15 Things in The Year of the Sheep

It's a brilliant tradition I've started here, isn't it? Writing a list of stuff that I want to do each year, and then not quite doing it. But I really love it. Because a) lists and b) life.

Lists because I'm an organiser and a writer and it just makes things feel better when it's all written down. And life because when I don't quite get things done it's normally because other awesome stuff has happened instead. Last year I wanted to assist on some photo shoots, and I didn't. But instead Olympus and Kidspot knocked on my door and said "hey, do you want a camera?". And I said hell yes I do. And I also didn't hit my goal of six blog posts a month, but I did go on two of the most amazing holidays ever.

So, yeah. Lists are good, but sometimes life is better. With that in mind, here's my 15 things to do in the Year of the Sheep. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

1. Read more. Specifically, read at least fourteen books in twelve months. Which is hilarious as last year's goal was twelve books in twelve months and I didn't hit that. Lets call this one a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal shall we?

2. Read more blogs. Hands up if you don't read blogs like you used to? I know I don't, and I miss it. I miss the discoveries and the different voices, all the pretty things and thoughtful things and all the connections.

I want to get back into the habit of reading blogs regularly, and commenting on them too. And because I'm an ex-corporate type who knows that goals should always be measurable, I'm going to randomly quantify this one. Let's say - three thoughtful comments a week. (I've just done this weeks! Hurrah!)

3. Blog more. Specifically, blog at least six times per month. (Anyone getting déjà vu?)

4. Write more. About everything. Specifically, write a My... post every, single month in 2015. 

5. Related, pitch at least five stories to magazines. This may not sound like a lot, but it's the right number for me right now.

6. Finish my 365 project on Instagram. (You can follow along at #jorpins365.) And continue to grow my followers in the process. (No, I'm not telling you what my goal is on that one!)

7. Hit fifty sales in my Etsy shop, Jorpins Vintage. 

8. Finish three walking events. I'm looking at one medium length trail walk (22km), one fast paced short walk (10km), and one long and steady walk (50km). The trail walk is coming up in two months. Eeep!

9. Walk 1500 kilometres by the end of December. That's only 30km a week. Easy.

10. Sort my health out. Living overseas it's easy to neglect things, to put off the visits to the dentist and the pap smears and the skin checks. It's time to sort all that out. Find a good women's health GP. Actually go to a physio and a chiro like I've been saying I would for, oh, at least three years. Stick with the plan my awesome dentist has put in place. (I can't believe I just called a dentist awesome. You have no idea how huge that is for me. Dentists normally make me cry. A lot.)

11. Cook at least one new meal for the family each month. We've been in such a terrible cooking rut of late, time to haul ourselves out of it.

12. Related, attend two cooking classes. I've booked in for the Kenkō Kitchen one, any ideas on the second one gratefully accepted!

13. Watch twelve movies. And blog about them.

14. Organise my office, and keep it organised. I'm half way there, but the final push has been somewhat delayed for lack of motivation. I want a place for everything, so I can keep everything in its place.

15. Do more road trips! When we lived in Asia I travelled all the time. Back home to Australia, meeting up with the husband when he was off on business trips, taking advantage of being so much closer to the rest of the world. In Hong Kong, we'd travel to Singapore and Macau. In Korea we'd drive to national parks, historic towns and ski fields all over the country, and occasionally I'd pop over to Tokyo. We really did travel a lot. One time we even flew to Amsterdam for a weekend! Crazy!

Anyway, I adore my life in Sydney but I do miss the travel. So I'm going to do more road trips, more getaways. Just a night here and there, maybe on my own, maybe with the hounds. Most definitely with loads of country op shops and photo stops along the way. I'm a bit excited about this one!

Good Things To Do in 2015

How's your 2015 going so far? Mine's been pretty damn good. A bit too good actually, as I'm now finding it hard to get out of the holiday mindset and start being productive again (which is a bit funny considering my phrase for 2015...). I'd really like to stay with the beach going, book reading, bbq-ing vibe for awhile longer but unfortunately the world and my to do list have other ideas. 

One thing I have managed to do - in between the drinking and eating and lazing - is sign up for a few challenges to set the tone for the year. And I thought you might want to sign up for one too? Here's a list if you do. 

Photography 

Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day : If you don't know about this you clearly haven't been near the internet in a few years. Daily prompts, take a snap and post it on Instagram, your blog, Facebook, wherever. This year it's switching from monthly to weekly lists, which I think is awesome - much easier to dip in and out of as you please. 

365 Photo Challenge : Basically commit to taking one photo a day for a year. You can follow the prompts set by accounts like @my_365 on Instagram or you can just keep it simple with no prompts and no themes, just one photo each day, like I'm doing. 

Shake Creative Photo A Day : A photo a day challenge hosted by Zoey Martin, who you might know from Operation Move or The Shake. The prompts often have a fitness bent and also cover all kinds of emotions, good and bad and inspirational. A good one for those looking to push their creativity a bit. (With thanks to Dannielle for bringing this one to my attention!). 

Canon Light Awards : If you shoot with a Canon you might want to consider playing along with these awards. Challenging monthly briefs and the chance to get feedback from some amazing photographers - sounds pretty good to me!

Health + Fitness 

Operation Move's How Many Kms in 2015 : If you're looking to get fit and healthy in 2015 and you haven't checked out Operation Move yet, go do it now. They have a brilliant back story, offer a bunch of great services, and continually motivate and inspire me. Plus they've built a community of really wonderful lovely people. This year they've created a Facebook event asking how many kilometres you can move (run, walk, cycle, roller blade, whatever!) in 2015. It's a great place to make a public commitment, see what others are up to and check in. I've put my hand up for 1000kms (as of writing this I'm 18 down, 982 to go!). 

Run Down Under : I'm so excited about this one! Basically it's a virtual race around Australia. Log the number of kilometres you've covered on a regular basis and Run Down Under maps your progress, starting from Canberra (if you use Strava it's super easy to sync your kms). Apparently I've got 72.34kms until my next town, Goulburn... 

Books + Reading 

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge : My lovely friend Cat (who has exquisite taste in books, by the way!) put me on to this. I know lots of people who have 'read more' on their 2015 list and this seems like a fun way to tackle it with things like "A book your mom loves", "A banned book", and "A book with bad reviews" on the checklist. It's a bit like a treasure hunt, and I love that, so although I know I won't finish the checklist (I'm a slow reader!) I'm going to have a crack anyway! 

Set your own goal : I've recently switched from Shelfari to Good Reads to track my reading, mainly because of the iPhone app. But both sites are great, and both sites let you set a reading goal for the year and will track your progress towards that goal. 

A Year of Australian Writing : The gorgeous Pip is hosting a year of reading aussie stories - what an awesome idea! Although I'm not committing to this one I will be following along with great interest (and no doubt adding to my 'to read' pile along the way too).

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge : Okay so with 339 books on the list it'd be near impossible to get through this challenge in a year (unless you devoted all your waking hours to it, which doesn't sound like a bad way to pass 365 days actually...), but as a fan of Gilmore Girls this had to get a mention! (I've only read 34 of them, by the way.)

Fashion 

Fox in Flats' Style Dares : Not really a year long thing, but fun nonetheless! Andrea runs regular style challenges on her blog. I've never taken part, but I've watched in admiration as others have, and I think maybe it would do me good to get involved. Fingers crossed there's one soon! 

Jewellery Everyday with Megan Auman : Have a ton of jewellery but hardly ever wear it? Yep, me too. Which is why I really like this Instagram based challenge aimed at getting us to wear more jewellery. I think it only runs for a month, but maybe it'll inspire you to stick with it for a year?

Life 

Happiness Jar : This is all over the internets in various forms, and seems to be an idea attributed to Elizabeth Gilbert. Basically every day you write down something that's made you happy, something you're grateful for or that you've accomplished. Then at the end of the year you read back through all your notes and feel ace. Nice. Have a jar for each member of the family, even the furry ones, if you like! 

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I'll be updating this list over the next week, so if you know of a challenge or something fun to do in 2015 that's not on here do let me know. Maybe you are participating in one? Or hosting one? I'd love to hear about it!

14 Things in The Year of the Horse : An Update

Does doing something two years in a row make for a tradition? Yes? In that case - I have a new year tradition of writing a list of things I want to get done in the next twelve months or so, and posting them on the blog. The idea is to start the year off on an optimistic note and focus my mind on the things I really want to achieve.

During the year I like to revisit this list and grade my efforts. Mainly for comedic value. Things generally don't quite pan out the way I think they will, so I often review the list thinking 'how naive! how sweet! how innocent!'. 2014 has been no exception. 

I prepared a little infographic to explain...*

So yeah, my year hasn't quite gone as planned so far. I really underestimated the all consuming nature of the tail end of the renovation. (On the flip side I also really underestimated the awesomeness of completely unexpected things like Voices of 2014 coming my way too.)

I know it's a little late for an update (where has this year gone?!) but my list for 2014 was based on the lunar New Year because I'm a bit slow off the mark with these things. Technically I've still got three whole months before my deadline is up, so a November update it is.

The grades are going to be low this year, very very low. But, plough on we must...(also, channel Yoda we must)...

1. Read more. Specifically, read at least twelve books in twelve months. C+. I'm reading more, but I'm also reading very, very slowly. BUT - focus on the positives - I am making a concerted effort to read at least a few pages every, single day. And my brain is thanking me for it.

I've read six books since January, my favourite by far being Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas. And there were two quick, gulp it down reads I quite liked too -  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healy.

Currently I'm ploughing through A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I'm also building a kind of scaffold structure around my 'to read' pile to stop it from falling over. It's pretty out of control.

2. Blog more. Specifically, blog at least six times per month. F. *falls about laughing* *wipes tears of hilarity from eyes* *gasps for breath between guffaws* Up to the end of October I've averaged 3.1 posts per month for 2014. Yep, definitely a fail. For so many good, valid reasons that I won't bore you with right now. But, that's all about to change! (It has been changing a little already - have you noticed?) I'm aiming for a strong finish on this one, yes I am.

3. Make Typography Tuesday a monthly thing. F. See above.

4. Do something with my 500px account. D-. In an effort to not get another F I just uploaded some shots. Yesterday. See - this goal writing thing totally works.

5. Assist on at least two photography shoots. F. I got half way there. I put some wheels in motion, but then the wheels fell off. But that's okay because a) life happens, and b) directions change.

6. Enter more photography competitions. F. I haven't entered any.

(Okay, this is starting to get a little embarrassing. Whose idea was this update thing anyway? Oh, mine? Right. Carry on then.)

7. Make a little book or zine. And sell it. F. No comment.

8. Develop some Instagram projects. B. Finally! A result! My addiction to love for Instagram has grown even more over the past few months. I find it immensely inspiring and strangely rewarding. I'm beyond happy that over 1,000 people are following me (and only a small percentage of them are Russian ladies in skimpy outfits urging me to chat with them).

My favourite project has involved the dogs, of course. I've currently got 42 photos tagged #morningwalkswithferdiandelfi. It's not just an overly long hashtag, it's also something that asks me to slow down; to appreciate and capture those early morning strolls.

9. Send more snail mail. D-. The only reason it's not another F is that we sent a heap of postcards when we were on our great European adventure. Outside of that I haven't really been doing my bit to keep the postie employed.

However, now I finally have my home office vaguely resembling something that looks like a home office I'm aiming for a strong finish on this one too. Stay tuned. (ps. Want me to send you a note in the mail? Let me know! I promise I will!)

10. Send cards to family and friends for every, single birthday. C+. I've only missed one or two. Maybe three. Or four. Let's be honest, I'm probably being a bit generous with the grades here.

11. Corral my clutter. B+. (I think the husband would probably grade me a D-, but he doesn't have a blog so B+ it is). I've reduced my shoe collection by two whole thirds, I've donated bags and bags of clothes, I've culled my ceramics and thrown out pretty much all of my magazines. We've sorted through all our DVDs and CDs and only kept the absolute best of the best. And when I buy something new I have to get rid of something old. I'm by no means a minimalist but my clutter doesn't rule me anymore, and corralling it feels like a habit now.

12. See more movies at the cinema. Specifically, see at least eight movies on the big screen. D-. We've seen quite a few flicks with the step-sons - the Lego Movie, Monty Python's recent live show, the new X-Men one. But that's about it. I keep saying I'm going to sneak off to the cinema when the husband and step-sons are away, but I always end up finding something else to do instead.

13. Proofread more. B+. I'm sure I still make mistakes, when I post and tweet, but I feel like I make less mistakes. I'm definitely more aware of proofing before I post. I think it's become a habit too.

14. Eat better. And yes, there will be blog posts! B (for eating better), F (for blogging about it). This year I've dabbled in grain free and low grain. And although in the end I've decided that grains are my friends, the experiment did help me break out of my pasta rut. I've now got a whole repertoire of quick, easy, low grain, high protein, high veg meals to turn to when I can't be bothered cooking. And I'm feeling better for it too. 

*You may recall that improving my Photoshop skills was on 2013's list? Well, I made this inforgraphic on Photoshop! Pie charts and all! And I've enrolled in a two day basic skills course for December. So I'm giving myself an A for that assignment, even though I've handed it in a just little late.

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How has your year been tracking? Are you getting higher grades than me (I bet you are!)? Can you believe it's already November? Are you as freaked out by the speedy passing of time as I am? 

See / Eat / Stay : Sydney +

After my week in Melbourne I headed to Sydney for a week. As well as doing my first site visit for The Big Project (half a house - GONE! - so exciting! more on that at a later date...) here's some other fun things that happened.

See / Blue Mountains - We like to head out of town with the step-sons whenever we get to Sydney. The problem is, in contrast to Melbourne, Sydney has a bit of a dearth of great things to do within a few hours drive. The Blue Mountains is a good standby when we can't think of anywhere else to go. Even with some slightly foreboding skies and the odd spatter of rain it still made for a nice break - great views, fresh air, a bit of a stroll...

See / Art Gallery of New South Wales - The gallery in Sydney is such a lovely place - the garden setting with views over Woolloomooloo, the mix of old and new architecture, the cafe (it serves cider!). And it's free. As a teen I fell in love with modern Australian painting, so visiting the gallery is like catching up with old friends. Funny what a strong reaction seeing a piece of art in the flesh can evoke. If you visit make sure you head downstairs to the contemporary art galleries. I was blown away (and a bit creeped out) by the installations down there. Inspiring stuff. 

See / Sydney Theatre Company - One of the things we've missed about living in Seoul is access to quality English-language the-ar-tar (you have to pronounce it like that, otherwise you might start taking everything too seriously). Anyway, knowing we'd be moving back (eventually) we signed up for an STC subscription this year. This trip we saw Fury, which I really liked. 

But really - it almost doesn't matter what play you see. Part of the fun is not knowing what's coming up, like reaching in to a lucky dip. Sometimes its wonderful, intimate, affecting, hilarious. And sometimes its terrible. But again, that almost doesn't matter, because then there's the great conversations about exactly how, where, and when the play was terrible. 

And the theatre isn't just about the play. It's about fighting your way to the bar and downing a wine at intermission. It's about the view of the Harbour Bridge from The Bar at the End of the Wharf, the 'ding ding ding' telling you to take your seats, the rituals, the crowd watching... (Also we sat next to Hugo Weaving, so we're basically famous.) 

See / Vivid Sydney - I've heard so many rave reviews about the festival of light that is Vivid Sydney, I was pretty excited to realise our visit coincided with the 2013 festival. So excited in fact that I tried to convince the husband to can the Blue Mountains trip (apparently he is not as thrilled by light projections as I am...). Anyway, I strolled around Circular Quay one mild Sydney night and took it all in. I only managed to see the tiniest bit but it was great, worth it for the MCA projection alone (which was really wonderful). The festival has finished for this year (sorry) but maybe you can start planning for 2014?

Eat / est., Sydney - The husband is in the midst of two months of crazy busy work travel, so to celebrate a rare night together we treated ourselves to an uber-fancy meal at est. And quite the treat it was! The best bits were: 1) The creamy, melty Brillat-Savarin; 2) The passionfruit soufflé (we were meant to share, but the chef clearly saw the look in my husband's eyes - he doesn't have a sweet tooth but he can inhale a soufflé in seconds - and made us one each!); and 3) The lamb rib eye. Yum. 

Eat / Ippudo, Westfield Sydney - I'm going through a bit of a ramen phase right now (actually, anything involving soupy noodles makes me weak at the knees right now) and I'd read about this place in Gourmet Traveller, so I checked it out. It was pretty tasty, though the soup base was on the heavy side - a bit too porky for my liking. Maybe chalk it up for when you need a slightly greasy, meaty, carbohydrate fix? (As a side note, the new Westfield food court in Sydney is pretty damn impressive! Looking forward to exploring it a bit more...) 

Eat / Bistro Moncur, Woollahra - My husband used to live just down the road from this (slightly expensive, but very good) bistro and it's always been one of his favourites. I always love the salads, and we always share the deliciously simple linguine as an entree. The restaurant has had it's ups and downs, but on this visit the meal and service were both great. 

Eat / Echoes, Katoomba - We had dinner here as part of our Blue Mountains weekend. I thought the food was good but not spectacular. If you're keen to go, I'd say do it at lunchtime when you can see the view (which apparently is spectacular). 

Eat / Sailors Thai Canteen, The Rocks - The more casual cousin to Sailors Thai, we went here for a post-theatre dinner of green curry and papaya salad. So delicious. And it made me realise that all the fancy French food and mod-Oz is great, but it's the good Asian meals I really, really get excited about these days. (See also, Longrain). 

Eat / Various - I had a decent red velvet cupcake (they're hard to come by) at Ghermez Cupcakes, Bondi Junction; a good coffee (also hard to come by, in Sydney at least) at Chrysler Cafe Bar, Sydney; and a fine (if unexceptional) breakfast at Indigo, Double Bay. 

Wow, we ate a LOT in Sydney!

Stay / Lilianfels, Katoomba - A hotel with a ye olde feel, spectacular location and decent food. And tennis courts, which we made good use of. And by 'good' I mean we used it more than once. And played appallingly. Considering the rooms, service and location it's the best place we've stayed in at the Blue Mountains. Sometimes in the hills you find that hotels translate 'ye olde feel' as 'we don't need to do building maintenance or provide any modern services or conveniences; but we'll still charge you as if we are'. But Lilianfels was not like this at all. Plus it had fabulous wallpaper, which counts for a lot in my books. 

Stay / Blue, Woolloomooloo - I like this hotel a lot. I like the way they've treated the old wharf building, and melded it into a hotel. I love the location (especially when I'm on my own, it feels a bit less intense than staying in the city). I love the sparkly blue water, the neighbourhood and the fact that it's only a short stroll to the gallery, Opera House and city. And I really like the service (so responsive it's a little spooky...). I like that as a Tablet+ member I get free internet and breakfast when I stay here. I like that it's (relatively) reasonably priced for such a nice hotel. But I don't like the thin walls and windows, because (call me crazy) I don't like hearing my hotel neighbours cheering as they watch the footy on the TV, or the drunken pub goers across the road. Fix that and this would be perfection. (ps. If you ever stay here make sure you check out the intriguing Artspace gallery space across the road.)

See / Eat / Stay : Melbourne +

Oh me oh my things are busy right now aren't they? I'd say I'm barely keeping my head above water but actually I think my head is under water. And I'm using a straw as a snorkel... Anyhoo, onwards and upwards! 

Welcome to the inaugural See / Eat / Stay post. I travel a lot but I'm not really a Travel Blogger, I'm more of a Travel Slide Shower (but at least I do it on the web so you can quietly leave the room when you're bored and I won't get offended). 

I'll probably never be a Travel Blogger, but I do do lots of fun stuff in lots of places. The See / Eat / Stay posts are about sharing some of that information with you, in bite sized form. And maybe they'll help you find some fun things for yourself if you're heading to Melbourne or Sydney or Hong Kong or Wherever? 

Okay, so here's what I got up to during my week in Melbourne (and surrounds). 

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See / Cape Schanck Lighthouse - Mum and I headed down to the Mornington Penninsula for a night, and chanced upon a beautiful blue sky day. We visited the Cape Schanck Lighthouse, quite a spectacular part of the coast with lots of (poorly signed but well maintained) walkways and paths to explore. We also found out you can stay at the cottages at the Lighthouse - how great would that be?

See / Lamington Drive - I managed to pop in to this great gallery just in time to catch the end of 'A Hidden Place', the gorgeous exhibition featuring colabs by my sister and Kat Mcleod. Loved the show and the space. Regardless of whatever exhibition is on they have loads of ace affordable prints for sale (and some amazing terrariums too). 

See / Maiike Store, Hawthorn - (I'd call it Kew, but apparently it's Hawthorn so...) This is kind of the area I grew up in - the east of Melbourne - and I get a bit excited when I see hip new retail pop up here. This shop is really wonderful - a gorgeous mix of locally designed clothing, handmade toys and blankets, and carefully curated international labels (like Donna Wilson). I could have taken one of everything if my bank account / suitcase would have coped. 

See / Markit @ Fed Square - I always love it when one of my visits home coincides with a great market, and this trip I was pretty excited to be able to finally check Markit out. It's a craft market that has a reputation for quality and it didn't disappoint. I picked up a few goodies, including these cards of awesome by Madeleine Stamer (my new illustration / colour crush), printspace (clean, happy designs) and hannakin (a new find for me, the quirkiest cards you ever did see!). The next Markit is happening in November.

Eat / Kumo Izakaya, Brunswick East - I've eaten here a few times and it's always delicious. And I love the decor. And the uber hip, slightly eccentric waiter that I seem to get every time I go. I highly recommend starting with a umeshu and soda. Or two. And get the beef tataki. They also cater very well to those of you with food allergies (I know you're out there), with separate menus for dairy, wheat, gluten, etc, free dishes. 

Eat / Omah's, Hawthorn - I had lunch with my Dad at this Malaysian restaurant in Hawthorn. We picked it at random, but it turned out to be a fine choice! Good service, nice decor and it was pretty damn tasty (although I am both laksa obsessed and laksa deprived so I may not have been the most discerning judge...). 

Eat / T'Gallant, Main Ridge - On our Mornington Peninsula sojourn we stopped by T'Gallant wineries for lunch. Tasty! (The glass of pinot gris was especially so!). 

Eat / Albert St Food & Wine, Brunswick - Another awesome thing about this trip was that I was in town for my nephew's 10th birthday (you miss a lot of birthdays living overseas...). Being the first double digit birthday, my sister wanted to do something a bit special, so we took him out for a fancy meal. Great food, and really great service. This has gone on my 'must take the husband to' list.

Stay / Mum's House, Kew - Ummm. I wouldn't recommend this. Unless you are me. But for me it works. This is the house I grew up in, and it's full of little reminders of childhood fun times (see that rainbow wallpaper behind my Mum's pile of scarves? From memory my sister and I chose this for the room when we shared it. Pretty awesome, yes?). It's in desperate need of a ton of maintenance. Actually, it's in desperate need of a major renovation. But, it still has the same calming welcoming feel it had when I was a kid and I always sleep like a relaxed log when I stay there!

*The photo at the very top of the post was taken as I was coming in to land rather early on a crisp Melbourne morning. That glowing blob you see is actually the moon! The sun was rising on the other side of the plane, turning the sky the most amazing colours. Was quite a gorgeous way to be welcomed home!

The A to Z of Animals

I may have expressed my love of Muji before but it really can't be overstated: I adore Muji. Unfortunately the Muji stores in Korea tend to focus more on the useful stuff (like blankets and slippers and wooden spoons), rather than the fun Muji stuff.  Luckily I visit Hong Kong just enough to assuage my Muji-fun-stuff cravings - like this book for example, which allows you to create a paper animal alphabet, hurrah!

During the recent school holidays, a desperate attempt to corral the overflow of orgami and paper craft in Joe's room and to create some space so that his desk could actually serve the purpose for which it was designed led to this - an animal alphabet garland (in a to z order of course).  Cool, huh? It's given me some crafty ideas too...

ps. did you notice the 'U' is a unicorn?!

A day at the Zoo

When the step-sons where here for the Australian school holidays we went to the Seoul Zoo.  It's part of a huge sprawling complex that also includes a theme park and art museum, as well as parks, lakes, hills, hiking trails and, of course, hikers.  

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and a weekend, and we were a bit taken aback by the mass of people (silly, I know).  It was really, really packed.  Which kind of added to the festive air and the Korean-ness of it all, but limited our actual ability to see any animals.  Which probably wasn't a bad thing, as whilst a lot of the enclosures where quite large and appropriate, some of them were a bit depressing (seeing my favourite animal - the pygmy hippo - in a concrete bunker nearly broke my heart).  

On the positive side the giant river otters looked happy and playful and super cute, and the lions had a big family unit and lots of space to roam about.  Plus, there were awesome balloons everywhere, and a super long chairlift ride with fabulous views.  Three stars.

Kids in the Kitchen

[image by the always amazing TADA's Revolution]

Nope, not that slightly tragic 80s band...I'm talking about your kids, or your brothers kids, or those kids across the road - are they in the kitchen?  Do they cook?  And at what age do you start them off?  And why bother?  I've been thinking about this because the eldest step-son (who just turned 13) has always shown a bit of an interest in cooking, and because I've been thinking about the best ways to get both the step-sons actively involved in the whole meal preparation shamozzle.

Why?  Well, there's the obvious thing about learning a basic life skill and about making a connection between raw produce and what you actually put in your gob, there's the nutrition side to it too.  But cooking is so much more than that - it's about planning and timing and learning to sequence things. There's multitasking and co-ordination and self-sufficiency.  And there's science - how do you thicken a sauce?  Should you cook the onion or the garlic first?  What is the best heat for cooking bacon so it doesn't crisp up? 

I have fond memories of being put in charge of the family meal at an early-ish age (well, they are fond looking back now, I can't actually remember if I loved it at the time or not).  Once a week my sister and I would be responsible for planning and cooking dinner for the four of us.  And looking back I'm so grateful for having been given that chance, because now I have such a solid base to build on - it means I can do my favourite type of cooking which is more about combining flavours than following a recipe.  It means I can take five recipes for the one thing, pick out the bits I think will work best, and just wing it.

And even though getting the kids to take over the kitchen sounds a bit like bliss (a night off from meal planning!), I've come to realise it actual takes a great deal of patience (and a love of chicken, kids love to cook chicken, don't they?).  You have to restrain yourself from cracking the egg, cleaning the mess, correcting the measurements.  Which I'm actually not very good at...but I'm trying to get better!  Step one was to put Sam (step-son number one) in charge of lunch one day during the recent school holidays - he chose to make chicken schnitzel with potato wedges, which was seriously tasty!  Hurrah for chef Sam!  

You can find the recipe we used here (we left the spice off the spicy wedges) - it came from the Australian Women's Weekly Kids in the Kitchen cookbook which I would most definitely recommend if you're looking to get your young-uns in to the kitchen.  Just ignore the fact that in their menu suggestions dad gets lamb cutlets whilst mum gets beetroot dip, and there is no 'dinner for mum's brother's partner, Barry', or 'lunch for step-mum' for that matter...

I meant to take a photo of the finished product, artfully arranged on a serving plate but, well, I was hungry and it was delicious...ooops...

A Day in Hongdae

One of the great things about having people come to stay (aside from hanging out with people you love and having an excuse to drink beer at lunchtime, of course) is that sometimes it forces you to get out and explore all those areas that have been on your 'must visit' list.  So it was that during my sister's recent visit we spent a rather pleasant day in the Seoul neighbourhood of Hongdae.  Cute cafes, affordable vintage and local clothing, amazing stationary shops, rustic home wares...here's a few of my favourites:

i think so : head down the narrow stairs and find a concrete bunker type space filled with wonderful stationery and other bits and pieces.

Market m* : there's a certain look to all the cute little cafes (tiny potted plants, chalkboards, garden labels, black and white postcards...) and this is the shop where they get it all from.  It's a little bit Muju, a little bit Ikea, and their garden section is the best - full of little succulents and wire pot plant racks and black board plant spikes, plus lots of simple storage ideas.

Bricolage : a tiny little shop selling simple but lovely stuff - think twine, kraft paper notebooks, wooden pegs.

Little Farmers : with a focus on eco-friendly wares, Little Farmers stocks more cute stationary, super soft baby's wear, plus a really amazing collection of leather goods.

Joey's Brunch Cafe : I'd read about their 'extra cheesey broccoli soup' on the design*sponge Seoul guide (see below) so we stopped for lunch here when we happened upon it.  The service is friendly and the serves are huge - this is comfort food and a half.  Lots of cheese, cream and fresh baked focaccia, I'll definitely be heading back here next time I want a bowl of happiness.

Pretty much every clothing store we encountered : wearable, affordable, just a little bit quirky; a great mix of handmade, vintage, local stuff.

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In case you missed it, Beci has written a post about her visit - have a look if you want to see more of the colour of Seoul and hear about some of her favourites!

Also, lots and lots of thanks go to this guide to Seoul on design*sponge, by blogger Katie Merchant, for many Hongdae pointers!

Say 'moo'!

Ah yes, it's school holiday time and that means there is so much going on at the moment that it's hard to find time for blogging because of all the doing, which is a good thing of course and means I have lots of surprises up my sleeve.  School holiday time also means I am forced to have a proper lunch at a proper time every day because there are two ravenous children in the house, but as much as I don the apron and try to play the role I really struggle to get lunch organised before 1.30pm...but no one seems to mind if lunch is a little late if it's delicious Women's Weekly Cookbook crepes with ham and gouda, and maple syrup for later.  Delicious!

Anyhoo, that's all a bit off track.  What I wanted to tell you about is that yesterday we went to the 63 Building in Yeouido, apparently the tallest building in Seoul and the tallest art museum in the world (which is kind of an hilarious gimmick, don't you think?).  It has some spectacular views of the sprawling city, and down in the basement there's also a pretty cool aquarium, interesting but compact so you never get to the point of thinking 'oh yay, another fish...'.  

The penguins were regal, the otters cute and the spider crabs suitably creepy but the real star of the show is that little guy right up the top there - the cowfish.  And seeing as how the cowfish is possibly the cutest animal I've ever come across, and how the curious little critter  actually seemed interested and intrigued by my iPhone when I held it up to take it's photo, they may have just overtaken the mouse deer as my most favourite animal ever.  So here is some more cowfish goodness for you to soak up (apologies for dodgy iPhone photos, I did take my super fancy camera but of course I left it in the car...)

ps. One of the fun things about going to zoos and aquariums and amusement parks around the world is seeing how they are kind of all the same but kind of uniquely of the culture they are from at the same time.  For example, this aquarium had all kinds of wonderfully obscure objects placed in the fish tanks - like oversized snow globes filled with miniature african animals, or a giant blue seahorse sculpture.  But this one below really stumped me...so if anyone, anyone at all, can explain why there is a frog in a nazi uniform in one of the tanks at the 63 Building's aquarium I'd really appreciate it: