The month that was: September and October 2018

What happened:
September was all about holiday countdown, but before that we headed to Camden for the Asterix in Britain exhibition (disappointing), went to Windsor for Olly to compete in his first sprint triathlon (he did amazingly), and my friend visited (we visited the Sky Garden, but it was a grey and rainy weekend, unfortunately).

When the end of September rolled round it was time to fly out to Vietnam to begin our Asian adventure. We were away for 17 days and ticked off Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong.

Blog posts to follow soon – Hong Kong Disneyland is up already – but we had an amazing time, and I highly recommend you visit Vietnam if you get the opportunity to. The country is beautiful, the weather is kind, the people are friendly, the food is tasty, plus it's super cheap!

What I ate:
From the Time Out Burger Box we headed to Burger & Beyond (amazing tater tots; food pictured below). I had dinner at Caravan (loved the sea bass and cod dumplings), pizza at Made in Italy 3.0, and we headed to Chicago Rib Shack for BBQ food when we were back from holiday (average).

I enjoyed a tasty "good karma" burger from Honest Burgers, and street food from Gyoza Guys (highly recommend; pictured below) and Herman ze German (mediocre) at Maltby Street Market. I also enjoyed a Dishoom breakfast (amazingly tasty, as always), a cheeky Nando's and a katsu curry from Wagamama.

From KERB Gherkin, I visited Stakehaus (not the best steak or the greatest portion size), Salt Shed (amazing flavours; this is the steak street food place you want to go to), Da Ja Chicken (a well-frequented tasty favourite) and Growlers (yummy prego).

And then there was Vietnam and Hong Kong, where we ate amazing food, but also the cutest dim sum – pictured above is Yum Cha's adorable and tasty BBQ piggy buns. Again, a further blog post to follow dedicated to all things that are delicious.

What I saw:
Films watched in September: Ocean's Thirteen, Pitch Perfect, Logan Lucky, The Disaster Artist, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Molly's Game, Semi-Pro, 30 Minutes or Less, Meet the Parents, Hocus Pocus, Big A, A Quiet Place and Blockers. In October: I Feel Pretty, The Greatest Showman, Big Hero Six, Spider-Man, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Apollo 13, Aladdin, Coco, Zombieland and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

At the cinema in September: Crazy Rich Asians (good fun if you don't think too carefully about it), King of Thieves (average), BlacKkKlansman (the parallels to the world today are thought-provoking), Searching (great concept) and A Simple Favor (better than the book). In October: First Man (was a little flat at times), Venom (bizarre), Bohemian Rhapsody (Rami Malek was amazing) and A Star is Born (dare I say it, I felt it was a bit overhyped).

We finished watching season two of GLOW (a slow start, but got better as it went along), and watched Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (again, got better as it progresses). On the plane I spotted they had season two of Riverdale, which I'd only watched a few episodes of, so I had a bit of a binge on the plane and then finished watching it when I got home. We also started watching The Vietnam War (fascinating and insightful) and blitzed through part two of Making a Murderer (interesting but not sure how necessary a new part was at this point, except for the final episode).

What I read:
In September I read 7 books, listened to one audiobook, and abandoned reading 2 books. In October I also read 7 books and also abandoned reading 2 books. (No audiobooks though!) My favourite reads/listens were: Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, Love Simon by Becky Albertalli, and The Birthday by Carol Wyer.

How have you been? x