Today was a most unusual Christmas Day. The passing of my mother meant that the annual ritual of the traditional family Christmas roast and pudding - to an exacting English standard - together with the nuts, crackers, silly hats and jokes, was temporarily in abeyance, perhaps till next year.

Ann wanted me to go with her to Cabramatta, a major centre for the Vietnamese community in Sydney. Considering the day, it was a very odd thing to do and it felt surreal, over and over again. But we had a good time wandering through the crowds, past the queues and street-side markets, the whole place humming with activity. And banh mi for lunch - well that just tops it off!

Still, I would have preferred the option of seeing my dear mum for one more Christmas, with all the trimmings!