hurray, hurray it's a happy holiday!

with my camera, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Finally stretching my legs during a 13 hours flight to Asia. So excited that I'm not sure I could sleep, which in turn may help with the jet lag. Two more flights later and almost 24 hours since departure I will step on the beach of Nha Trang at the start of my first meeting with Vietnam and a culture to hopefully amaze me. I'll later have the pleasure of seeing Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Singapore. Could anything be better?

Yes! Singapore Airlines are flying us on the new A380 (Superjumbo)—see you on the upper deck—and back in a Jumbo, so more premieres for me. Add: showering in an airport, that should be fun. Add: checking the swimming pool in an airport, smashing! Add: tons of seafood. Add: strong coffee, Vietnamese style. Add: may see Gilles Peterson live. Add: practicing my French more than in Paris. Add: a wee bit of shopping—quite likely, I'll have to buy an extra suitcase.

It's been seven months since Sicily and Stromboli, since my biggest worry being where and what to eat for dinner, and I couldn't be more grateful that I'm not writing seven years. A proper holiday was needed to rest away from our crazy schedule; the new life of two people who want it all can be exhausting, as I hope to detail at a later date. On my side, putting together the URIplay website has been quite demanding, as graphics, HTML, and CSS are a hobby rather than a forte.

While the blog will be quiet due to the wise decision on not taking along the new shiny MacBook Pro (called Zoey), I leave you in good hands with thousands of previous posts, thousands of photos on Flickr, a book that carries wise words from a thousand people more than me and an interview I've just given to The Pakistani Spectator, soon to be published. If none will do, the wider web is full of juice. Drink wisely and I'll see you on the other side of the holiday.