Everything that starts with V ...

Introduction After my first Vietnam article 'All Things Vietnamese 1 - Families and Noise I invited suggestions for other themes. When I last looked there was only one request which was to cover food and drink. I have decided therefore to cover this as my second topic (it is of course a vast subject and I can only scratch the service). I intend to structure this article as follows. An overview of Vietnamese cuisine, how it has been influenced and what a typical Vietnamese meal might consist of. I will then discuss popular foods, more unusual dining options (generally only available in Vietnam) ... more

**WARNING** I must warn you that this is rather a long and somewhat self-indulgent review but I am not going to apologise for it as it is something that I hold very dear and feel important enough to warrant my ramblings! As a teenager and then a 'young person' I was pretty much of the opinion that volunteering was boring and something that our parents forced us into to ensure we had some 'character building' experiences. More often than not, I thought it would be run by dull, lifeless people and would ensure that your afternoon or weekend was the biggest waste of time ever. Well, I am now ... more

Villian's & Psycho's (My Top 10 Special Soap Villians & Psychopaths) Introduction into the evil minds: Any great soap is not the same without a good deranged psychotic 'villian', and there are those I believe stand out more than others, those who are just rotten to the core. I love a good soap psycho, it makes the storylines more intense and devastating to watch. To see devious and manipilative characters causing dispear, upset and grief makes any soap much more exciting, and them devious psycho's are among one of the most iconic roles ever seen in soapland. These bad guys of soap will do ... more

I was thinking about what I could write for my 100th review. When I was using the site regularly a few years ago, I would often keep an eye out for the those survey-type-100quick-fire-questions-revi​ews that people would often put together. I've done a couple, they're good.I started looking through my COT, to make way for new members to add in, then I came across my friend who signed up to Ciao back in 2006. My friend Vicky signed up as Eeebygum. I was once telling her about what I was doing since we left uni and mentioned about the review sites I write on in my spare time...links were ... more

As you may know, I am a Newly Qualified Speech and Language Therapist (SLT), actively involved in the Giving Voice campaign (I reviewed the Giving Voice Website earlier this year.) Giving Voice is a national campaign led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) promoting the importance of speech and language therapy in a time when the profession is at risk due to current changes. This is a long piece of writing about something I am extremely passionate about! I have broken it into sections so you do not need to read it all if it doesn’t interest. I hope it is of interest ... more