WazzaSof

We spent five days walking near Corrour Station, a station that was made famous by the film, Trainspotting. It is Britain's highest train station and the area between the station and Ben Alder is one of the most remote in Britain. in Trainspotting Tommy explains to Rents, Sickboy, Begby and the ginger one what a great country Scotland is but they wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe they knew something about the midgies nearby but they could have had few complaints about the landscape of lakes, mountain and heather. I'm sure the sheer number of deer would have impressed their drug-addled brains too. Their loss. Edi managed 5 days walking and his 100th and 101st ticks and there were some sore knees on the lovely train journey back to Edinburgh via Glasgow. I managed 4 days walking and 8 ... read more

In August I went over to Ireland for Sean and Breda's wedding, flying to Dublin, over-nighting in Monaghan and then Enniskillen. I also had 4 nights in Dublin and took the opportunity to wander the streets of the city where I spent almost ten years of my life. It was nice to visit some of my old stomping grounds and see the changes that the Celtic Tiger economy had wrought. I don't know if the sum of all parts is better than when I went to college here but there are many aspects of the city that have improved beyond all recognition. I still have nightmares about asking for a cafe latte in the Kylemore circa 1992. You'd have sworn I'd asked for some kind of esoteric yet obscene sex act to be performed by the ... read more

The scene : I am writing this on a dreary night shift in Edinburgh. Oh joy! It's only the end of September but my memory is a bit fuzzy. Outside it is cold and dark and dawn is far away. With the invaluable assistance of Huma I was able to retrieve over a thousand photos taken in the Philippines, Vietnam and Ireland. They were on a camera which took a swim off El Nido. Nice memories... Choices A trip to the Philippines was to be the last leg of our Asia travels. I had two weeks Easter break (even though it wasn't really Easter) and thought that the Philippines (of which I knew little) was the destination. I had lofty notions of island-hoping all over but this never transpired for various reasons. Initially I had booked ... read more

National Teachers' Day Vietnam It’s a sign of a good school if they look after you well on Teachers’ Day. Today my school proved this by having a half day and treating us to a staff lunch! On my way to school I saw almost every child and every family on their motorbikes with baskets of flowers and bags full of gifts. Vietnamese culture prescribes a high level of respect towards teachers and the education system, and unlike at home, when you tell people you are a teacher they are really delighted for you. In a lot of the local schools here the children put on a concert for their teachers to say thank you. The parents tend to show their appreciation with the kind of gesture you can fold up and put in your pocket! ... read more

It's been one whole year since Sofie and I had our marriage ceremony in Hoi An and we decided to get out of Dodge and head into the wild Mekong Delta, as far as the bustling Cambodian town of Chau Doc. Chau Doc was a real breath of fresh air in more ways than one. For one, the people are friendly, happy. They're border people like just like me (Warren). It's a long way from here to Monaghan but something in the ordinariness of the place hit home. It's not a tourist town except for the pilgrims who flock to nearby Sam Mountain (we didn't bother!) We stuck to relaxing and ambling and reading and eating to religious extremes that would be considered fundamentalist in other circumstances. So we splashed out on some four or five ... read more