Britain, Britain, Britain! After 14 long months of adventures in South East Asia (largely Vietnam, but also Thailand and the Philippines), it was finally time to return home to our little island off the coast of France. 14 months is quite a long time, probably too long, and we were very pleased to get back to Blighty and our friends and families, particularly during the festive season - so off we went on tour! Stop 1: Brewood and rock After our night in the hotel in Stansted (where I enjoyed my 1st cornish pasty since October 2008) we set off [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another chapter ends I'm currently sitting in Kate's house in Brewood near Wolverhampton writing this. The sun is shining, but the temperatures are low and snow is falling in many parts of England adding a festive sparkle to the holiday season. All this must mean that we left Haiphong and I'm writing this blog to cover our last few events in Vietnam, plus the journey back to Blighty. "Goodbye" means have parties! ...the first of which happened at work. With several members of staff leaving Apollo at the end of their contracts in December we had a surprise party one afternoon [View Full Entry]

---

---

The end is nigh Kate It's coming to the end of our contract here in Haiphong. We finish teaching for Apollo on the 5th December and we fly back to the UK, via Kuala Lumpur, on the 12th. We are really excited about coming home now. We are not the sort of expats who can stay away from the UK for long periods of time. We don't live abroad because we hate the UK, but simply because we love the life we lead away from it. We left the UK this time nearly 14 months ago now, and for future [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kate Prior to Rich announcing his wedding in the Philippines, it wasn't ever a country we had considered visiting. Somehow it's position in the sea on the edge of SE Asia put it outside our radar. Prior to coming to Asia we didn't know much about it other than it was a big group of islands with some beautiful beaches and that it used to belong to Spain and America. I'd heard of Imelda Marcos and her shoe fetish, but I couldn't have told you which country she came from. As we admitted during the first blogs of our SE [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Philippines - live your dreams (a registered trademark) Kris Contrary to popular belief of many friends we really do proper work in Vietnam and we aren't spending our months lying on a beach. As a result we are even entitled to paid leave from our job. So we booked it well in advance way back at the beginning of the year so we could visit the Philippines. One of Kate's friends from University was getting married to a girl from the Philippines and we were invited to the wedding. Having never been to the country before we thought we'd combine [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Rat on the Road expat guide to Haiphong So it's come to out attention that our travel blog for Haiphong has a new purpose. As well as updating all of you friends and family out there about what we are up to and showing you photos of our lives, it is being found by people in the UK and elsewhere who are thinking of moving to Haiphong. A few people have contacted us through it, and become part of our happy little group of Haiphong pals. The other day we were all in Maxim's cafe, drinking some beer, when [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yes. I'm 30. Three whole decades since I appeared in a maternity hospital called Little Thorpe in County Durham on a hot July day in 1979. I had a double chin and weighed in at 9 pounds. My weight hasn't changed much since then, I just got longer. I doubt that back in 1979 anyone guessed I'd spend my 30th birthday as an English teacher in north Vietnam. For a start, I doubt many people in the west imagined a future in Vietnam in those days. And then there were the career options. Firstly, by chance of geography I might have [View Full Entry]

---

---

Feelin' hot, hot, hot So it's the summer now. And it's hotted up. A lot. It's got up to the temperatures we were used to in Bangkok, complete with all the associated pleasures like constantly being covered in sweat. Unlike when we taught in Bangkok, here we have air con in the bedroom - which makes it so much easier to sleep. And, of course, we also have air con at work. The couple of times when it has broken has given us a big appreciation for anyone who teaches here without air con. 28 degree and humid, shirt and [View Full Entry]

---

---

I took these photos on a walk from our house to Apollo, to give you some idea of what we see each day. When you do it all the time you stop seeing some of the most unusual sights and and it all becomes more normal. Taking photos of everything opened my eyes again to the fascinating place we live in. [View Full Entry]

---

---

War and Peace On the 30th of April 1975 the Vietnam War ended and the two halves of the country - north and south - became one. As such, the 30th is now a national holiday know as Reunification Day. As this fell on a Thursday the holiday was extended from Thursday to Sunday. As Tuesday and Wednesday are our normal days off we got a 6 day holiday. We booked a flight to Ho Chi Minh City and became tourists again! More on the war later... Looking for a girl with long dark hair in old Saigon... We booked a [View Full Entry]

---

---