Jessica returns

It's been a lazy day today so not a lot to report, I'm afraid. Jessica returned this morning after six days in Taiwan, and I was glad to see her again. Happy bounced up all around as Jessica brought her luggage inside, instantly seating herself on the bottom step of the stairs and flinging her suitcase open. She produced endless Tupperware boxes of rice and spices she had brought back from her Taipei home, which she handed over to Thuy with a brief explanation as to how to use each item in her cooking. We had lunch together, over which I took the chance to ask her all the questions I had had stored up since she left. Particularly pressing for me was to find out whether my boyfriend could come stay with us over December, including the Christmas period when my family and some of Jessica's friends will also be visiting, and we are planning to take a trip to Angkor Wat. She agreed to this, which I was delighted about, and spent some time researching the Saigon-Hanoi Reunification Line railway on the brilliant The Man in Seat Sixty One website (http://www.seat61.com/ for insightful information on train travel across the world). I'm keen to see the 'real' Vietnam and think that the two- to three-day journey across the length of the country would be an excellent and adventurous way to do so, with Chris as a perfect travelling companion. December will certainly be an exciting month for me if all goes as planned, as I hope to see Hanoi, Angkor Wat, Halong Bay, Hue and perhaps more!

Thinking in the nearer future, I also looked through some tour leaflets Jessica and I had picked up from a travel agency last week, as Jessica suggested I take a trip on Friday while she is away. I'm interested in taking a day trip to see the Cu Chi tunnels and a Cao Dai temple. Two contrasting sights, the tunnels at Cu Chi are part of a wide network of underground tunnels across the country used by Viet Cong guerilla fighters during the American War; the temple is the most famous Cao Dai temple in the country, known for its stunning beauty and intriguing ceremonies. The two sights are quite often done together as a tourist package. Tomorrow I will be meeting Annie in Saigon again, so I will have the chance to book this trip.

Trying to grab the last hour of daylight, we set out for a bike ride in the evening, wearing yellow bin-bag raincoats on account of the miserable drizzly weather. These were hot and uncomfortable to cycle in, although they did look very attractive. I chose a lady's bicycle with a basket for aesthetic reasons, but soon realised I had picked the short straw as it was too small, had no gears and screeched with an ear-burning intensity when I had to brake suddenly. The journey was a bit frightening at points on the main road with no helmet or lights, and I hoped the luminosity of the yellow bin-bag would make motorcyclists aware of my presence.

We stopped off at an up-market deli stocking Europe and American food-stuffs, so I now know where to go if I have a craving for Bonne Maman jam, Peroni lager, Irn Bru or any flavour of Haagen Dazs. Jessica bought some cereal and sun-dried tomatoes, and urged me so strongly to chose something that I eventually settled on a bag of couscous in order that we could leave the shop. We reached our destination of the Crescent, a shopping, gym and restaurant complex shaped around a curved lake. A damp Wednesday evening, it was very empty besides (bizarrely) a young couple having wedding photos taken, and otherwise only a thousand toads and crickets in an orchestra of ugly noises coming from the nearby park.

We ate at a Thai restaurant, which was nice although I was feeling under the weather with a cold I have somehow picked up, and homesick as it was now dark outside and I had spent the rest of the day indoors. I hope it will have done me some good to take it easy today, and that I will have perked up a little by tomorrow.

Our dinner date