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, brand new hand-built kitchen, great furniture, big LG flat TV with good cable, balconies off each room and two roof terraces. It costs double what the house in Hanoi cost, but it is worth it. I am sharing with a French couple, an American guy, and an American woman. They all seem very nice and we seem to get along well. My room is huge and has a big, comfortable bed, a two and a three seat sofa plus a chair, some lovely furniture (but mosquitoes by the hundred!) and a small balcony.

So altogether I am enjoying HCM now. It has been a bit difficult, but I have found well paid work and soon I will be working seven days a week, and taking home good money. But for now I am a bit broke as the rent and deposit has to be paid plus I had to pay for a month at the hotel, and I don't get paid til the fifth of next month and that'll soon get eaten up. The area we are living (Hai Ba Trung) has lots of good, cheap restaurants and local food, so it won't cost too much to live, but it'll take a couple of months to get back some fiscal resources.

I will put up some pics of the house soon...

Phnomh Penh, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat around Christmas 2007

2008-02-28T08:57:00.000Z

In Limbo

2008-02-23T03:54:00.003Z

I am sitting in limbo now.

Before Tet I applied for a job, had an interview, which I passed, was asked to do a 15 minute lesson plan which the was happy with and was told I had got the job teaching the employees at a factory in District 2. I was promised an email about the hours while in Malaysia. But it never arrived and no replies to emails. So when I got back from holiday I tried emailing the school head office in Hanoi. I eventually got a reply telling me the guy who interviewed me had left the company and had not mentioned me to them.

They asked me for another interview... This was getting repetitive... I met the director of the company and was told I still had the job (at a reduced rate of pay!) and it was starting 25th Feb. So I rented a motorbike, which I would need to get to work. Then a couple of days ago they rang to say the company wanted to put off the course for one week. GGGRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr

Bear in mind I have been to Cambodia for three weeks for Christmas and New Year and then Malaysia for Tet, so have little money left. They won't pay me til a month after the start of work and I have to pay $10 a night for the hotel plus my food, etc. So I am trying to live as cheaply as possible now and hope my money lasts out.

So it really pisses me off when I get overcharged. I am still angry about dinner last night. I ate the night before in a small local place, had pork, rice and salad which was 15,000 VND. Then last night I returned, had 2 chicken legs, rice, salad and vegetables. 40,000 VND! Which is ridiculous. This happens quite often here. They see a non-local and try to get as much as they can out of you, probably thinking you are a tourist.

On a plus point I met a nice French couple: Kevin and his girlfriend who are working in a restaurant in HMC. We are all looking for a house to share around District 1, so wish us luck

A couple of days in Singapore

2008-02-14T09:33:00.001Z

Tioman Island, East Malaysia

2008-02-14T09:27:00.003Z

The Journey to Tioman

2008-02-14T09:25:00.001Z

Was a tad difficult to say the least. Even tho it was further from Taman Nagara than the Perhentian Islands we decided to go there because it was said to be quite beautiful, with both forest and good beaches, coral you can swim to from the beach, and best of all has cheap alcohol!

Tioman has duty free areas where you can buy beer and spirits cheaper than we saw it anywhere else in Malaysia. Some of the bars in the resort we chose (ABC) had happy hours from around 5 til 7pm with three beers for 10 Ringitts. so I think it was the right decision to go there.

So we set off on the early morning bus from Kuala Tahan and arrived in Jerantut three hours later and waited for around an hour for the next bus , not to Temerloh as we had been told but to Kuantan. From there we were told you can catch a bus to Mersing, which is where the ferry to Tioman goes. So eventually we got to Kuantan. I waited with the bags while Ju and Fi went upstairs to the ticket office. After about 10 or 15 minutes they came down looking pissed off. The buses were all full as it was the first day of Tet holiday. It was Fi's birthday and we really wanted to get to the island so we could celebrate it properly. While they were gone a taxi driver's man had approached me offering me a taxi to Mersing for 180 Ringitts. So after getting him down to 150 R we took it. We were all totally exhausted by now and didn't care about the money. It was between 3 and 4 hours to Mersing, the driver spoke no English, so we all just took it easy and tried not to get angry with each other. There was also an undercurrent that we were worried there would be nowhere to stay on the island as it was Tet. We had tried to ring them with Skype from the forest but had not managed to book anywhere.

Around 5.30pm we got to Mersing. We stopped at a ferry before Mersing which if running would have left at around the right time, but it was low season and wasn't running. So on we went to Mersing, stopping at the jetty. "Is there a ferry to Tioman?" we asked. "No, not tonight!" was the disheartening reply. But there is one at 5am tomorrow! "But it is full", they said. "Totally full?" We implored. "Well, maybe we can get one or two on", they said. So luckily, they squeezed us on. So we went and looked for a guest house in Mersing and stayed the night at a 45 R hotel with AC, balcony and hot shower! They put a mattress on the floor for Julian, which he was ok with, as we were only going to be there a few hours. So we celebrated Fi's birthday, not on Tioman, but not far away, and at least we had tickets and knew we would get there. Early the next morning but not 5am (more like 6am) we set off for Tioman.

The fast ferry took 90ish minutes to the island, stopped at three places before ABC resort and off we got onto the jetty. On Skype we had managed to talk to the boss of South Pacific Resort, the friendly Tony. He said he would bear us in mind but had heard it many times before and people rarely turned up. So we set off from the jetty to look for Tony with a worrying feeling that everywhere might be full. But fortunately, Tony had a chalet for us at 35 Ringitts, with cold shower and fan and a nice balcony overlooking the sea. It was a bit rough and ready, and when the tap was blown off by the power of the water in the bathroom, Tony eventually tied it on with string and and said his "brother" would come and fix it properly, but he never did. But we had 4 nights there and really enjoyed it. Tony was friendly and helpful and it was well positioned. When we wanted a snorkel, we asked Tony and instead of charging us 10 R a day like most places, he gave us his for the duration of our stay. It was that sort of place.

So we enjoyed the island, walking everywhere, as no motorbikes are available to rent. There is a path used by the locals on motorbikes, but not for foreigners. When you get to our end there are steps anyway which would have been difficult if not impossible to negotiate on a bike.

We walked to Monkey Bay which was a long 2 hour walk through forest, but very enjoyable, with a stop at a totally deserted beach on the way, with hermit crabs and snorkelling. Monkey Bay was even better, with two swings on the beach, but no people so we had the beach all to ourselves again. We climbed rocks, seeing the macaques playing in the trees, snorkelled over coral and generally had a good time on the lovely golden sands and pure, clean water, before eventually walking back.

Another day we went snorkelling around an island off the coast, catching a boat for 65 R each, including snorkels, fishing (which we had asked for but in the end never bothered with) and a trip to Salang for lunch, where we saw huge monitor lizards swimming in an inlet and after lunch the boat took us to the next bay to Monkey Bay, which was another good area for snorkelling. So altogether a good day and well worth the money. A Malaysian couple took underwater pictures of us snorkelling which would have been great to see. I gave them my email addy, but haven't seen the pics in my box yet, unfortunately.

The next day Ju and Fi went sea fishing but I didn't fancy any more time on a boat so stayed at the beach. They caught a good catch of around a dozen fish and brought them home to be barbecued for dinner, which was nice. We shared dinner with the Taiwanese (I think) couple who were also on the fishing trip. So a good time was had by all.

We tried to walk to the Southern part of the island and walked for several hours, but the track (and our energy ran out) and we caught a free resort bus back to Teket jetty and walked back from there to our resort. The Northern part of the island is better and less developed we found, anyway. There is a huge resort, with golf course, and all those things that go with a luxury resort, including pollution and vast quantities of rubbish hidden away in the South. So we were happy with our location choice and even Tony's shacks, lol

After one more night we caught the ferry back to the mainland and had to go our separate ways. Me to Singapore for a couple of days before returning to HCM and Fi and Ju back to KL and onto Hanoi.

Taman Nagara National Park, Malaysia

2008-02-14T09:23:00.003Z

Taman Nagara is a fantastic place place to spend a few days. I had brought boots and boot socks and even women's tights (as recommended by a website for keeping out the leeches) I covered myself in mosquito repellent which they are not supposed to like and set out for a good long walk in the wilds of a proper forest.

Within a few minutes of setting out wearing a long sleeve shirt, boots and socks and tights over the top of the socks, I found out why no one else was wearing this get up. I was sweating my nuts off! And we hadn't seen a single leech yet... So off the tights came and I would fight the leeches on the beaches... well in the forest.

Leeches are supposed to be found in the less well touristed areas and if you find them it means you are more likely to see wild animals as that is what they are looking to prey upon. So if you see leeches then you are going the right way. And so it proved. As soon as we got off the beaten track the leeches appeared by the million. They sit on brown leaves waiting for your muddy boots to pick them up and work their way towards your feet. After having had a few in your boots you start to realise that you can keep an eye out for them and knock most of them off before they can get in.

So we walked around 10 kilometres the first day (it seemed like 100 kilometres and I was soaked with sweat and totally exhausted by the end of the walk) and found the canopy walkway, and walked that too. As someone who hates heights I found it a little wobbly and some bits I didn't like, but it was very well constructed and not too scary. The views over the forest and seeing the giant squirrel made it well worthwhile and enjoyable. The sounds of the forest were amazing and Fi saw a flying snake and we saw and heard many birds including a woodpecker which wasn't scared of us taking pics at all.

That evening Julian arrived and we did an organised night walk which was fun. We saw kingfisher type birds sleeping in the forest, snakes, tarantulas, other spiders, almost saw scorpions but they escaped down their hole before we got to take a look. We also saw various stick and other insects and were able to see deer when in a hide, but couldn't take any decent pics.

The next day's walk through the forest was even longer but very enjoyable and I even managed to see a macaque, but it quickly disappeared into the forest before I could get my camera out. As we were completing our walk we came to a swimming area with lots of butterflies on the riverbank. The biggest and most beautiful butterfly suddenly decided it liked the look of my blue and yellow t-shirt and landed on it sucking up my sweat. We were able to take pictures and it didn't leave until I started walking again. Most butterflies never come near humans and I have always struggled to take pictures of them, so it was a nice few minutes, to be sucked on by a butterfly, lol.

The food in Kuala Tahan was pretty crap but we tried a restaurant that night which proved the best so far. It was the first one you would see when arriving from KL, cannot remember its name.

The next morning we caught the bus out of there at 7.30am and headed for Tioman Island. Which proved a hell of a journey.

Journey to Taman Nagara

2008-02-14T09:14:00.005Z

The journey to the ~~Centre of the Earth~~ Taman Nagara was a long journey by bus and boat but enjoyable nonetheless. We set off at about 7.30am without Julian who had failed to materialise. We left a note and the ticket and hoped he would join us the next day. Luckily the company believed us and allowed him to use the ticket once AirAsia had actually managed to transport him from Hanoi to KL. AirAsia may be cheap but if they cancel flights their reputation is hardly likely to grow as it makes a huge difference to people's short holidays, especially at Tet/Lunar New Year.

So me and Fiona set off on the 3 hour bus journey to Kuala Tembeling. This is just a small village/jetty location with a couple of good value restaurants and some offices offering places to stay within the national park. The whole journey was 60 Ringitts ($20)

According to the 'Take the Path Less Travelled' website, which is well worth a look: "Most travellers, especially ones on tour packages, are dubbed into believing the only way to reach Kuala Tahan gateway is by chartered boat at Kuala Tembeling. Well, the fact is, you CAN drive into the park yourself. There is a rural road (C163) that takes one straight to Kuala Tahan village side from Kuala Tembeling, where most budget hotels and chalets are found (DIY travellers, pay attention to this!). The road is a good option if you arrive Kuala Tembeling late and there’s no boat available."

http://malaysiaupclose.wordpress.com/category/map-taman-negara/

As we found out later, a bus can be got to Jerantut and on to Temerloh so no need to do the river trip twice. But the river trip is a good way to get to Taman Nagara. The boats are relatively peaceful compared to some long-tailed boats in other parts of Asia as they use Japanese outboard motors, which makes for a very pleasant journey.

So after lunch we got on the small boat to Kuala Tahan which takes another 3 hours and does get a little uncomfortable as there is a shortage of room for long legs, but the views make up for a little bit of discomfort.

Upon arrival I was a little disorientated and didn't quite know where to go. We knew we didn't want to go with Han on a package type tour, preferring to get off the beaten track and save a bit of money. We were trying to do the trip on $20 to 30 a day and that would never be possible with Han. I had read somewhere that there were cheaper places to stay across the river and it was worth paying the 1 Ringitt to go across the river. However, I was mistaken and the only accommodation across the river was from 60 Ringitt a night each in a Dorm room to 1500 Ringitts. So after meeting some body builder types who had arrived a few hours ago and had set off for a hide about 3 kilometres from the river but had been put off by the 20 leeches each had had to remove from their boots on the short one-way trip and were leaving to catch the bus that evening for anywhere but "this hellhole" without having seen any animals (unless you count leeches).

So back across the river to search for somewhere to stay. The first bungalow place we tried was full, which was a bit worrying, and it was starting to rain heavily. It was near the end of the rainy season and we were in a rainforest, so it wasn't too surprising. The friendly people at the bungalows suggested we go through their gardens and look behind the place, which we did. There was a hotel behind which was from 50 to 90 Ringitts. I waited there while Fiona went looking for a room. While I waited I was told about a chalet with a double and single bed available for 60 Ringitts with fan and cold water shower. When she eventually got back from the other bungalow places which were well away from the centre and a bit manky, we decided to stick with the chalet and talked them into 50 Ringitts a night, and it turned into a good place to stay. Not a great view, of Woodlands car park, but birds and a squirrel in adjacent trees gave us something to look at as we sat on our balcony drinking the vodka Fi had brought with her.

Alcohol is very expensive in Malaysia and even more so at Kuala Tahan and so a bottle of vodka was very useful. There were two places you could get beer there, at Woodlands Resort where it was 10 Ringitts a small can, or across the river where it was 18 Ringitt for a glass of draught Tiger. So not a place for heavy drinkers with long pockets and short arms.

A couple of days in Kuala Lumpur

2008-02-14T07:17:00.009Z

The early morning flight to Singapore on JetStar ($191 return) was pleasant. The leather seats were impressive and comfortable and the legspace was ok. Even though we were going to spend Tet holiday in Malaysia I was heading for Singapore because it was the cheapest way to get to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Fiona and Julian were travelling straight to KL from Hanoi. After arriving in Singapore I had to work out how to catch the bus to KL. To get to KL I had read you can get a bus from Lavender Road that goes directly there. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Lavender Rd on the MRT (overhead railway), which itself was quite difficult to work out. There is an overhead railway between air terminals, but that isn't the MRT, you have to catch that from terminal one to terminal two and then catch the MRT from there. So once I had found the MRT I headed for Queen Street. From Queen St. you can catch a bus to Johor Bahru (JB) and then a bus onto KL.

The bus from Queen St was the bright yellow Causeway Link and was a reasonable S$2.40. This takes you to the Singapore side of the border (making sure you keep your bus ticket) where you get off with your luggage and pass through the Singapore passport necessities, wait for the next bus, which takes you to the Malaysian border. You exit the bus with your luggage and pass through the Malaysian border controls, before catching the next yellow canary which takes you to Larkin JB, where you can catch a bus to KL. At Larkin I was charged 30 Ringgit for the bus to KL. I had read it should have been 24 Ringgits, but was just too tired to argue and paid the money and got on. It was two minutes to 3pm by this time and the bus was said to be leaving at 3. I had not had any food and little water by then, as every time I got through customs the yellow bus was leaving and I had to rush to get on it. The guy who sold me the bus ticket took some money off me and went to buy me a large bottle of water. He returned with two small bottles, one for me and one for him! Too tired to argue I just accepted it. When the bus didn't go immediately I asked if I had time to get some food and was told ok if I was quick... I quickly bought three sweet bread with filling things that you get in Asian bus stops, not great but food... So after this rush I expected the bus to fly off to KL, but waited til 3.30 for it eventually to fill up and head off. If I had known I could have had KFC or found some decent food. GGGRRRrrrrrrrrr!!

I slept like a baby for the first two hours of the bus journey and upon awakening I looked out of the window to see more of the oil palm trees I had seen covering Cambodia. For the next two hours it was pretty much the same sight. What is supposed to be an environmental benefit and saving oil is turning most of Asia into a single species plantation with no bio-diversity whatsoever. I read somewhere during the holiday that even Sabah, one of the most beautiful, natural and forested parts of Malaysia/Borneo is now covered with 16.6% palm oil, surely the ugliest and least environmentally friendly plant ever seen.

After 4 hours I arrived in KL and headed for Chinatown which was pretty close to the bus station. I then spent from 7.30 to 9pm looking for a reasonable priced room. The ones I had read about on the internet were not as cheap as advertised and the cheaper ones I looked at were totally manky, fairly manky or diabolical shitholes, but luckily when I arrived at the bus station a tout had given me a card for Wheelers guest house, which said it had a rooftop sunbathing place (only open after 6pm!), bar, restaurant, and reasonably priced rooms. So I eventually found it and was told they had an air-conditioned room with en-suite, but only for one night as it was booked from then on (by this time I was sweating my nuts off and would have given my anal virginity for AC) I paid 55 Ringitts, which is about $18. They had single matchboxes with a bed with shared bathroom for 28 Ringitts.

It turned out I was on the next road to Chinatown so in a good position for sightseeing, as I waited for Fiona and Julian. I wandered around and looked for some food and beer and found a restaurant within Chinatown. Noodles were reasonably priced and delicious, but beer was 15 Ringitts a small bottle, which is around $5! As a glass of beer in Vietnam can be had for 2000 Dong (8 for a dollar) and a bottle for 10,000 Dong, this came as a bit of a shock! But there was no getting away from it. Almost everywhere we went in Malaysia beer was expensive and unavailable except in Chinese owned places.

Fiona turned up next day, we booked the trip to Taman Nagara National Park with a company called Han, through the guesthouse, and waited for Julian to arrive on the 2nd. Unfortunately his flight was cancelled and he eventually arrived on the 3rd, but we had to leave for the forest and left him a message to follow us, which he did.

Off to Malaysia for Tet

2008-01-29T11:28:00.000Z

I am off to Malaysia in the morning so there probably won't be many posts for the next two weeks.

I still haven't managed to put up my pics of Cambodia, Angkor Wat, etc. But when I get back I will definitely putting up pics of my holiday.

Last year for Tet I went to Vang Vien in Laos and had a fantastic time. I hope this Tet will be as good. I am meeting up with Fiona and Julian, my buddies from Hanoi so I can see it being a fantastic time.

First I have to get to Singapore (it's cheaper from HCM), catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur where they are going to (it's cheaper from Hanoi) before heading off to Teman Negara for some forest trekking, etc. Then hopefully go to Tioman Island for some beach time.

Considering it's rainy season now all the above is open to negotiation.

Link to 7 day weather forecast for Teman Negara:

http://www.kjc.gov.my/htdocs2/data/R139E.html

Three Good Teman Negara sites:

http://community.iexplore.com/planning/journalEntryOverview.asp?JournalID=20717&EntryID=20717&n=Overview

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4608e/138ed5/4/

http://malaysiaupclose.wordpress.com/category/map-taman-negara/

Link to 7 day weather forecast for Teman Negara:

http://www.kjc.gov.my/htdocs2/data/R139E.html

Tioman Island sites:

http://helenandben.blogspot.com/2007/04/tioman-island-lovely.html

http://wikitravel.org/en/Pulau_Tioman

Just seen a site on the net I thought everyone must see!

2008-01-28T12:54:00.000Z

Do not visit this site if you are squeamish, however:

http://www.blueherbs.co.uk/shop/pc/viewcontent.asp?idpage=1

Don't think I'll be sending in any pics...

More differences

2008-01-26T06:04:00.000Z

Still been thinking about the differences between Hanoi and HCMC.

Bia Hoi in Hanoi generally costs VND 2000 or 8p or 15cents. Sometimes it's 3 or 4,000. I like the taste and don't mind sitting outside on those tiny plastic chairs chatting with fellow drinkers. Other than Bia Hoi the bars usually charge you VND 20,000 for a bottle of Tiger or similar. Yet I have only had Bia Hoi once since moving to HCM. It was VND4500 a litre and came in a plastic bottle. But it tasted bloody awful! So I will stick to drinking bottled beer. Tiger, Saigon (green or red), BGI (usually the cheapest and comes in a bigger bottle), Heineken (the most expensive) are the most popular and usually available around the backpacker's area. I can find a BGI for around VND 10,000 or 33p/66cents. So drinking is a bit more expensive in HCM compared to Bia Hoi. But of course it is 34 Celsius during the day and only drops to around 25C minimum compared to 17/10C in Hanoi now, so it is nice to sit and drink a cold bottle of beer.

The food around the backpacker's area is certainly more international/westernised than anywhere in Hanoi. For example, I looked everywhere in Hanoi for a decent English breakfast and never found it. The save money, make money mentality meant they tried to save money and therefore give you tiny portions. Even if it said "eggs" on the menu I have known them to give you just one egg. In a restaurant near the cathedral I ordered breakfast, specifically asking for soft/sunny side up eggs (this I have asked for in every restaurant I have had breakfast in and almost always got hard eggs) but of course the eggs came hard. So I said to the waitress "I asked for soft eggs!" She said "I know" and wandered off...

The service in general in Hanoi is poor to diabolical. It is not unusual to go into a restaurant and find all the staff sitting down watching television. Most restaurants serve the same Vietnamese food and that gets incredibly repetitive. In the end I almost stopped eating Vietnamese restaurant food as it was just so dull. There are lots of restaurants that serve international food, but they are generally expensive. I ended up buying wholemeal bread, salad, ham, tinned fish, cheese (which is expensive) and eating sandwiches during the day. Luckily, I enjoyed one local lunchtime dish that was available everywhere in Hanoi: Bun Cha, which is rice noodles in soup with barbecued pork and a plate of herbs to add as you like. This I have been unable to find so far in HCM :-( It really is delicious and filling and often costs VND10,000). Some places serve spring rolls with it too and with a couple of those it is a very filling dish. The Bun Cha restaurants are the dirtiest restaurants in town because of all the barbecuing, but is easily the most delicious and I never had any stomach problems after eating it.

Pho (pronounced fer) is the Vietnamese national dish and is available both north and south, but I am not a big fan I'm afraid. It is rice noodle soup, usually (although not always) with uncooked beef on top: Pho Bo, or Pho Ga, which is the same but with cooked chicken.

There was one great Deli/restaurant on Kim Ma that anyone who is in Hanoi should look up. It is only a small place and is often empty, but has a three course set menu for VND75,000 (US$4.5) which they changed regularly and was always delicious. It was called Oregano and was 657 Kim Ma or something close to that. It had things like stew and mashed potatoes on the menu, and for sweet one option was a fantastic chocolate mousse, with some good starters too. Good French wine was VND30,000 a glass, which was really good value.

Here in HCM the food around the backpacker's area is generally pretty good for Western tastes. So far I have not had one hard egg when eating English Breakfast and don't even need to ask. Mexican food is more prevalent down here and is often very good. Most of the restaurants around here have it on the menu. In Hanoi there was TexMex on Giang Vo, but that was the only Mexican restaurant I found. It is rarely, if ever spicy, however.

Never order curry in Vietnam. They are unable to cook curry as a Westerner knows it, they put some ginger in and call it curry. There are a few 'Thai' restaurants around in both North and South, but I have yet to find one where the food tastes anything like Thai food and always avoid them now, even though Thai is my favourite food. Every table has a bottle of Tuong ot (ert) or curry sauce, so I use that to spice things up.

In Hanoi they are just starting to implement a new law to ban hawkers from a lot of streets. The police often arrest street traders and that is only going to get worse. But you do get bothered by book-sellers if you go for bia hoi at the international Bia Hoi corner at Luong Ngoc Quyen, but it isn't too bad. Here in backpacker's area in HCM the book-sellers/newspaper hawkers/women who sell this and that/women with babies selling chewing gum are totally beyond the pale.. You can sit in a restaurant and you will get 10 sellers come up to you and ask if you 'wanna buy book?' within a 5 to 10 minute timescale. Maybe more. Also there are far more disabled people here in HCM. I see anywhere from 20 to 50 disabled people every day, mostly begging on the streets. From people with a limb/foot/hand missing, to people who ride around on a small wheeled cart because they have no limbs, to people who lay on corners with apparently no control of any limbs, to a woman with a baby in a pram with a hugely oversize head. All just normal everyday sights, ignored by almost everyone, and rarely given any money. In Hanoi, I rarely remember seeing disabled people begging for money, probably because the police would move them on.

Birthday Party, New Job and Tet Holiday

2008-01-22T02:59:00.000Z

I have had a good few days. On Saturday I attended my friend Thuy's birthday party. She used to live in the north of Viet Nam but moved down here to work. I met her through Julian and Clio. Her second language is French but her English is pretty good too. So some of the guests were French, some Vietnamese and me the only Brit, lol. Julian who we met in Vinh was there and his English is excellent and Ben, a Frenchman who is trying to design and sell t-shirts in HCM, was happy to chat in English too. I cooked (Chau peeled the pots :-)) potatoes with scrambled egg (Thuy's favourite dish at a restaurant on Bui Vien. I had never cooked it before, and put a little too much salt in the egg, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. So it was a very enjoyable evening.

Then yesterday I had a presentation/second interview for a very well paid job. The presentation went well and I got the job. So after Tet I will be teaching (presuming everything goes well) business English at a company in District 2. They will pay me travel expenses on top of a very good hourly rate. YAY!!!!

For Tet I am going to Malaysia from 30th Jan to 14 Feb. I am meeting Julian and Fiona from Hanoi there. So I'm really looking forward to that and know we'll have a great time.

Lakes and Other Stuff

2008-01-21T07:49:00.000Z

Map of Hanoi

A certain anonymous person has suggested that "There are lakes in Saigon!"

I said in my post: "It (HCMC) has few, if any lakes unlike Hanoi, but does have some nice, well maintained, although well-hidden parks." With a lot of searching I have found a map of District six (somewhere I have not been as of yet because I am still to rent a motorbike and am doing everything on foot or xe om (motorbike taxi)) showing lakes, but nothing like central Hanoi, which has West Lake, which is huge and the very central Hoan Kiem Lake which is the focal point of the city.

I offer the evidence above and leave it up to the reader to decide.

He also suggested: "They do enforce the closing time at bars that do not pay!The backpacker ghetto is open because they ALL PAY!"

My opinion: Who gives a toss? Whether the bar owners pay the police or not is not my problem. I am a user of bars not an owner. It is their country and it is up to them how they want to run the police force and bars.

He went on to say: "If you do not want to wait, come over to the Q.I am there every nite after 10.You do not need to ask for me, as I said NOBODY could miss your stupid face."

As this person has not told us his name it would be extremely difficult to ask for him... He has again used an abbreviation "Q.I" of which I am unfamiliar, so I don't think I will be going to look for the invisible man of Q.I.

A Few Pics of HCM

2008-01-20T05:11:00.000Z

Comparing Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh (well sort of)

2008-01-16T14:57:00.000Z

I have been asked by Nevada Sam to compare Hanoi and HCM. I have been thinking about this question a lot, but am finding it quite difficult. When I first got to Hanoi it was my first time living in a new country for a prolonged period of time. I spoke no Vietnamese and was seeing things with very fresh eyes, although I had been to Vietnam before, I had never been to Hanoi or taught anywhere for a long time.

But let me try and see where this goes… Well I’ll start with the obvious: HCM, or as most people call it, Saigon, is far larger than Hanoi, has far more cars especially, and traffic in general. As the roads are generally wider, the traffic moves quicker than in Hanoi, so it has taken some getting used to. Atm (at the minute) I am not renting a motorbike as I did in Hanoi as I spent three weeks in Cambodia over Christmas and New Year (which I really enjoyed) and spent most of my available money. So am a bit borassic.. for those who don’t know Cockney rhyming slang borassic lint means skint or broke…

Hanoi is cold now! Although it gets up to about 20C during the day, it still feels cold, especially when on the motorbike or if you are out of the sun. HCM is hot all year, around 33C during the day, falling to no lower than 25C at night. The heat can sap your energy, if you are busy.

In Hanoi, initially, I paid $9 a night for the Prince Café Hotel, which was a bit basic, but had internet in the room, which is important to me, was up on the 5th floor, had a full-size glass wall one side which was extremely draughty, was in the Old Quarter, not far from Hoan Kiem Lake and the owners name was Nunh, who became a good friend and who ended up wanting me to rent or buy a hotel with her, which she would run. The hotel in HCM is $10 a night, is run by a lady called Nunh! Is right in the centre of the backpackers area, with a big room, fridge, hot shower, big bed, wardrobe, air conditioning, is on the 1st floor, next to the reception, which can make it a little noisy. I also have internet in the room. So, altogether, very similar, apart from the heat. One difference is the TV channels here in HCM. There is no CNN and BBC World picture is blocked but the sound is audible.

HCM is a huge city, far more modern than Hanoi, with no Old Quarter and looks in some places almost European, except for the millions of motorbikes, with its many expensive department stores/malls, shops, wide roads and posh, expensive looking cars. It has few, if any lakes unlike Hanoi, but does have some nice, well maintained, although well-hidden parks. Hanoi has the Red River and HCM has the Saigon River, so not much difference there.

When I first got to Hanoi I used to walk miles trying to learn where everything was. The Old Quarter is extremely complicated with its tiny similar-looking streets so took me weeks or months even to understand. Since I have got here I have walked miles again most days. Because it’s a bigger city it takes a lot of understanding and I am far from knowing where roads lead, but I find walking is the best way to learn a city, before renting a motorbike, so you can recognise some of the buildings when you get lost. So I am still at the walking stage atm and quite enjoying flip-flopping along mile after mile.

Loneliness was a bit of a problem when I first got to Hanoi. I don’t make friends with people easily; I suppose I am a bit shy and like to know people before deciding to give my friendship or not. Not everyone gets my sense of humour, way of looking at the world or disbelief of god, etc. After a while I started making friends and ended up with some great friends who I hope will be friends for life. At the moment I am at that early stage. I have a few friends who I knew in Hanoi who have moved down here too, which helps, but one has no phone so I have lost contact with him (Julien, who I went to Vinh with), another has been ignoring my txts, don’t know why (but she is North Vietnamese, so probably didn’t need anything) but she rang today and wants me to teach her and a colleague, English. And she knows where Julien lives, so hopefully I will get back in touch with him now…

With James, or Shaky, as he is known to his friends down here, due to his uncontrollable shaking hands, I am working on the website CheapHotelsCambodia.com, which is not online yet, but should be in the near future. We have taken pictures of a lot of hotels and guest houses in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap/Angkor Wat and should have done Sihanoukville (but I couldn’t be bothered to get my arse off the beach to take the pics…)

As for the difference between the Hanoian people and the Saigonese, it is a little early to judge. I know the Hanoians very much live by the saying “save money, make money”, and down south they are more into spend money to make money, hence the city being far bigger and more prosperous. The police are not as strong down here either. In Hanoi, where the government is and most of the police are supposed to come from, they close almost all the bars and clubs at 11.30pm every night. In HCM, I have been told this doesn’t happen, although I can’t really judge because I haven’t been out that much late at night due to lack of funds or anyone to go with…

I am not sure this blog has answered Sam’s question, but it is more what has been on my mind lately and probably partly answers it and I will get back to it when I have more experience to judge.

A few pics of HCM

2008-01-14T07:54:00.000Z

Life in Saigon

2008-01-14T06:51:00.000Z

Blogspot has been down for a few days so I couldn't blog...

However, it's back up now so here is my first blog for a while.

Things are starting to look up a little bit on the job front, but not much solid yet. I have been teaching young kids last weekend, from 8 to 10am and should be again this coming weekend. It is Tet holiday early February, and schools close down for up to a month, so most are not looking for teachers now. But tomorrow I have another interview, so wish me luck.

I really want to go somewhere for Tet. Last year I went to Vang Vien in Laos and had a fantastic time. Unfortunately, with little money coming in I won't have enough to fly there and the bus takes 40 hours just to Vientiane! 20 hours to Hue, stop the night, then another 20 hours from Hue to Vientiane, I think it was 4 or 5 hours to Vang Vien. It has been suggested to go to Borneo, which would be great, but I have looked on the internet and can't find any cheap flights from HCM.

Life in HCM is ok. Today it is very hot and sunny, which is not something I would be saying if I still lived in Hanoi. I am staying in the Dong A1 hotel in the backpackers area, which is $10 a night, with wireless internet in my room. My room is a little noisy as its next to reception, which is staffed with television-watching staff 24 hours a day, but it's a big room with a big bed, wardrobe, en-suite with hot water shower, and TV with reasonable channels, including Discovery, National Geographic, 3 American movie channels, but no CNN, and the BBC picture is blocked here but I can still hear the sound, I don't know why. So I get the news from the German, Japanese and Australian channels and, of course, the internet.

So living in Saigon is certainly a challenge, especially trying to live cheaply, but I am quite enjoying it, especially the weather. I am spending some time with James and we are still trying to make www.CheapHotelsCambodia.com, which is taking up a fair bit of my time. I have met some ex-pats at the Cantina Restaurant and the one next door and I hope to make some new friends soon and get lots of work.

poem about moving to a new city

2008-01-06T05:36:00.000Z

My time in Cambodia is a blur spent alone
And now in Saigon I still feel like stone
There are people I know, challenges to face
But loneliness bites deep
I see a million people living their daily lives
and know they don’t care

I need to find a way through the maze of despair
Find a way to breathe in this contemptuous air
There are people I know, challenges to face
But I sink into lethargy
Watched by so many and yet seen by none
They do care, but not about me

I see cripples galore living life to a degree
Begging for money, nothing for free
They have people they know, many challenges to face
Do they ever sink into malaise?
I see them and wonder who is under the gaze
Should I care about them?

On my travels

2007-12-18T14:09:00.000Z

No posts because I am taking 2 or 3 weeks travelling around Cambodia with James and his son and the internet is very slow here. So far I have spent a week in Phnom Penh. Now in Siem Reap.

Will update when I get back...

An excellent blog post that made me think

2007-11-28T03:17:00.000Z

Three pics that were taken the day before:

http://candletocandle.blogspot.com/2007/11/domani.html

Do it before it is too late...

Weekend in Cuc Phuong National Park

2007-11-27T08:32:00.000Z

This weekend we went to Cuc Phuong National Park. Jane, Henrik, Cuong, Fiona, Sara and me set out at 8am Saturday morning from Hanoi and arrived around 9 hours later! Why it took us that long I have no idea. It is normally a 4 hour ride we were told. But it wasn't important because we all enjoyed the ride and had the weekend. We stayed in a nice guest house outside the park for the first night and also ate there because in the village they had no food. It is late in the season so they probably weren't expecting too many visitors. We sat around drinking fruit wine and beer and play Pass the Pigs and then some dodgy card game Henrik suggested, gradually sinking down into inebriation before heading off to bed.

Early the next morning (10am) we paid 40,000 Dong to get into the park and rode the 20 kilometres to our chosen guest house along a concrete road with lovely views of the forest, which had no hot water but was only $12 a night a room, whereas the accommodation with hot water was $25 a night. We were only stopping one night as we all had to be back at work on Monday so no problems.

We had a fantastic walk through the forest and really Enjoyed the trees, ferns, rocks, and beautiful scenery. It was so powerful it felt like we were under the influence of something. Cuc Phuong is a lovely place to visit and I would recommend it to anyone. At the end of the path there was what is called a 1000 year old tree and huge and wonderful it is. We heard and saw many birds and butterflies and animals.

In the evening there is only electricity from 6 til 10pm but it is enough. We had dinner at the park restaurant, which was tasty then retired for music and beer on our balcony as Henrik had brought his guitar.

Next morning it took us 4 hours to get back to Hanoi, a bit of a nap and ready for work at 4ish. Henrik Jane and Cuong left earlier because of work. Altogether a fantastic weekend spent with good people and everyone having lots of fun. Next weekend is my last weekend in Hanoi (and Henrik is leaving for Sweden, too) so we are hoping to get a big group together and go back to Cat Ba for another good weekend.

Weekend in Cat Ba

2007-11-27T08:13:00.001Z

Not this weekend but the one before me and Fiona went to Cat Ba for the weekend. It was the first time I had been there and really enjoyed it. The weather was reasonable, the Sunset hotel where we stayed was good and only $6 a night for front room and only $4 a night for back room (which we had to take because the hotel was full the first night). The journey there by bus costs 120,000 Dong (8 or 9 dollars) and leaves from the South West (I think) Bus Station at 7.15 and 11.15 which are odd times but the only times. It takes about 4ish hours and includes several buses and a boat.

We rented a very uncomfortable tandem for an hour or two and had a couple of hours rowing round a very nice bay in a kayak. The food was good and the people friendly, so overall a good weekend. We also met up with Sara and her friend which was nice.

pics of Hanoi

2007-11-13T10:56:00.000Z

I took a few pics as I was wandering around Hanoi today so thought I would share them with you my reader.

As I was getting close to home on Dien Bien Phu I saw a motorbike with two giant vases loaded on. I tried to take a pic but it was difficult with a bus hooting behind me and motorbikes all around me and unable to get it out of fourth gear and take the pic all at the same time, so I'm afraid it is a bit blurred. I took another one but another bike cut in front at just the wrong time (but u can see the vases, if not the bike, in front of her to the left) in the first pic.

After this is a picture of a very strange (for Hanoi) food van. In the West it is normal to see similar food vans, but in Hanoi it just seems so out of place, so worthy of a pic.

Then there is the pic of three grandads and one grandchild, enjoying the afternoon warmth of an autumn day near Hoan Kiem

Followed by the late afternoon sun shining on a building and reflected in the lake

Finally, an unusual view of a much photographed bridge on Hoan Kiem.

Cheap airlines

2007-11-12T06:17:00.000Z

I saw these new airlines while browsing and thought I would pass them on. They seem fantastic value.

First up is Oasis which flies from Gatwick (London) to Hong Kong for £99 each way (which after taxes etc works out to around £300 return.

http://www.oasishongkong.com/gb/en/home.aspx

The other airline is Nokair

This flies from Hanoi to Bangkok. I looked today and the prices were $8.97 from Hanoi to BKK and $0.09 from BKK to Hanoi! After tax this worked out less than $100 return.

http://www.nokair.com/NokConnext/aspx/Welcome.aspx

Take a look. Let me know if you see any other cheap airlines that you think might be useful or especially if you find a cheap way from Hanoi/HCM (I'm moving to Ho Chi Minh early December) to Hong Kong.

Moving to HCM

2007-11-02T05:06:00.000Z

Well I have decided to leave Hanoi at the end of the month and head to Ho Chi Minh. The weather in Hanoi is cold and damp and winter is approaching. So now seems as good a time as any to see what it is like living in the South's capital.

So if you know of a HCM houseshare that is looking for a new housemate or an independent school that needs an experienced English teacher with great qualifications, then let me know. I am probably going down there without either a job or a place to stay.

I will miss Julien and Clio, Henrik, Steve and Fiona and many of the lovely people I have met in Hanoi. I will miss my pupils, who are so keen to learn and fun to teach. I will miss walking round Hoan Kiem Lake and weekends away on the motorbikes.

But I am looking forward to being in HCM and the warm weather, the better nightlife, and later opening restaurants and bars. Although I think the traffic and the pollution may be even worse down there.

My trip to UK, Thailand and Cambodia

2007-10-19T04:46:00.000+01:00

Well it is nice to be back in Hanoi. I enjoyed my two weeks in West Sussex England with my friend sw. I saw my mother and stepdaughter, took them to Great Yarmouth, went to the wedding of my friends Brian and Mazzie and a very strange but brilliant karaoke hosted by a lady man who sang beautifully and took the piss out of everyone, followed by a week in Thailand where I bought a Nintendo Wii in Pantip Plaza but spent most of my time on the Kao San Road before meeting up with Fiona and heading to Koh Chang, which is the Thai island closest to Cambodia. It is very biodiverse, beautiful, mountainous yet lacks beaches, at least at this time it did. The weather wasn't the best either, with big seas and some rain. So it was great to get to the lovely Sihanoukville in Cambodia where we had a great time with great weather on the wonderful soft sandy beaches.

I would write more but I am totally addicted to playing Metroid Prime 3 Corruption on my wii and need to get back to it...

Fun in Hanoi

2007-09-11T05:28:00.000+01:00

Well life has been a bit hectic lately so no blogs unfortunately. I haven't managed to get the pics off Clio of the snake restaurant we visited on Sunday or mentioned SoHot restaurant near the Cathedral or TexMex restaurant on Giang Vo.

And just remembered the surprise karaoke party/birthday party my friends threw for me last week. I hate karaoke so it wasnt exactly the ideal setting, but it is the thought that counts I suppose and the cake and champagne were nice. Julien has those pics so I can't post those either atm.

And now I won't have the chance as tomorrow I am off to England for two weeks followed by two weeks in Thailand and Cambodia if all goes to plan. A whole month off work! Yippeeeeeee!!!

So I doubt if I will blog much during my time away

So see you next month

My Students and I on my Birthday

2007-09-01T03:27:00.000+01:00

More Atheisms that make sense

2007-08-30T16:37:00.000+01:00

1. “George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to god through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd.” - Sam Harris

2. “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours” -Stephen Roberts

3. “I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence” -Doug McLeod

4. “With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” -Steven Weinberg

5. “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” -Richard Dawkins

6. “The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike” -Delos B. McKown

7. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.” - Albert Einstein

8. “Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense.” -Chapman Cohen

9 “A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” -Albert Einstein

10. “Don’t pray in my school, and I won’t think in your church” - Unknown

11. “I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them” -Galileo Galilei

With thanks to:

acorscadden.com - a med student’s weblog
science, technology, atheism and humour

http://www.acorscadden.com/atheism/top-10-atheist-quotes/

The trip to Danang and Hoi Anh

2007-08-25T15:14:00.000+01:00

Well it has taken me a while to get round to writing it but here is a report on our highly enjoyable trip.

We decided to go by air from Hanoi because the train leaves at 11pm and gets there at 2pm the next day so wouldnt have left much time to enjoy the resorts. The plane was only $130 return, took about an hour or so, and was worth every penny.

We got to Danang airport and were greeted by a host of taxis. I didn't want to take the major names and thought one on its own would be better (and maybe cheaper) however, it turned out to be a bad move as his meter was in dollars and he charged us 10 of them to get to where Clio had taken up residence: Hoa's Place on China Beach. At $5 for her single room and $7 for a twin it was very good value and within sniffing distance of the beach. After plonking our stuff in the room we all headed for the beach, a swim in the beautifully warm ocean and a seafood lunch. Yummy! We all got a little too much sun that day, but enjoyed the beach. In the afternoon we headed for Marble mountain, which was just across the road almost. It is a hill full of pagodas, caves, and lovely views, as can be seen in some of the pics. Soon after arriving it started to rain, but it didn't matter too much and it was a lovely afternoon. At the bottom of the hill are a lot shops selling marble stuff, jewellery and all sorts of good value tat, which we all enjoyed perusing. Some a little big to carry home...

In the evening, after chatting with the friendly people around the communal table at Hoa's place over a couple of beers, we had dinner at a fantastic seafood restaurant with four waitresses for three of us, with a bottle of French wine, giant prawns, abalone and fish, before heading off in search of an expat bar in Danang recommended by Clio's guidebook. After riding up and down on our rented motorbikes (a good value $3 a day) we asked people, asked more people, rode around some more, finding it around two hours later, just closing! But Danang is a beautiful city and it wasn't a bad place to ride around in the cool night air. We eventually found a piano bar, which was nearly closing but we managed to get a drink and a couple of songs before they closed. I had a cocktail and then we headed on home, or so we thought. But just before the bridge back to China Beach we saw a disco. Julien as ever was keen to go in, but I said, no I am going home. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my way home, so turned around and went and found them in the disco. This disco was the oddest place, with no dance floor, lots of pretty girls in short skirts being moved around tables by the management, and dancing girls on the stage (although they did look like ladyboys to me) There were lots of high-spending Vietnamese men but no sex involved as far we could tell. After a cocktail it was 11.30 and closing time! Everyone was out by midnight.. Oh well good for an early morning start to Hoi Anh.

Hoi Anh is only around 30 minutes from China Beach by motorbike, and is a lovely place to spend a day. The people are very friendly, the food is very different from the food in Hanoi, and absolutely delicious, especially at the Mermaid restaurant, with stuffed squid, seafood omelet and fish. In Hoi Anh there are many things to buy for presents. I am off to England in 3 weeks, so bought one or two, which I will not mention here... We stopped at a nice hotel which was recommended by Hoa from Hoa's place and was only $11 for a triple room, with a bath, air conditioning and was close to the centre. What more could we ask for. Perfect. We also had some clothes and shoes made at very reasonable prices with very quick, same day making. They copied the leather flip-flops I bought in England a year ago and have worn constantly ever since. You may have seen the orange and yellow flowered shirt I had made in the pics, which was less than $10. In the evening, after a dinner across the river in the very posh, but good value, Dutch owned Lighthouse Restaurant, we spent a lovely time drinking two-for-one happy hour (til midnight!) cocktails at $3, which were superb and really hit the spot. With a game of pool, which degenerated into a drunken mess thanks to the mojitos. No disco.

The next morning we picked up the shoes, before doing a bit more shopping and heading off back to Danang and the beach. At 6ish we left for the airport and paid only 100,000 Dong this time, just over half the cost of the arrival taxi.

So altogether a great time. Very reviving and smashing fun.

I would recommend to anyone Danang and Hoi Anh. With lots to do and far more than can be fitted in in 3 days. I hope to return soon...

Each one individually upped!

2007-08-21T13:20:00.000+01:00

3 Days in Danang and Hoi Anh

2007-08-21T10:16:00.000+01:00

We got back from a fantastic break in Danang and Hanoi last night. This time I took my camera so have a few pics for my avid readership (of 3)

Unfortunately I have spent all afternoon trying to upload them without success. Twango, the website I use to host my pics refuses to allow batch uploading with the latest version of Firefox and will not work with Opera or IE either. As I had around 90 pics to upload it seemed sensible to try and find a way round it, but after trying many different solutions I am giving up. So I will just have to upload a few of them, which is a shame as there are some good pics of Danang and Hoi Anh amongst them.

Hoa Binh

2007-07-23T16:25:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely weekend away from Hanoi this weekend with my friend Fiona. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so have no pics. So I will have to try and paint an (unsatisfying, as Telly Savalas said 'If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't I paint you?') picture with words. After a pleasant couple of hours on the Wave with some smashing views, karsts, greenery and a good tarmacced, not too busy road we arrived in Hoa Binh.

Hoa Binh is a quite attractive town about 75 kilometres away from Hanoi, so could be done in one day. However, I managed to get the weekend off and wasn't working until 5.30 Monday, so we went for two nights in the pink palace which was the hotel in the centre of town we chose as our temporary abode. Which was had for a bargain price of only $30, a 33% reduction off the asking price. For $15 a night we received a huge room with en-suite, air-conditioning, tv (without satellite or cable) two big beds, nicely decorated in light blue, friendly, helpful service, including room service peace and quiet, with a view of the river behind and an attractive town, with indoor and outdoor market and a dam to explore.

The first thing I could say about Hoa Binh is that very few local people like to eat out. The choice of restaurants available to tourists is pretty spartan and need to be searched out. After a wander around town on foot upon arrival and seeing most of the side of the town which is on the left bank of the river we hadn't come across anywhere we fancied for food. So we returned to the hotel picked up our mechanical steed and wandered over to the seedier side of town on the other side of the river. Where we did manage to find quite a nice restaurant, with pretty twinkling lights, catfish in a pond, edible food on the menu and delicious bia hoi available. So with full bellies we returned to the hotel satisfied and a little tiddly, ready for tomorrow's journey.

At 8:00am prompt we awoke, for a few minutes, fell asleep again for another hour or so before eventually struggling out of the pit, to set off for Ba Vi hillside. The hill with a temple at its peak, to be climbed because it is there. We decided to search for an egg place for breakfast and eventually found a pho shop doing eggs too, so in stilted Vietnamese, with hand signals aplenty we asked for pho with eggs, which duly arrived. We hadn't realised the eggs were vit lon, those disgusting duck eggs with a part-grown chick inside, which we chose to feed to the friendly little cafe kitten and puppy, rather than eat. but the soup was adequate for breakfast and kept us going on our journey, onwards and upwards to Ba Vi.

Here I should have scanned in the map of the countryside around Ba Vi, with its bridge over the river clearly shown, but as I don't have a scanner and am too lazy to go to a scanning shop, then you will just have to take my word for it. But we travelled along this road for an hour or two, til we got to the area of the bridge, stopped for a coffee and asked directions, from the smiley and happy three generations of Vietnamese ladies and the guy who spoke a little English who happened to to be in there, being told it was about another 15 kilometres then turn right, so we didn't bother to get out the posh, hard-backed map, we just continued on our way. After about 20 odd kilometres, we stopped, thinking something must be amiss, and we had missed the turning. So we got out the map, saw that the bridge was more like 20 kilometres back, somewhere near the cafe we had stopped in on the way. Turning around, we thought it was odd but somehow we must have missed the turning. For our ever patient readers, to cut a long story, semi short, there wasn't any fucking bridge! up, down, up, down, nothing! It was clear as Pi-pi Island seawater, on the map, but in reality there was nothing there, so we had to return to the outskirts of Hoa Binh and drown our sorrows in local Bia Hanoi at a very nice little restaurant with a huge Anchor Beer sign, with no Anchor beer of course, with no chairs and an unrushed, almost Lao atmosphere, before heading back to the hotel and a snooze before dinner.

We went for another walk like the first night, but this time with a little more determination, knowing that there must surely be a good restaurant in the centre of Hoa Binh. And it paid off. There it was, right along the main street, but quite a way down, the Anchor restaurant, with real draught Anchor at 4 for a dollar, excellent Hai san (seafood) type food. So we had giant prawns, squid, rice and vegetables plus several beers for the princely sum of about $7 for two. Some excellent coconuts were also drunk/eaten around town and the shopping, including the markets, looked quite fun if we had had a little more time. After dinner we popped over to the Pho Cafe, and elegant little upstairs establishment with powerful cooling 'steam' being emitted through pipes and blown around by fans to cool the almost non-existent customers of this Vietnamese version of the 'Turkish bathhouse' down. But now it was time for bed

After an excellent night's sleep and another early morning start (which went from me telling her we were getting up and going for breakfast at 8:30 to actually decamping at 10:30, we made our way to a cafe with a limited menu we had spotted the night before on our travels. The Jackson cafe. With egg, pate, beef, chips (4), spring onions, sizzling away in oil on a metal plate, with a bread roll and a plate of cucumber to accompany it, one of only three foods on the short menu, with one of the others being sugar and butter on bread. Food fit for a king! and what better way to set ourselves up for the return journey to Hanoi. We did the return in very bright sunshine, 35C, slathered in factor 50 and a Jesse James mask mainly keeping the rays at bay, in a little over two hours, with one pair of dead sunglasses, one minor battle with a lorry and no bones broken.

Altogether a very enjoyable weekend and next time we might even get to Ba Vi.

Good value house & apartment for for rent in Hanoi

2007-07-12T04:41:00.000+01:00

I got an email today about a couple of places to stay in Hanoi and thought others might be interested:

550USD/month A very nice private Villa land 200m2,wooden floor and stair, 3 floors very nice garden a lot trees around,with 3bebrooms, located at Doi can street near HoChiMinh museum, full equipments furnitures,ADSL with computer,
fans and wardobes, cafe table fridges, bed -matress, blanket, 4 air-cons, CD payer, telephone, chair and table.nice sofa,
The Living room and Kitchen with Oven and Gas stove, some thing for cooking, & dining room communicate each others on ground floor, wasing machine, good security.
please contact;mr VIET,0983051577
email.hanoihouseforrent@yahoo.com, adventure_vietnam@hotmail.com,

A very nice aparment for rent near HA NOI TOWER and near VAN MIEU QUOC TU GIAM 200USD a month full furnitures ADSL, CABLE TV ,AIR_CON,WASIG MACHINE, NICE SOFA AND KICHEN ,

This is why I'm an atheist/agnostic

2007-07-11T18:51:00.000+01:00

A great website that really explains a lot.

http://www.godisimaginary.com/

Pics of Sunday's trip to Ninh Binh

2007-06-19T02:43:00.000+01:00

Working Hard in Hanoi

2007-06-19T00:54:00.000+01:00

I have been incredibly busy lately so haven't had time to post anything on here. When Simone left I took over half of her IELTS and TOEFL classes and that is proving a tough challenge. I have been preparing the lessons from 2pm to start at 5.45 until 7.15 for IELTS and 7.30 to 9 for TOEFL, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so it is a long day. With lots of essays to mark too (which is unpaid, as is the preparation time). On Monday Wednesday and Friday I still do my General English classes, both Elementary from 5.30 to 7 and Pre-Int 7 to 8.30. I use New English File for both classes, which is great and means I don't have to spend hours preparing. Everything is there for you, with loads of extra stuff in the teacher's book and it covers all the skills well in a very integrated and enjoyable way. It is better than any other book I have seen.

At the weekend we went to Ninh Binh for a day by motorbike, which was great fun. Thuy was our guide and as she comes from there and speaks French and English, she was a very good guide as always. The journey home was a bit hair-raising, averaging around 70 or 80 kph per hour at dusk on a busy main road was scary at times, but generally fun. The pics will be up ASAP...

Education in Nam

2007-06-19T00:45:00.000+01:00

[OFFLINE MESSAGE] by [CHANEL] EX PAT WITH FAMILY > "mY HUSBAND & i WOULD LOVE TO COME OVER TO VIETNAM & TEACH ENGLISH ETC, BUT WE HAVE FIVE KIDS ANYONE KNOW WHAT WE WOULD DO FOR EDUCATION & CAN WE GET EDUCATION EASILY?"

I received this message the other day but the person left no email or anything. So if anyone knows anything about International schools in Viet Nam then leave her a reply on here and hope she returns to the blog and reads it.

Mal & Sim's Leaving Do

2007-05-28T09:26:00.001+01:00

It is going to be a very sad week this week.

Simone and Malcolm are leaving to go travelling.

They had their leaving party last night and it was up to their usual fantastic standard: I got home at 4am slightly inebriated and very merry.

No Pictionary on the glass this time, instead lots of people pulled faces on one side while people drew them on the other side, with hilarious results. I forgot to take my camera so don't have any pics but hope to get some off of Simone later. But the party was great with lots of interesting people to chat to, good music on the Ipod and lots of fun.

I stole the pic off her blog

http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=sim.mal

(don't tell her!) Just couldn't resist this great shot. Malcolm actually looks worse than this now as he has had poncy streaks put in his hair! He promised to have his anus waxed last night and provide us with pics! It is OK Malc, we can manage without...

Come back soon Sim and Mal you will both be greatly missed

Pics mainly of Pu Mat National Park

2007-05-22T08:51:00.000+01:00

A trip to Vinh and Pu Mat National Park

2007-05-21T08:40:00.000+01:00

I had a fantastic, if tiring weekend. After teaching 5.30 to 8.30pm on Friday, I caught a motorbike to Ga Ha Noi or Hanoi train station in English. The train left at 9.20 and me and Julian headed to the bar for a well-deserved beer or two. Clio joined us later but doesn't drink very much.

The soft sleepers were all full so we had booked three hard sleeper beds in a compartment of six. It was the slow moving stopper and was due in Vinh at 5am. So with the help of the Beer Hanoi it was off to sleep. After 3am it became less possible, but at least I had had 3 or 4 hours sleep. The train pulled into Vinh exactly on time, as most trains in Vietnam seem to and we caught a taxi to J and C's friend Julian2's school, where he teaches French. Julian2's English is very good as he has lived in England for some time. We were able to sleep for a little over an hour in a very smelly, damp room, but it was free, so beggars can't be choosers.

At 8amish Thuy and Hang arrived and we rented one more motorbike. Which made six people/3 motorbikes on tour... We had omelet for breakfast and set off for the National Park. Vinh looked better than the guide books suggested and looks like a place I wouldn't mind spending time in. But this weekend we were off to Pu Mat National Park, so no time to linger.

No one had been to Pu Mat before, but we did have a very good map book, luckily. We had been told various distances to Pu Mat, but as ever it is further than expected, and turned out to be about 150 kilometres, which is very hard on the bottom on a Honda Wave. The roads, however, are pretty good (apart from about 100 metres of deep red mud which caught us unawares and left us sliding like pucks on an air hockey table, and trainers and bikes covered in mud, but we got through it relatively unscathed) so it was an enjoyable trip, with just a stop for lunch and a few more stops to ask directions. The scenery as we got nearer was amazing, with similar limestone Karsts to Halong Bay but on land not in water.

After around 4 or so hours we eventually arrived in Pu Mat, which had a hotel. Julian and I had left our passports at home, which was pretty stupid of us, as most hotels in Vietnam need evidence of identity and will not let you stay without. But luckily they allowed us to stay, and we had a boys' room and a girls' room, with Julian having to steal a mattress from another room as there were only two beds in each room, one single, one double, and there was no way I was sharing a double bed! The room was full of lizards, insects and spiders, which was no problem for me, but Julian2 later told me he was an arachnophobiac, and didn't have a good night's sleep! It was a National Park, and not that surprising really. It is their home after all.

So we had some bread, meat and cucumber for lunch, al fresco, before setting off touring again. The maps available of the National Park were pathetic, and we didn't want a guide, so we decided instead of trekking, to see the sights by bike. Thuy and Hang were local girls to Vinh, so knew a little, but had no in-depth knowledge, so we just played it by ear. The scenery was fantastic and very uplifting and we all enjoyed it. We tried to find a river where we could take a boat trip, which turned out to be a long way, but along a very scenic local road. Locals waved to us as we went by and shouted "hello" which was nice :-)

When we got to the river it was just a man-made dam and not very beautiful, but there were restaurants and maybe a boat. This was when we came across a jobsworth... He was a soldier, who we argued with for over an hour. He said that we could not stay there, take pictures or take a boat trip because we didn't have ID. He eventually said follow him to the police/army station so we all did. There they were about 30 soldiers playing table tennis and volleyball (it is a tough life being a de-militarised zone policeman!) Eventually it was decided that we could not stay because we didn't have passports or permission to stay and we would have to leave. We then drove back to the boat and caught it anyway. Totally ignoring them! Hang decided not to come with us as they had taken her name and address, but the rest of us went. We were all a bit anxious as we returned, half expecting to be met by soldiers ready to throw us in prison, but fortunately they had gone back to the volleyball and left us in peace.

The long-tail boat trip was enjoyable, lasted about an hour for VND 150,000, less than $10. We stopped at a hut where the driver smoked a pipe, but none of us partook, and he wanted us to walk to a village, but to go into the restaurant we had all taken our shoes off, so were barefoot, so we decided it would be too painful on our feet.

Thuy said she knew a good restaurant near a waterfall, and asked if we wanted to go. It was getting late by this time, but we decided to go anyway, not realising it was quite as far as it was, about another 20 kilometres. It was a long way for people with sore bottoms, through winding, mountainous roads, but a great ride, with rockfalls, buffalos, cows, buffalo and cow shit and trees, trying to block our path, but never quite managing to. As we got close it started to rain, but only a little. So we were lucky with the weather. It was mostly cloudy the whole time, but I still managed to get burnt arms, neck and face.

As we arrived at the restaurant, dark was falling. We ordered two chickens to be spit roasted, and went to the waterfall, only another 600 metres. It was a very powerful and beautiful waterfall, maybe the best I have seen, but hard to see in the failing light and even harder to take pictures of. It would be nice to return and see it in daylight, and swim, but it is a long way to go.

So we went for dinner, with about ten puppies and dogs begging for food and a million flies attracted by the lights, it was a good meal, the chicken was delicious.

Driving back to the hotel in the dark was a difficult journey but one we managed to negotiate, luckily. We stopped in the town near the hotel and had cocktails and were able to watch the second half of the FA Cup final on TV. At full-time it was 0-0 and we left to go back to the hotel, thinking we would be able to watch extra-time on the hotel TV, but it didn't bloody work! So I have only just found out that Chelsea won! YAY!!!!

To be Continued...

The Good Life in Doi Can

2007-05-14T06:14:00.000+01:00

Have been doing loads of stuff lately. On Saturday we went to a rock concert at the Expo centre near Kim Ma, which was very good. Most of the bands were Vietnamese, one was Itaian: Piero Pelu or something similar... The music was very loud and the crowd really got into it. They were waving their arms in the air, shaking long hair if they had it, singing along and generally enjoying themselves. So it was a great atmosphere, went on from 8pm to 11ish. After some empty water bottle throwing at the police, which they just accepted with some hard staring at the perpetrators. The coppers at the front were eventually overwhelmed and the whole crowd streamed past the barriers to the front of the stage. But there was no real aggro and the fuzz were fairly well behaved and just accepted it and moved the barriers to the side. It was great to see the capacity of music, it really is a powerful force.

The coppers in Hanoi have a great deal of power. I have been told about the two biggest discos in Hanoi being closed down by the law, but do not know the full truth. Apocalypse Now was closed for reasons unknown. There is one of the same name in HCM/Saigon that seems to have no problems. Now New Century has been raided, apparently because of drug use, and closed down. So there are no longer any big discos in Hanoi.

There is a big difference between the two cities in the powers that be. Hanoi is the capital and home of the government and cops. I have been told that all the coppers in HCM are sent down from Hanoi, but do not know if it is true, but they are certainly much more relaxed down there. Luckily, they never bother foreigners anywhere in Vietnam, so it doesn't affect me greatly. I rarely go to discos.

Hanoi has some lovely parks and we have been playing badminton in one of them at weekends. I have also been playing table tennis with Henrik at a centre that has table tennis, a gym, pool and snooker. The weather lately has been great, with most days being sunny, the odd shower, but very few and far between.

We have quite a few people round the house for dinner, which is nice and we have had quite a few people looking at our spare bedroom and hope we have found a suitable housemate. Watch this space...

A few good days in Halong

2007-05-04T09:32:00.000+01:00

Halong Bay

2007-05-04T08:25:00.000+01:00

Had a great couple of days in Halong Bay with my friends Steve and Lan Anh.

We went by Minibus on Sunday morning. I forgot my passport (and you cannot stay in a hotel without it!) so we ended going round and round Hanoi by taxi to start off the journey. But we eventually got to the bus station around 11ish. It was 40,000 VND to Halong and took around 4 hours. As it was carnaval (sic) almost every hotel was full and we ended up paying 400,000 VND for a triple room, which is 100,000 over their published rate, but beggars can't be choosers and we had to stay somewhere. It was a nice quiet room with air-con, so it was ok. First we went and ate some delicious seafood (well sensible people did (Steve doesn't eat seafood) before heading to the beach, where Steve had to go parasailing, at 180,000 VND a time. He did it three times while we were there! The night market is good in Halong and we had a few beers and an enjoyable first evening.

The next day we went on a junk around the bay. This cost 130,000 VND each, which was very good value. from around 11am to 4ish including stops at a village, beach and a cave. They didn't give us any food tho, so it was good we had a huge breakfast before getting on. Surprise cave, including a red lit penis!! was the highlight of the day, as can be seen in the pics taken by me and Steve.

After returning to Halong we went by taxi to a Vietnamese resort which I cannot remember the name of. Here we swam, Steve (obviously) went parasailing, before returning to Halong and an evening spent in the Good Coffee bar drinking beer and listening to outdoor karaoke next door..

Tuesday we spent on the beach and all had a go in a blow-up ball, which was fun running around on the sea, tied to the jetty, but because me and Steve went in together, we ran out of air pretty quickly and we both came out feeling pretty dizzy..

We caught the minibus back to Hanoi around 5pm. It broke down around 6pm. We waited for the next bus til around 7pm and arrived in Hanoi around 9.15, with the 33 other passengers on the rather cramped (seating for 18) minibus.

But altogether a fabulous time was had by all and we survived the ravages of fighting our way back to Hanoi. I will definitely go back and enjoy more of Halong's sights and foods and spend more time with the friendly people.

The new house and the moving in party

2007-04-24T08:47:00.000+01:00

Well I have moved into the new house...

I really like it here. Living with Clio and Julien is easy and fun. The wireless internet works well, the cable TV is great and the bath (one of four bathrooms in the house) off my room is huge, altho we don't have a plug for it yet. This area is a great place to live, with almost everything you could possibly need available in the plethora of small shops, stalls and restaurants located on and around Doi Can. It is very central, yet there are no tourists, it is easy to get to most places in Hanoi. It is five minutes from where I work, by motorbike and Clio walks to work. The Big C supermarket is enormous and about 10 or 15 minutes away by motorbike, so all is good.

The party on Saturday night went really well. I cooked Thai curry, which was quite difficult because I couldn't find curry paste of any description, so ended up putting in a jar of garlic and chilli, some cucumin powder (which I have no idea what it is but looked a little like curry powder), a whole head of garlic, along with the potato, two tins of coconut milk and chicken breast. I cooked it on Monday to see if it would be alright and then froze it. I did intend to cook a second batch but in the end just the one lot was enough.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it so that is the important thing... I also did a salad with a bottle of bought salad dressing which was really good and crackers with hard boiled egg and mayonnaise with half a stuffed olive on each one. Clio cooked crepes (which were delicious and Julien did fish on crackers and ham on crackers, which also went down very well. We bought some cakes with fruit on from the bakery on Hang Bo, which is the best bakery in Hanoi in my opinion.

At the end of our street is a Bia Hoi place which sold cardboard crates of half litre, French/Vietnamese beer at about 40 cents/20 pence a bottle, so I bought 60 bottles, and loaded them on the motorbike.. Julien, who works in a vodka factory! brought home bottles of vodka, triple sec, scotch, blue curacao, so nearly everyone was well pickled by the end of the night. The last guest left at 2.30, so not a bad night...

We held the party on the roof terrace, which is a great place for a party, altho was a bit hard on the legs as it is on the 4th floor and letting people in and out and taking food and drink up meant a lot of trips up too many steps, but a minor point.

There were many Vietnamese, some French, Australian, the odd Brit, a good selection of people... Our guests brought us presents of beautiful flowers, delicious fruit and all seemed to enjoy themselves.

We are now looking for a fourth person to share the house so we have put up notices in local cafes, Puku, Mocha, Bia Minh, and one or two others I cannot remember the name of. Already had a couple of replies and met one girl today, so it is looking good.

Control (or lack of) in Vietnam, and Control in Bliar's Britain

2007-04-15T01:52:00.000+01:00

This is supposed to be a communist country and the enemy of capitalism, yet it is less controlling than Tony Bliar's Britain. Yes, they want to know where you are and houses for foreigners are controlled, but other than that it doesn't affect everyday life for me. I think we are fed a lot of crap by the Western press which makes us believe that Vietnam and other Communist countries are evil and controlling, but it seems to me it would be impossible to for any country to be more controlling than the Big Brother state that Britain has become, with its speed cameras; surveillance cameras; life-tracking passports; "anti-terrorist" legislation (which seems designed to restrict and control the general population far more than it will ever affect terrorists). The day they brought in satellite trackers on my vehicle at work I knew I had to leave, not only the job, but the country.

For me the end of the Cold War seems to have brought about a juxtaposition, with Communist states being more open and less controlling and Western governments controlling people more and more. As it was deemed a "bad thing" under Communism, so it is in the West and in my opinion nothing good will come of it.

Beware Big Brother is watching you, Winston...

Do you miss anything from home?

2007-04-14T04:55:00.000+01:00

IF you are an ex-pat reading this or are thinking about becoming one what do you miss or what do you think you will miss about your home country?

Here's what I don't miss:

British weather; getting up at 6 or 7am to struggle into work; fog; rain; hail; sleet; 40 or 50 hour weeks; overtime; cold, dank, dark evenings and mornings; speed cameras; petrol that costs the earth; beer at £2 or £3 a pint; pubs that serve food only at certain hours; boil-in-the-bag pub/restaurant food; fruit that tastes of nothing.

Here's what I do miss:

Errrrr... Still thinking about this one...

Here's what I enjoy about Hanoi:

The weather, although it is occasionally rainy and sometimes windy and cold, the climate seems generally favourable, much cooler than Ho Chi Minh or Bangkok. Although I haven't seen the wet/hot season yet, having arrived in September. I like working short hours and being paid enough to live on; I like being able to rent a motorbike for $40 a month and a great 4 bed house for $500 a month; I enjoyed living in a hotel for $9 a night inc free internet in the room; I love Bia Hoi, which is fresh rice beer from a local brewery and costs 8p or 15 cents a glass; the food, especially cheap local food is often delicious (although the more expensive restaurants are not always). It often seems the more you pay in Hanoi the worse the experience. At the top of our alleyway there is a snail soup restaurant! which we tried the first night we moved in, not knowing what it was before we sat down. It was actually surprisingly delicious. My students (well most of them!) they are hard-working and really want to learn English, which makes my job a pleasure.

Coursebook: New English File, Elementary, which has everything in it an elementary class needs, it reintroduces language over and over again, has games, exercises, all four skills are covered and it is paced exactly right for new learners (although it is a little UKcentric) like so many coursebooks. I did my dissertation/thesis on coursebooks being too Western, and pushing our culture onto the rest of the world, so it is something I care about and would love to change.

Being able to get on my motorbike without a crash helmet, ride off into some of the busiest roads on the planet without a nanny government making sure I am safe and sound. I love the unruliness of the roads here and as a foreigner I am never stopped by the police (although I see local people getting stopped every day) I can break the law with impunity, as does virtually everyone else, and never have to worry about government trying to tax me with speed cameras.

The New House

2007-04-12T07:44:00.000+01:00

I am back online!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!

The house is lovely (the cockerel across the alleyway is not so!) The school at the end of the alley is a little noisy at times but has locked gates most of the time so the alleyway is a dead end YAY!!

So a lot of the time it is the quietest house in Hanoi! Something that not many people can say. Builders have stripped everything from the house next door, but they have started plastering so I don't think it will last long and mostly they are fairly quiet although they did start hammering at 8am this morning (thankyou builders).

Now we have wireless internet throughout the house and it even works on the roof terrace. Tomorrow we should be getting cable television...

So all is good in the life of a man in Hanoi. I will take some pics of the new abode and get em online soon I promise dear reader (singular)

Goodbye

2007-04-07T03:01:00.000+01:00

So it is goodbye....

to the Prince Cafe Hotel... Today I move into a house with my friends Clio and Julien. After having lived in Vietnam nearly seven months I am at last going local.

It is a four bedroom house over 4 or 5 floors with air conditioning, roof terrace, several shower rooms and a huge bath (although I think it would take about a week to fill) so can't see it getting used. The house has cable TV and soon will have internet.

But I may be offline for a week til we get it sorted.

Hanoi an (unfinished) poem

2007-04-04T06:25:00.000+01:00

Hanoi: A place like no other

A place you can't watch Big Brother

A city with a beautiful lake

that makes you feel so awake

A place you can hear Big Brother

speakers tell you be a good mother

Where Lenin looks over a park

Are the people still in the dark?

A city without a McDonalds

worth more than a million emeralds

the yellow dogs stop the traffic

at times it seems pornographic

Hanoi: A difficult city to live

where the people never forgive

Where Confucius has a great say

remember beating China, the USA?

Where boys fly around on bikes

Impaling themselves on spikes

killing eleven people a day

leaves families in disarray

A beautiful city to spend time

A city almost without crime

Hanoi is a home from home

Where you wanna write a poem

Needs a bit more work, run out of time...

Any suggestions welcome...

Latest pics of Hanoi Can anyone name the fruit? (not tomatoes)

2007-03-30T10:40:00.000+01:00

Well I bought some of those fruit and they are astringent and sour.. with a hard centre. A little plum-like but definitely not plums.

I did a search on Google images for Persimmon and came up with this fruit...

So I don't think they are Persimmon (sorry Simone!)

So someone out there must know what the fruit below are...

This on the other hand is a dragonfruit...

An Evening Laser Shooting then onto the Toilet Bar

2007-03-28T09:31:00.000+01:00

Had a really busy few days..

Been laser shooting, which was amazing. It is the first time I have done it and I was pretty crap, but had lots of fun. First time I scored quite well, but the second game I hadn't noticed I had swapped sides (from red to green) and spent at least five of the twenty minutes shooting and being shot by my own team members! They have told Simone they are closing, which would be a shame... So if you are in Hanoi get over there and start supporting them to keep them open...

I have been doing two jobs and have started viewing houses.

Today I saw three houses around the city. Each had its good and bad points. But none of the houses were outstanding. One had five bedrooms and was around 400/450 dollars a month, but was a bit out of the way.

On Sunday after the shooting and a couple of beers at the Bia Hoi I accompanied Simone and Malcolm's friend Ronan to the Toilet Bar! An unusual name for a bar (with no toilets visible anywhere in the venue) although I am sure there were some available in the Gents and Ladies. With it being around 30C here I rarely have to use the toilet so didn't get to find out... The bar was populated by young Vietnamese, a couple of Russian looking guys and me and Ronan. The music was great and lots of dancing took place (not by me, however) but I did have a couple of Carlsbergs (for 40 or 50,000 Dong each (I was charged 40,000, Ronan 50,000) which seems a bit steep! It took us a while to find as it was at a different address to where we were told, and closed around 12.30. There is also a pool table there, so it is a cool place to hang out. Most locals drank bottles of whiskey, which would work out cheaper I'm sure.

Anyway, time for work again...

Some pics of my last trip to SEAsia

2007-03-28T05:04:00.000+01:00

Some of the pics are of "S21" the haunting school turned into a torture centre and some of the "Killing Fields" camp, where many men, women and children were murdered.

Most are of my friends Neil, Jay and Frank.

A Few Pics of Hanoi

2007-03-28T04:46:00.000+01:00

Tubing Pic on Dust

2007-03-23T08:31:00.000Z

I found this pic at (see below)

They appear to be amazingly detailed pics drawn on dust on car windscreens!

I couldn't resist nicking the tubing one .

http://mostinterestingblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/picture-on-dust.html

20 Questions

2007-03-22T09:15:00.000Z

I have just visited a site that can read your mind and guess what you are thinking in 20 questions! Give it a go see if it can read yours:

http://y.20q.net/anon?uA8WOGU9S8Dc-TdTPBwuYOYLfbyIrt!XyXMwm_HRD

I guessed cucumber and it got it after 16 questions

New Job and link to EFL ESOL sites

2007-03-22T04:23:00.000Z

I have a new job! Yay!! I still have the old one too. I could live on 1.5 hours teaching a day, but had to cut down a bit because it only brought in about $150 a week.

The new job is teaching a very-well-off family English. I will be teaching the adults and teens 8-10pm Mondays and Thursdays and children Wednesday 8-10pm and Saturday 10-12am.

So wish me luck. So far I have met them once and taught one lesson and they have cancelled twice because of power cuts at their house. Which doesn't sound too promising, but they do seem good people and I think it is going to be ok.

I was picked up by their chauffeur and taken in a limousine to their house in the suburbs of Hanoi. Separate from their posh new house they have a boardroom with a whiteboard! The perfect setting for teaching.

They are very low-level so have a long way to go, but using New English File (which is a great coursebook and I recommend to any ESOL/EFL teacher) I am sure we will be able to get them up to a level where they can use English in everyday ways soon.

I would like to thank my friend James in Ho Chi Minh for recommending me and therefore getting me the job.

I have just found a great EFL blog that has given me some great ideas. It has some excellent links to free EFL websites that I have been unable to find by searching on Google.

The blog is:

http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/

and a very useful site I found thro it is:

http://www.eslhq.com/

You do have to join but it is all free and has flashcards, worksheets, games, etc and is well worth a visit or ten.

French, Vietnamese and English can make for a funny mix-up

2007-03-18T12:41:00.000Z

It's been a funny old day...

Had a txt from Julien (the amiable and amusing French guy who contacted me through this blog) who works at a distillery near Hanoi and I have drunk one or two beers with at Le Pub, Dragonfly and the Bia Hoi.

He says he has heard about a flat at 415/17 Tran Phu which is available and is meeting the guy there at 11am; do I wanna meet him there? As Tran Phu is the main road that leads to my school it sounded ideal.

So I drive to Tran Phu, not understanding the Vietnamese house numbering system, so start at the beginning and slowly drive along. I see number 17 near the start, but do not see Julien. So I continue to the end, but only see numbers up to around 60 then it changes to a different street. So I ring Julien and agree to meet at 17, thinking the numbering system must be the other way round somehow.

So he rings the guy and tells him we are there. He tells me he found the flat on the Internet and the guy speaks French. The guy says he is in the flat. No sign of him so we get the maps out and ask people where the address is. We even paid a cyclo driver to take us to the address but still couldn't find it. So after an hour or two of going up and down, lots of txt msgs and phone calls and even getting a Vietnamese to speak to the guy on the phone (bear in mind it is the coldest and wettest of days since I have been here) we are both pissed off, wet, cold and hungry, not having eaten yet and unable to find the flat.

So Julien says do you think he is mad, I say I think he must be crazy, or in a parallel universe or something. I think this got Julien thinking because he then says something about Districts and could he be somewhere else..

It gradually dawned on us that there must be a Tran Phu in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and the guy must be there, not in Hanoi at all! After another txt msg to the guy to confirm his location we stopped for a delicious breakfast/lunch of Pho Bo.

An Evening spent at Hanoi Opera House

2007-03-18T11:24:00.000Z

Friday night, for the first time in my life, I visited an opera house and saw a live classical concert. In England to do that would be really expensive, and even here it is 120,000, 150,000 or 200,000 Dong ($8-13). When we got to the box office there was a tout trying to sell D200,000 tickets for D100,000, but we were a bit apprehensive, thinking they might be fakes. We were just about to buy proper tickets when a guy comes up and says he has two free tickets, do we want them?! Not only that but it doesn't matter which tickets you buy you can sit wherever you like (the same guy told us in the break) once the concert has started. So we watched the first half from our proper seats up in the stalls and the second half from down in the expensive seats!

The Beautiful Hanoi Opera House was the location. The Vietnam Symphony Orchestra were the band. Strauss, Dvorak and Beethoven were the composers:

* R. Strauss - Symphonic Poem "Don Juan" Op.20
* A. Dvorak - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, B minor, Op. 104
* L.V. Beethoven - Symphony No5, C minor, Op.67

It is fantastic to see an orchestra working so well together and producing such sweet music. I will definitely return, even if I have to pay next time.

I took a couple of (awful) pics but thought I would include them for posterity. Not sure quite what happened to the one of the stairs!

You have been permanently banned from our site.

2007-03-17T14:48:00.000Z

You have been permanently banned from our site.

Reason: Too many fraudulent users from your region.

I clicked on a link for URLTrends.com to be given this xenophobic message... Bastards can go swivel see if I care...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Lake

2007-03-15T08:41:00.000Z

After six months in Hanoi I think I have seen a fair few unusual sights, had some unusual, even amazing experiences, and enjoyed almost every minute of it. I was going to say most of the unusual sights, etc, but that would be far from the truth. Every day I still see and hear things that surprise me, shock me, make me laugh and every other emotion.

I bought a small Olympus FE-180 camera, to take the place of my too big Fuji S7000, to try and catch some of these sights, but often forget even to take that out with me. It is always the days I don’t have it with me that I see things I would like to have photographed (an odd word that! How come you can’t use picced or photoed?

The sun came out for the first time in days, which made everything look more attractive this afternoon, which was nice. On my usual afternoon walk I saw a sign which said something about the Young Vietnamese Socialist Party’s wish to overthrow Capitalism. I will definitely take my camera out tomorrow and take a pic of that.

One thing I definitely did not want to photograph was being approached by a man wanting to take me back to his room and give me a massage! I said that I preferred women and he disappeared. Err is it the bangle and necklace I wear that makes ‘em think I am gay? I was told by a former pupil that if you wear any kind of jewellery, like I do most days, the Vietnamese will consider you gay.

I saw an old lady hoist the leg of her shorts and piss in the road, right next to Hoan Kiem Lake! Now that is something you don’t see every day. Not sure taking a photo would have been the correct option though.

This morning I went to get a spoonful of sugar out of the bag I have been using for a few days and noticed a slight spotting in it. I put the sugar in and then the coffee and was about to put the water in when I thought “hang on I had better have a look at that sugar.” When I looked closer, the bag of sugar was full of tiny ants! I had coffee yesterday and probably hadn’t noticed the tiny ants so must have been drinking ant powered coffee…

At Christmas I saw two skinny Vietnamese men dressed in Santa suits on a motorbike, which is a sight I think I will remember for the rest of my life, but again, unfortunately I didn’t have my camera.

Oh so many sights and happenings … It is a very strange and wonderful world here in Hanoi.

A Day Out including the Temple of Literature

2007-03-11T13:39:00.000Z

Had a good day out today. I thought instead of spendng all day staring at this screen I would try and see one or two of Hanoi's sights. So I said to the motorbike taxi guy "Temple of Literature". So after a discussion between the motos about what I meant we set off (with a little boy standing on the front of the bike who we took to school)I had read it is 2 kilometres away, but have lost my map so wasn't sure where it was. So he takes me to the Hanoi Hilton prison! Then asks a guide to listen to me and find out where I want to go. So I got there eventually (and it turns out its across the road from the where I work!), I even gave him some extra money cus he had travelled a long way.

The Temple of Literature is well worth a visit, an oasis of peace in a busy, noisy city although Sunday afternoon may not have been the best time to visit. I took the camera so will put some pics up soon. It was founded in the 11th Century as the first Vietnamese university.

After the Temple of Literature I walked round to the Art Museum and wandered around there for an hour and a half. It is huge, and has some good work, although too many war pictures/statues for my liking. The Vietnam/American war still seems to be very important to this nation.

Personally, I am pleased the Vietnamese won, but hate war and see it as an unnecessary waste of young lives to make politicians feel powerful. There are (nearly) always better ways of sorting out arguments between countries that don't involve the slaughter of innocent young people. It seems to me that the Americans are a warmongering people who want to dominate the whole world.

As I write this I am watching Chelsea losing 3-2 to Tottenham with 15 mins to go, live on TV, which is something I couldn't do in good ol' blighty. As a Chelsea supporter I am sure we will get at least a draw out of it...

A link to a very good site about Hanoi

2007-03-10T05:19:00.000Z

http://wikitravel.org/en/Hanoi

Especially good if you are thinking of visiting Hanoi.

Also, have you noticed the new widget on the left, which lets you double click on any word and gives you definitions, information, recipes, etc, on that word. I think it is pretty cool. Try it by double-clicking on Pho or any other word on my blog.

Pho Bo and Being Ripped Off

2007-03-07T05:50:00.000Z

I walked home last night, something I have been doing a lot recently. It only takes about 40 minutes and I usually stop for dinner on the way.

Last night I stopped for Pho Bo (pronounced fer bor). Pho is one of Northern Vietnam's staple foods, made of (long and slowly cooked) broth, white noodles, some veg and uncooked beef (in the case of Pho Bo) cooked chicken if its Pho Ga. The Pho was delicious and was the first I had had for several weeks.

But as is so often the case in Vietnam if people think they can rip you off they will. When it came time to pay the friendly woman who had very good English said 50,000 Dong! (about $3) I said "What!?" Pho is normally about 10 or 15,000 max. She insisted that 50,000 was the price she wanted and I insisted I wasn't going to pay that much for Pho, for a few minutes. I told her I had been in Vietnam six months and knew the price of Pho, I worked close by and might be coming by regularly, but she still insisted she wanted 50,000. Then suddenly she proclaimed 10,000 Dong! I said no have 20,000 but she wouldnt take it.. lol So she made me feel guilty for her trying to rip me off.

I love Vietnam. I know a lot of it is my lack of Vietnamese. They think I'm a mug tourist and see a chance to make a couple of dollars. I havent touched my Learn Vietnamese books since I got back from Laos. But I really must get back to them...

Simone's Housewarming

2007-03-05T09:40:00.000Z

Had a great time at Simone's housewarming last night. She certainly knows how to throw a great party... Her house is fantastic, huge and beautiful. As I took my camera but left the memory card in the reader I can't put up any pics.

We played Pictionary on the glass partition between living room and kitchen with whiteboard markers and charades which was a lot of fun. I couldn't believe that no one had heard of The Long Good Friday but then I just looked at IMDB.com and it was made in 1980! and is British whereas most of the partygoers were Aussie. IMDB says:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins more
User Comments:
Probably the best British gangster movie ever made.

I am feeling a bit hungover today and not looking forward to teaching that much. Oh well better go and see the little bugg.. errr.. wonderful students.

Now anyone can post comments!!!

2007-03-03T13:49:00.000Z

I have just been told by my friend Simone that you couldn't post comments unless you logged in. So I have changed the settings so anyone can now comment.

ALL COMMENTS WELCOME! :-)

I would especially like to hear from old friends from home and around the world. I miss you all...

So come on Tik, Fick, Fidd, Tony, A-man. Tanya, Bert, Flossy, Dai (some chance! He still hasn't worked out how to turn his computer on, so blogs might be a bit beyond him), I sent him a txt wishing him happy St David's day, but he hasn't even replied to that! Phill, Ian and Martin, and everyone else I have forgotten (sorry it isn't deliberate I am just getting old and my memory doesn't work like it used to)

If you know anyone that might know me send the address of my blog to them. I think I have let my email list slip a bit...

http://lifeinhanoi.blogspot.com/

Renting a House

2007-03-03T08:52:00.000Z

Met with David and his Vietnamese girlfriend today and they seem keen on sharing a house together. He seems a nice guy and also knows someone else who is coming next week who might want to rent another bedroom for about 2 or 3 months. I have emailed Clio, a French woman, who is due in Hanoi soon who is looking to share.

When I got home I had had a reply to the email I sent a couple of days ago about renting a house near Hoan Kiem. Unfortunately the guy is in Halong Bay atm so we won't be able to view until at least next weekend. But at least things are starting to move.

Also met a Vietnamese girl at the house museum on Ma May Street who is (rather unsucessfully) learning English at a Vietnamese school. I said that if she had four friends who wanted to learn English together I would teach them for $3 an hour each. I gave her my phone number. She did seem keen, I hope she rings...

More Sights of the Old Quarter

2007-03-03T03:15:00.000Z

Some more sights:

Pics of the Old Quarter

2007-03-03T03:08:00.000Z

I went out with my camera yesterday and took some pics of the Old Quarter:

Everyday life

2007-03-02T03:12:00.000Z

Hanoi is warm and cloudy now. December was absolutely freezing and I went out and bought a two-bar electric fire and a duvet for my room! It was cold for about a week then turned coolish, but not very cold, then suddenly hot and has been warm or hot since then. So the duvet and fire take up valuable space… It can be a bit rainy some days and I was told yesterday that I can expect floods in Hang Chao Street (the school's location) soon. I don’t mind, I love the heat and can put up with a bit of rain.

Normally I would take a motorbike taxi to school (which costs about a dollar) but I have been walking home from the school the last couple of evenings. I let my motorbike go when I went to Laos for the New Year holiday and haven’t rented one since. I keep meaning to but just somehow don’t get round to it… I stop at one of the restaurants and have dinner on the way home so get to try some new ones which is nice. When you have a motorbike you bypass so much.. There are many restaurants in the Old Quarter, from the cheapest street stalls to very expensive and I have found the more you pay the worse the taste, as a general rule. The only problem is that I enjoy Asian food so much that whereas most people who come to Asia lose weight, I seem to be putting it on, so I am trying to cut down a bit for a few weeks as I hate the belly I am growing. The hotel guy keeps patting my stomach and asking when it’s due! I had really bad diarrhoea for a day on Monday but even that didn’t get rid of my belly!

My room in the Prince Café Hotel in Luong Ngoc Quyen Street is on the fourth floor and is a very narrow hotel with steep winding stairs and no lift so I get some valuable exercise every time I go home. It costs me $9 a night has a (rather slow) hot water shower, cable TV with Channel News Asia from Singapore, which I watch mostly, 3 movie channels, Discovery channel, various sports channels, including live English football matches most days, ( So I was able to watch Chelsea beat Arsenal in the Carling Cup the other day!!!), AXN, Fashion TV, Cartoon channels, DW-TV (a German news channel which transmits half its coverage in English) MTV and V, Australia Network, KBS (Korean sometimes in English), NHK (Japanese sometimes in English), Travel and Living, Animal Planet. But the best point is that I get free Internet in my room. Hence me sitting here in bed writing this blog!

I have been invited to two housewarmings this weekend, so if everything goes to plan it should be a good weekend..

I emailed someone about a house for rent yesterday, but no reply yet.

More Laos Pics

2007-02-28T15:12:00.000Z

Some more pics of Vang Vieng in Laos. This time with Henrik and friends. We hired motorbikes and went to a 'lagoon' but it looked a bit too manky to swim in so we went and explored a cave, which was great fun.

Typhoon Durian

2007-02-28T06:32:00.000Z

After finishing my ten week stint of teaching 6 hours a day I was pretty exhausted and needed a holiday, so headed down to Vung Tau. Vung Tau is quite close to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh and a popular beach resort. Unfortunately, after two days a typhoon struck! The hotel I was staying in was right on the coast and took the full force of the 100 odd mile per hour winds. Virtually all the glass in the hotel was blown out and I had 2 inches of water coming under my door as the window of the corridor outside my room was smashed and letting in the torrential rain. It was before dawn when it struck and a there was a power cut too so it was pretty scary, especially when the window in my room suddenly flew open with a crack. I wrapped a blanket around me in case the window shattered and came my way, but it hung on, luckily.

I took some video with my Fuji stillcam and will try and get that uploaded too. (now it is up ((click the play symbol on the dark pic)) although not that high quality, but might give some idea of the scariness of the storm) It was just before dawn so little light available. These pics were taken after dawn so don't really show anywhere near the full force of the storm. They include some of looters being arrested and of the rooves of the local houses which were mainly damaged, even the pantile ones. Even the main doors of the hotel were blown in, and when I got downstairs the next morning there were just big, lethal-looking shards of glass sticking up from the floor where the inch-thick glass doors used to be.

I left the next morning in a taxi, which cost me twenty dollars and had to share with three others and went back to Saigon, then went on to Nha Trang, which I enjoyed.

There were 84 deaths I believe from Typhoon Durian in Vietnam and more than a thousand in the Philipines where it struck before Nam.

Pictures of my Tet trip Tubing in Vang Vieng

2007-02-28T05:09:00.000Z

Pictures of me and my fellow teachers in Hanoi, Simone and Malcolm who I met in Vang Vieng and went tubing with :-) It was a great day with lots of beerLao drunk, free LaoLao and whisky too! Malcolm was brave and tried a couple of the wire jumps but I was too much of a wimp!

Laos and especially Vang Vieng is a lovely place and I definitely want to return soon.

They take you about 3 miles out of town on a tuk-tuk with your inner tube you get into the river with your bum in the middle of the tube and off you go. It is a bit chilly for a few seconds but you soon warm up and after about a 100 metres the first of the many beer stops comes and it would be churlish to refuse...

The pics are not quite up to normal standard as we took a disposable camera with us instead of the usual digicam.

Actually this was the third time I had done the tubing. The first time I did it with two beautiful young Swedish girls and a Japanese guy; the next time with Henrik and his gang who had arrived in Vang Vieng and really knew how to have a good, if fuelled time; then this time with Malcolm and Simone who also know how to have a great time.