Read the fabulous Exhaltation over the trip to Australia [which deserved a post of its own!] and not much more, as I tried House of Earth and Blood. A terrible book I fortunately bought second-hand and which I returned to the seller at the South Melbourne market after one evening reading thru the first 100+ dreary pages. Terrible scenario, terrible style, with a caricature of characters behaving like college students without the least creativity in making a proper alternate universe for their acting. Hard to believe this could have been on the New York Times bestseller list….
Cooked more stir-fries both away and at home, returning to Fall veggies like cabbages and gourds, along local mushrooms and fortunately had to get rid of a large lot of kimchi, making kimchi mandu and kimchi fried rice for the first time. And miso glazed eggplant (nasu degaku) after eating some in Eke, the local Japanese restaurant. Sample fares at the great South Melbourne market, from fabulous Tasmanian oysters [albeit generating their own weight in plastic containers!] to a decent kouign-amann and a disappointing cannolo! Bringing home local fruits and fiery birdseye chili peppers.
Watched Vagabond, a conspiracy story set in modern South Korea, frankly disappointing both in the lameness of the scenario, the obvious red herrings, the disregard for human life with endless executions, and the underlying racist tones for the scenes shot in North Africa and the Middle East…
