Hoorah!

Looks as if I have a new job, with a company called Mobiqa. It's a small Scottish start-up, 16 people at the moment - practically the polar opposite of Agilent Technologies (my last job). I'll be working with Java amongst other things - it really looks as if I'll be doing everything from Mobile Applications to back-end Server code and I'm very excited. The process was quite tough, I've had two interviews (almost three!) and a coding project to do for Mobiqa themselves after an aptitude test and two Java tests for my recruiter, Computer People.

So this time 3 weeks ago, I was contemplating coming home over a small libation. I didn't really know what to expect - I guess I had visions of being this interesting, suave, windswept traveller. People would flock to see me, to ask how I'm getting on, to listen to my anecdotes of strange and wonderful animals and locations.

I was right and wrong all at the same time.

(Apologies for the lateness of the post, turns out home is busier than being away!)

And I fear that I'll play the Wild Rover no more! I write to you from seat 32D on a very bumpy flight towards Heathrow (though the free Vodka is smoothing things out, bless you BA). We've actually hit the end of our trip and I am sad.

Sorry everyone, got caught in that "if you are doing enough interesting stuff to fill a blog post then you have no time to blog' loop again.

We're now in Shanghai and are sipping on G&Ts after a long day at the World Expo. Now, when we first left the shores of Bonnie Scotland, we had no idea about this event. I'd heard there had been Expos in the past (Crystal Palace etc) but I'd had no idea they were still about - and really had no preconception of what to expect at this.

Wow.

China is a beautiful place but it can be very, very frustrating.

We had not had washing done in about a week (like, a week after it needed to be done) because we could not articulate to the hotel staff that we wanted our clothes "just thrown in a washing machine" and not dry-cleaned which would cost an arm and a leg. It's for this reason that we've gone back to hostels - the staff are far more at ease with Westerners and travelling types.

It's only 19 days until we're home - and we're both starting to get a bit excited about it all. Our homecoming meal has been planned, planned and re-planned. Nights out are being put in the diary. Just as in the US we had to think about Australia, and in Australia we had to think about Asia - here we're having to think about Scotland and all the things we'll be needing to do when we get back.

The last week has been a blur. We left you in Cat Ba Island, after an epic trip on the local transport - and I write to you in the midst of one. I'm currently on a bus going from Nanning to Yangshou which is advertised at 6 hours. This is after a train journey of around 13 hours with two immigration/customs stops when we crossed the Chinese border at around 3am. Trips like these are becoming second nature - but this one has been especially nice as we are sharing the journey with Guy and George.

China was always a mythical place to us - on the vague horizon, something that we knew we'd do eventually in the trip but it was always *months* away. America passed and it was still 5 months away. Australia passed and it was still more than a month and a half away. Now, it's a week away and we had to have an emergency planning session (play dramatic drums/jingle here).

The last few days have involved some serious travelling. On my last blog we'd just arrived in Hue - 4 days later and we're on Cat Ba Island. If you take a gander at the map, you'll see we've covered some serious ground.

We, us humble pair, are now in Hue (pronounced as in Whaaayyy!) just past the middle of the country. We're in a lovely little hotel - but Vietnam is dotted with lovely little hotels that put the west to shame (Comrade).

Over the last four days we've been in a place called Hoi An, just south of Danang (where the Marines landed in 1969, you remember don't you?) where all the tailors of Vietnam come to ply their trade - around 500 of them at the last count. And we've had a rare old time.