Dear xxx,
Party tonight in Phuket Town. Meet us at the boxers bar at 10. See you then.
M.
Its on. My friends and I pull into the boxers bar and look around. We don’t know anyone… It’s supposed to be people from our camp, but it seems that its the fighters from the rival camp up the road, and they aren’t friendly.
I spot a nice looking guy, tall, with sky blue eyes and dimples. A full sleeve black and white tattoo, he wanders over to my table and starts talking my …

It smells like heaven in here.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, allowing the soft perfume to wash over me.
I step over the threshold and I’m in Macys, Myers or David Jones. This Vietnamese department store has every perfume on hand. For $100 I could smell like J.Lo.
The bright lights attracted me in off the street. Here past the Casio watches and the diamond rings is a tiny perfume lover’s utopia.
I walk slowly down the aisle, admiring the beautiful bottles neatly lined up behind the shiny glass. A …

I have stepped into the twilight zone
The music is thumping, the dance floor is packed… fly boys and girls gyrate skilfully to the hip hop beats from the imported DJ’s in the corner.
My mouth hits the floor. Two minutes ago I was sharing a motorbike with 2 of my friends, dodging the holes in the roads and precisely avoiding the melee of bikes, taxis and buses. The sole of my right high heel has melted through from having my foot on the muffler. And now, here on the 20th floor …

It amazes me how easy it is to feel lonely in this city.
And its not for lack of company. In fact, I am rarely alone except for when I sleep. But i’m talking about the kind of company that has meaning, not just the random strangers you meet and interact with for one minute, one hour or one day.
The type of friendships that last a lifetime, in my opinion, are not formed in bars or nightclubs.
Instant friends.
The type you only speak about sport, drinking and fun in the sun with. …

I am sitting in class, our tutor is trying to explain the nuance of “used” so that, in future, we can explain how to use “used” to our students.
The windows are slightly fogged. Our brains are slowly turning into stew. It’s not that the material is hard its that… well… I’ve never had to worry about using “used” before.
She used to be a bitch. The only sentence I can think of. Does this mean she was a bitch, and no longer continues? I don’t know. It means, in the past, …

Boring day.. studying, preparing for CELTA
Going to meet the touch team at JAFA bar at Ciputra, supposedly a 15 min drive away
I decide to take my motorbike and check the map. It looks easy and the directions get sent by text message.
At the end of my street I turn left, onto the Vietnamese highway,
Staying left – fast lane, move into the right side and cruise along “I got this”
Next thing, road splits, and I’m on a bridge to the other side of town
The sun is setting, I don’t have …

This is an excerpt from an email i sent to a fellow student at Open University…

I first came to vietnam in 2001 and loved it, came back on a holiday, and then just.. got sick of working in the a boring job, going out on the weekends.. you know, the typical daily grind shit. i figured i’m not getting any younger – so why not go?
And so, i booked myself a flight, and here i am. I’m actually loving it I miss my mum and some of the creature comforts …

There are days when I wake up and I hate Vietnam. There are days when I love it so much I never want to leave. Today is somewhere in between.. So far
At 10pm last night I was with the crew of expat blokes I have been hanging out with lately, I won’t mention their nationalities, lest I be considered too nationality focussed (as some have accused me of!) but I will say, they are a good bunch of men.
The evening started for me at one of my favourite cafes, cafe …

Waking up this morning, I couldn’t hear the rain. I put my hand on the door handle and it starts. Hunger is a powerful thing, and I thought I would be okay outside. I stumble out the front door of the hotel; the rain is coming down consistently, not heavy.. Just enough to get soaked through.
I walk around the block, searching the streets for a cafe. The rain is gathering momentum. I take a side street, maybe there is food down there?
It just keeps raining.
More fucking rain
The streets are now …

In Vietnam it rains so hard that it’s impossible to do anything. The world stops, the traffic slows and the shops are shut. Locals take refuge and crazy tourists (like me) buy cheap umbrellas and try to find things to do.
Its 8am and I’m trying to find a coffee, or breakfast, without having to pay western prices. Gingerly navigating the marble, spiral staircase I have to step over the sleeping bodies of the young men who run my guest house. I let myself out the front doors and walk out …