Whoop-jug I love thee!

* CAMA party on the horizon: Last CAMA party of the year on December 15th with djs, bands and the usual level of tomfoolery. More info on the where and the who.

* 24 hours to do Hanoi: If you could spend 24 hours in Hanoi -- as a guest -- would you take the Financial Times' advice on what to do? The FT boys go bananas and get up at 6am, have coffee in a cafe which doesn't exist anymore, head off for a quick museum fix, spend six hours in the Old Quarter and then eat some fancy French food... next stop -- Shanghai!

* Nuoc mam: How shall I count the ways I love thee?

* Minsk FC: Hanoi's handsomest team, Minsk FC finally got back to winning ways against Hanoi's most French team, after Sub-Gaffer Brian Lalor and Perma-Gaffer Johnny Symons sent out a rallying cry for 'players to show some more passion'. Final score 2- 0 with goals from much criticised and out of form strikers La Tete and Uncle Cooper. No pics or review yet.

* Did you know... "The number of abortions has declined in Ho Chi Minh City, but the large Asian city still sees more abortions there than live births." Read on.

* Simile of the week: "Vietnam seems on the boil, like the pots at the ubiquitous pho stands." Bravo!

* Documentaries: I heard it on the Grapevine that there's a festival of documentaries from today until December 15th in Hanoi.