Dogs, Cows or Sheep??? What is the diffrence? the fact that we have them as pets (i know a few folk have cattle as pets but thats another debate)?
The dogs of Hanoi and all the other meat and fish products in Vietnam yes are possibly abused, the question is that are animals in the UK and worldwide, lets think battery hens?? cattle in packed into big trucks? Veal farmers and many more?
Also Vietnam is a poor country and is meat not meat whatever animal?
to add to the debate ugly tuna cute dolphin, any diffrence? they are all living creatures!
Nut roast for xmas then, makes you think????
Andy P
Phrasebook We did buy a South East Asia phrasebook after the success of the Russian Phrasebook I was given by my team at work, but so far it has only made one brief appearance on the train from Hué to Hanoi. Enough people speak English and most of the languages are tonal so it's a bit dangerous to try! H.
not cycling Hi Sarah - you always said you couldn't cycle because of the Sheffield hills. Perhaps you should have been brought up on a quiet flat island! My cycling was curtailed on Friday when my bike was stolen from the shed at work. My last ride on it was a very fast 25 mins from Botley to catch Dave Rees' retirement presentation. Colin will also be 60 in April (surely not!) and is going part-time. He was excellent as 'Sir' in the Dresser at the OFS last week. Love reading about your travels especially the cookery class this time. What a great way to get to know people. Keep enjoying the food!
Bloody Hell You Two Do you never stop? And its not just the eating I'm talking about... How you haven't collapsed from exhaustion I'll never know. Still it sounds like you're having fun and seeing lots of interesting things - dried fish for instance! How are things going generally with the language? Do enough people speak enough English for you to get by or do you have a handy "Travel the World with 20 Phrases" book? Cold in Manchester. But then it is nearly Xmas... J x
GNER I know I'm late adding this but you'll have to persuade National Express to do the bowing on the trains now as they've taken over from GNER. That will be a shock for you Hugh when you get back! Your travels to Japan, though I've never been, remind me very much of Greg's descriptions when he came back.
Phew You never stop do you? It all looks and sounds fantastic though. When do you get a week off? News from home - Dave Hartnett a on the front of the Sun today. Above his photo it said "Up a Creek" and under it it said "No Paddle" (or something similar anyway - not being a Sun reader...) They're about to ask every member of staff of HMRC to search their desk area. Everyone. They're completely mad. And there's a reward of £20,000 for the discs, no questions asked! J x
Been Away Of course I would have told you only I was sent to Solihull on the day it happened and have then been in Birmingham indulging my cultural side after that. Haven't even seen the Intranet yet although I hear Dave Hartnett is temporarily in charge. Will post again after Monday once I have all the up to date news. J x
Pleased you like it... ...but a little disappointed that you haven't be reading all of Sarah's blog entries (have anohter look at 'Tatami rooms and sashimi') H.
Coolest of the Cool I'm now the proud owner of an I 'heart' Miyajima T-shirt. I've no idea where it is (or even if it's a "where" rather than a Japanese pop star) but I'm made up. I'll wear it to Canal Street and see if it gets me a date (since I'll be the coolest one there!). Thanks guys. J x
travellers not tourists Hi Hugh and Sarah , remember me? We met outside Leeds station in April... How very english to big up the loo experience, you'll be saying they don't make tea properly next (do they have tea in china and japan?). Ross put me on to your blog, blame him for this. Why travel all that way when you could go to the Netherlands 487 times? Just so you know it's me, an old joke: What's E.T. short for? It's because he's got little legs. Stop it, my aching sides. Good to follow your progress, Jon (from the grim north)
Other People's News Ms H hasn't seen fit to mention it but she's exchanged (finally) on her flat. She's now officially an Eastbourne resident. I'm buying her slippers and a dressing gown for Xmas... J x
Big Bloody Spiders Rather surprised to see the Bourgois spider in your photos since I saw it at Tate Modern last month where they have a whole Bourgois exhibition on - and believe me, apart from the big spider she's pretty much pants. Not got much news that isn't on the blog. You're missing I'm A Celebrity which I know must be pretty gutting for you. HMRC has given some of its staff to the Home Office - as part of a new Borders Force (apparently terrorists will be so worried about being caught that they simply won't bother). It does mean that you may have a bit of a wait to get back into the UK though as they check you out. And were you involved in the Aleef Garages case at SCO? The directors just got prison sentences (3 years I think) and confiscation orders for £5m. Lots of other people got smaller prison sentences/confiscation orders too. Do you know yet where you're going to be/what you're going to be doing on Xmas and NYE? J x
Slipper nightmares We had almost every problem you can imagine except the toilet slippers - or at least that one was not committed in public! I couldn't keep them on my feet and going up and down stairs in them while carrying a heavy pack is very dangerous. Hugh could hardly get his feet in any of them which made it all the more dangerous. Luckily we never actually went to anybody's house!
Nostalgia I was so nostalgic reading the latest piece about your travels: the trains, the hot springs, exquisite food (but wanting a sticky pudding afterwards!), the smell of tatami mats. Hope you haven't committed the toilet slipper faux pas yet - ie wearing the slippers outside the toilet!
I can't believe there isn't a peg shop in Japan. It woul be an interesting test of your vocab skills (you could pop in a book shop and look up in a phrasebook "I'd like to buy some pegs"). Actually you could use paperclips....
Anyway, thanks for more fab tales and pics. Are you missing anything yet? (apart from paperclips and pegs of course)
Rest Days? Do you have them? I'm exhausted just reading about all you're up to. And on top of that you have to do your washing too! The photos are fantastic (well done Hugh) by the way. Not much to report from home apart from the fact that the temperature has plunged by about 20 degrees today. Redoing the helpline training, going to see the terracotta warriors in January and to Venice in October next year - will you be home by then? Looking forward to your next post. J x
Paper clips We actually didn't leave home with paper clips but wished we had for a variety of reasons so by the time of the umbrella incident we had acquired some from Michael in Beijing. Next we need to find a kind sole who can give us a few pegs.....!
No Beijing 2008 sounvenirs... .....we were too overwhelmed by the choice and number of people in the shops. The official Olympic shop we went in had 3 floors and everything from fridge magnets to very expensive jewellry.
Sx
hello Sorry not to get in touch for so long. I'm still struggling with the green eyed monster. My hols seem ages away. Steve went to North Korea which was interesting. I think he became a very obedient boy for the duration. He brought official Olympic souvenirs back from Beijing. All we need is for the games to be cancelled and then they'll be worth a fortune. Are you in possession of garish teddies on the same principle? No, I thought not. Watch that back you very large lady! (What size would I need??)
Sorry for not replying before mike... ...but email access isnt always so easy. We left tokyo this morning so are now in kyoto. seems like we are in high season so have struggled to find rooms. we tried your friends place but they couldnt even put us up with over 3 weeks notice. thanks for the recommendations though = weve got another 3 days there at the end of this bit. more details on the next blog entry. sorry for punctuation/grammar but this keyboard is awful! hope all well in oxford.... sarah
Hugh and Sarah
Hugh and Sarah
Said it'd be controversial
Seems I've started a debate, at least Andy has. Would be interested in other people's views....