17th March 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam
Although I sometimes watch cookery contests like Master Chef on TV, I never imagined I would take part in one. But life is full of surprises. And on Monday, instead of chairing the usual start-the-week meeting at the Embassy, I was at Hanoi’s famous Metropole Hotel rolling up my sleeves, putting on an apron, and […]
Read more on GREAT British Food and Drinks Festival in Vietnam | Reply (2)
13th January 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam
First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a healthy and successful New Year. “Chuc mung nam moi”! For my first blog of 2016 I thought I’d try something a little different so I invited Nguyen Ngoc Lan, a student at the Hanoi Law University, to share this blog with me. Lan […]
9th November 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
The UK and Vietnam don’t have much in the way of shared history. Sometimes that makes my job harder; sometimes easier. But last week, an all-star cast gathered in Hanoi – the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Lord Puttnam; the Vietnamese Minister and Vice Minister of Justice; a former British High Court judge; and most of […]
7th March 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
To mark International Women’s Day, it’s my pleasure to turn over this space to my first ever guest bloggers: two dynamic Vietnamese women from the world of business, writing on the theme of female economic empowerment through the prism of their own life experiences. Le Len is head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants […]
22nd January 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
My 2015 began after a relaxing Christmas here in Vietnam with my family. Getting back to work after the holidays started with a trip to Manila. On my way to Manila, I experienced some new beginnings. I took the new Nhat Tan bridge and expressway and saw the newly completed international terminal. (When I first arrived in […]
12th November 2014 Hanoi, Vietnam
In his essay “On Listening”, the ancient Greek writer Plutarch said about the process of education: “The mind does not require filling like a bottle. Rather, like wood, it only requires kindling, to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.” I came across this quote when I […]
8th October 2014 Hanoi, Vietnam
Hello, and welcome to what I plan to be a regular blog about my work as the British Ambassador to Vietnam. Although I only arrived here at the end of July, I’m not a stranger to Vietnam. I worked here in the 1990s as a young diplomat. When people hear this, their first question is […]