Nothing like waking up to a blazing blue sky. By an astounding stroke of luck, it also happens to be the official beginning of spring today. If I were more motivated I'd get my hiking boots on and go to the Buda hills for a bit of a skip through the woods.

Some questions for you on this beautiful spring day:

1. What is the logical reasoning behind having to pay a fee when you're DEPOSITING cash into your account?

2. What's happened to mid-calf boots? Booties everywhere. Knee-length boots are still on the shelves. But the all-weather mid-length ones - nincs.

3. Why does Goan prawn curry and chicken curry taste exactly the same in Indigo, except spicier? Are they betting that people tend not to order them both?

Bests and worsts

I can't believe I complained about construction in Budapest. I have been subject to 24/7 (literally) of pounding from the 20-storey building going up opposite my room. So worst night of sleep: drifting in and out, being woken up by another burst of machinery or explosion of sound from my iPod (which I plugged in to drown out the construction).



In the morning, I was taking my usual route when a woman selling vegetables crossed the road and walked in front of me. She was wearing the conical hat that all Vietnamese women selling wares do, with two baskets full of colourful produce, and a lovely print top, with mud-splattered trousers that were rolled up. It would've been the perfect photograph.



So many good meals here. Highlights were mushroom steamboat at Ashima, Quan Ngon's orgy of street food, claypot pork in Koto, chicken porridge on the street with fresh greens and ginger bubbling from the bottom of the bowl, mushroom noodles with delicious fishballs, the burger in Ete. Best was fried tofu with squares of noodles accompanied by fresh basil, dipped in a fish sauce with kumquat juice and sliced chillies. Absolutely the right tone for the tofu.



I've never seen such an extended period of almost-rain. It's so light you feel silly with an umbrella, and yet you become thoroughly damp. It's been almost uniformly grey. But at least it's 20 degrees.



Despite its touristy pockets, it's been novel being in what really feels like a city in limbo, with its elderly in black silk pajamas, homemade pasta in Mediterraneo, marriage and children almost compulsory for any woman in her mid-20s, infuriating exchanges involving money, the latest films and tv shows on offer (often with "For your consideration" written on the bottom).



And of course, bia hoi!