I'm sure the only people still reading this already know that I went home over Christmas so it will come as no surprise that that trip is what I'm going to tell you about.
I flew home on a Friday evening after a week of work that didn't include any teaching (which was probably a good thing as I doubt I'd have been able to give a class my full attention) but got food poisoning just in time for the journey. How lovely of Hanoi to provide me with a parting gift! I flew via Seoul (which isn't even remotely on the route between Hanoi and London but was much cheaper than anything more direct that wasn't Aeroflot) and the 9 hour layover ended up being a great chance to vom every hour or so and get it all out of my system in time for the long flight to London. Got lucky and ended up on a flight with hardly any people on it so I had a whole row of seats to myself meaning I could lie down properly and get the laptop out to watch movies. Taking this extra long route home also meant that I landed at 5.30pm so by the time I was back in Bassett I didn't have to try and stay awake for long which was much nicer than the usual 6am arrival followed by a whole day of trying not to fall asleep.
The next was pretty chilled in Bassett. I met my old schoolfriend Jen for a coffee and then just chilled at home and had a lovely fry-up cooked by my dad. After that things got pretty busy! I went up to London with my mum to meet up with my uncle and go to an exhibition (and the cafe!) at the V&A (though it was pretty packed so quite hard to fully take it all in) and just generally enjoy London. Got some goodies at the Oz/Kiwi shop and had a browse around Covent Garden, and also had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant that was a million times better than any Italian available in Hanoi.
The day after that I made my way to Brighton for a few days by the sea (in December...) and to see some uni buddies. On the first night we went for Vietnamese food and then I went to my first of many pubs. The following day I met up with Kyle and we had plans for eggs benedict that ended up being realized in his teeny tiny kitchen, then we headed out for a bit of tourist action in Brighton. We walked along the seafront to get to the wheel thing, then we hit the pier for some 2p machine action, shooting games and a stick of rock or two.
Next up was a weekend in London. I met Gemma at Archway and as she was feeling a little sick we just hung out at hers and destroyed some pizzas in her oven, then went out for an awesome Indian meal. The following day started off with a visit to the post office that was almost as time consuming as it would be in Hanoi, then we went into central London to go to an exhibition at Somerset House and take in some festive cheer. We met up with Nina in the evening and we went for a drink in the bar at the top of Waterstones where we discovered their fancy cocktail list, and after that Gem and I set about heating Cranberry juice to mix with Kyle's christmas gift of vodka in her kitchen, which thankfully went much better than the attempts at cooking pizza. On the Sunday I headed to Borough to spend some time with Nina. We went to Borough market to get some last minute Christmas gifts, then we made our way along the South Bank to an awesome Mexican restaurant for lunch. We spent the afternoon watching movies in her posh apartment and indulged in fish and chips for dinner.
The next day it was time to return to Wiltshire for a day or two before heading off on my next little trip. Had another chance to visit a pub when we went to visit Shirley in Frieth one day, and she also had some mince pies in so I got to enjoy my first mince pie of the season! I then went to Leeds to visit my sister but in an attempt to save some pennies I got a cheaper train ticket that involved a rather tedious journey on 4 different trains and over 2 hours waiting at assorted stations. Was worth it though to go to another nice Indian restaurant, this time in Leeds (and to see my sister, I guess)! Managed to squeeze in a good bit of shopping one day, and we also went for a day out in Yorkshire. We went to Knaresborough and had a little walk around the castle and gardens, then we went to Harrogate for a late lunch at Bettys Tea Rooms followed by some more shopping. We then got to hang out in the vestibule of a packed train to get to Alfreton where we were met by dad and went for lunch with the family before heading back down south to Bassett.
Then it was Christmas!! On Christmas Eve I went to the pub (again...) with some old school friends and then spent Christmas Day at home with the family, with another visit to a pub thrown in. We had a very nice Christmas lunch that included yorkshire puds. What more could you want?! We spent Boxing Day in Bucks with the other half of the family and a farting dog, taking care of the leftovers. I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Marlborough with Jen for a nice lunch and browse in the shops, then it was time to head of to another country..... exotic South Wales. I stayed with Liz and Bod and was treated to many nice meals and craft goodies. Kyle and Hetty came to Wales for New Year and Newport helped Kyle achieve his goal of enjoying a deep fried mars bar, and we had a nice time relaxing and doing very little. We did manage to leave the house on New Year's Day though and went for a walk across Newport.
After that trip my time in the UK was almost at an end and I spent the rest of my time at home. I went for a walk with my mum at Barbury Castle and got to enjoy some lovely winter weather, and we went for a nice Italian meal the day before I left. Unfortunately, the plane was full on the return journey so it wasn't nearly so pleasant, but I didn't have food poisoning or a 9 hour layover in Seoul this time so it wasn't all bad!
All the photos are here
Since being back in Hanoi I've not done much other than going to work and meeting friends for dinner and drinks, but I'm hoping that by next weekend I'll be shot of this cold so I can go out and see what's happening in Hanoi in the run-up to Tet.
