Vomit Berries, Bin Juice and Other Tales

  I have had such an incredible last few months, I can't even begin to write about it. Both good and bad things have happened, but as I am feeling reasonably joyful tonight I will touch on only nice things... And Other Tales.

Vomit Berries

  What the hell? 

Its amazing to me how smells can trigger memories you forgot you had. 

  Here in Korea they have these trees, and the look a little bit like mini-oak trees. No idea what they are called... Anyway there are a heap of them living in the side street right near my building. There are also a heap of them in Pyeongtaek, but not many in Seoul that I have seen. They are green for all of Spring and Summer, then fade off in Autumn and look completely dead in Winter. Pretty standard for a tree in this part of the world. the weird thing about these trees are the fruit they drop at the end of Summer - when they open the smell dead set like fresh vomit. Total spew stench. I remember when I first smelt that awful stench... It was a weekend, one of my first in Korea I would imagine, and I thought that there must be fresh spew somewhere. But the smell was everywhere!!! It wasn't until a friend pointed out to me that these small orange fruits were squished everywhere, and maybe it was this I could smell. 

I said to her "Can you not smell the puke smell?" 

She said no, not really, it was just a sort of off fruit smell. Nope, I replied, I can smell spew. So basically I think I must be the only one who can smell them this way. Strange but whatever.

  I got back from Malaysia on Sunday around 11:30, and I am strolling down the road with my bags in tow and I smell this vom smell. Its a Sunday morning so this is def not out of the ordinary in my area. I start paying closer attention, as I don't fancy rolling my bags through someones old dinner and drinks regurgitated. Of course, as you probably guessed, there was no spew to be seen. And then, as I near my building, walking down the street with the weird mini-oaks I see all these squashed fruits littering the road. And I remember. Its the Vomit Berries. Almost instantly I remember the feeling of being excited, fresh and alive. It was just over a year ago I first caught scent of this gross fruit, and now when I smell it, to me the fruit smells like freedom and adventure. Its strange that a sniff of vomit can create this sense. Yet here I am, remembering. I walked around the corner back to my house and thought about it a bit. Not much, because I was so fucking tired from the plane/bus ride, but thought enough to know that I actually quite like the smell of Vomit Berries. Not because I want to turn them into a perfume and wear it, but because it makes me re-live those first few weeks I came to this strange country. I remember being nervous, excited, grossed out and lonely. And I love it. 

Speaking of bad smells...

  Some asshole has left what smells like bin juice in the elevator. It fully reeks, even Milky didn't want to go in there. Its like someone has had fish or something, and binned it and dripped it everywhere. Or something equally rotten. My other big issue (apart from the smell) with this is that I am worried someone is gonna blame it on Milky, and suggest that he peed in the elevator. Which he NEVER has done. So someone better get rid of it. This is probably the reason why we have bugs in our building... If I discover who the jerk is who is not properly managing their wastes I am gonna go all Hulk on them and pitch them off the building. Actually, its going on my list of things that annoy me... #6 for sure (if thats what I am up to). End rant.

Travels

  In the last 2 months I was lucky enough to visit Japan, see new parts of Korea and also visit Malaysia. Let me sum up these places briefly:

Japan

  The Land of the Rising Sun was not what I expected. To be fair to Japan I was sick the whole time I was there - my wisdom teeth were killing me so I couldn't really sample the yummy food. My sinuses were blocked to the point I couldn't breath through my nose, and my head felt like it was full of painful cotton wool. I was feverish and on pain killers the entire time. And to top it off we were there in probably the worst time to visit - high summer. It was so humid and sticky we could hardly be bothered doing the sightseeing we did let alone adding on more things. Coupled with one hectic night in Kyoto where we got shitfaced and consequently hungover the next day, I think we did the best with what we had. BUT Japan did not leave a lasting impression on me. 

  

 

Osaka Castle

  I didn't really like Osaka (at least the parts I saw), I thought it was dirty and the stations grossed me out. The best part about it was the fact that everyone there seemed to ride pushbikes. It was adorable. 

  I liked Kyoto much more, it had a sense of history that I had not experienced anywhere else. Asian castles are something else all together, and although we saw one in Osaka (Osaka Castle) I still preferred the shrines we saw in Kyoto area. I would have liked to have spent at least another full day there. Night life was also funnnnn.

Deer selfie in Nara

Some Shrine... Can't remember its name but its famous (I am hopeless)

Me, Jess and Nay -
high school sweethearts!

  Tokyo was all over the place. It was huge, and we def needed mroe time to explore. But I felt disconnected from the city, in a way that I haven't felt in other cities. It felt kind of... unfriendly and false. Like it was lying to me about its intentions. I don't know how else to explain it... Anyway I would like to go back and see Tokyo and Kyoto, and also maybe go up to Sapporo one day.

  In all, the best part of Japan was seeing my friends from Australia. They made the trip. Oh, and also discovering my new favorite author Haruki Marukami. Read his books, please. They have kinda changed my life.

One of the temples

Penang

  I went to Penang, Malaysia over Chuseok with mum. It was totally uneventful, which was just what we both wanted. Sun, pool and good food. Penang has it all in large doses. We both we looking forward to the break, and also catching up after nearly 12 months of not seeing each other. I mean, we Skype all the time but its not the same. So it was so great to just hang out and do nothing but chat and catch up. I am already excited to see her again at Christmas!!!

Hotel was amazing - Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

Beach right outside. Water was beautiful

I love temples... Mum doesn't share my enthusiasm for them :s

Wow. I really didn't mean to go on like I did. It's nearly 12am and I need to sleep, but I am feeling all reflective... I could go on all night the way my mind is ticking right now. I won't though, cos lets be honest - most of what comes out my mouth is nonsense anyway. And its always worse when it's late night rambles.

Sleep well, citizens

xoxoxo

A Wild Sheep Chase - Review

  That's right, readers... I go on an amazing holiday with amazing people, and all I want to do is talk about the latest book I have read. What can I say? I have strange priorities...

Book Review

A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami

  I was stuck at the airport for hours in Tokyo, because I am a fantastic friend and opted to join the girls on their early morning airport pilgrimage rather than sleep a few hours extra and meet them in Korea. This meant I had time to kill in Narita Airport, so I alternated between snacking and eating for the most part. I was woken up by a crying child and figured there must be a better way to spend my time and I went wandering around and found some super well-stocked book shops. They had a great mix of Japanese and English books, so I stood in the English section for a good 30 minutes deciding what book I wanted to read. I was really happy to see plenty of Japanese books with English translations, so I picked up some that had the 'ol tag line of "best seller" on them. Many of them were by some guy named Murakami, so I grabbed one of his and flipped to the back to see what the deal was. To be honest, they all seemed a little, well, weird. Some borderline supernatural, some murder mysteries, some action, and some romance (are sex and romance the same thing?? I seriously doubt it, but I think you get my point). I ended up settling on a book called "A Wild Sheep Chase", which was apparently about a guy who goes looking for a lost magic sheep with his girlfriend who has ears that give her ESP. Ok, like I said, it was strange pickings. 

  Can I just say, it was the best thing I have read since "American Gods".

  The narrator is a recently divorced guy who, through strange circumstances, ends up being blackmailed into hunting for a lost sheep that was photographed by a friend. This sheep is kinda magic - it possesses people and they end up doing great things. I see now that the sheep must be a metaphor for something, but I am still thinking about this book and puzzling over what it could be. 

  Anyway the guy goes off with his new girlfriend on the hunt for the sheep, and ends up meeting people from his past on the way. I think the Narrator himself is a pretty messed up dude, and in a way going on this little sheep hunt is a way of him sorting through his own life. I wont give away the ending, but it certainly didn't end the way I thought it would, which I quite like in a book. I used to read a whole lot, so endings to stories tend to become rather predictable... This one ended badly but well fitting for the story. Some might actually say it was a happy ending of sorts. Have a read and tell me what you think I spose. 

  The book is writing in the first person, a style I am not accustomed to but fitted this story well. He ducks into the past at times, but tells these things as if he is talking to you real time. The author is descriptive without going into retarded detail, and keeps things on point. Certain parts of the story seemed a little irrelevant to me, but it all went towards character development so I guess it all worked out. So if you are reading, stick with the seemingly off bits. 

  Having just been in Japan and seeing certain sites mentioned, it was nice to put a real image to the places. The story is mainly set in areas in Northern Japan, and even if you have never been there (which I haven't) you can certainly get a feel about what its like. 

  I liked the main character. I felt like he was totally relatable, because everyone at some point knows what it feels like to simply feel, well, there. Just being present without actually being present. Utterly mediocre and static. He needed something to put him back into motion and remind him to live. I don't know what happens to him after the book, but in my head I have made up a great scenario for him, where things turn out well. Unfortunately I don't think that they would have... I think he may have gone the way of "Rat".

  An interesting side the the actual writing is that no one is named. Some people have nicknames, but not one person is actually named. I thought this was quite clever... 

  So anyway I really think you should read it. It was a good book, but kinda makes you think. Like I said earlier, I am still undecided about what the sheep actually represents. I googled it, and some people have said personal ambition, some religion/faith, some depression, some drugs. I honestly don't know. 

Side note on my holiday/vacation

  Yes, I went to Japan for 8 days and then back to Korea where I spent a drunken week in Busan with 2 of my Aussie friends. Nay is still here in Korea, so after she leaves and I have a bit more time, I will let everyone know what we got up to (G-rated version) and how the whole thing was. I also took some adorable videos of my kids for Summer Camp so I will get them up too. 

  I can already tell this next 6 months is gonna fly by... I signed my new contract yesterday with Songshin, so I am locked for another year in this mad place. I mean mad in the literal sense, not this whole "mad"/"cool"/"awesome" sense. Its crazy here, I am going to come home and need to be locked away in an asylum for another 12 months. I'll be mid-30's before I am fit for Australian society again. 

  So yeah I will update next week or something. No promises, because I break them all the time. 

xoxoxo