First glimpse of Middle-earth

Blood Roses | Douglas Jackson | Canelo Action

 ダグラス・ジャクソンが書いた『Blood Roses』は、ナチスのポーランド侵攻を舞台にした小説です。  2024年に出版されたこの作品は、作家が主人公と同じ時代に生きていなかったため、多くのリサーチを行った歴史的な犯罪小説です。

私はこれまでダグラス・ジャクソンの作品を読んだことがなかったので、この本を手に取ったとき、何を期待するかわかりませんでした。

この本はポーランド人にとって非常にトラウマ的な時期に設定されており、かなり速いペースで進んでいくため、精神異常者連続殺人犯が誰であるかを発見するのはスリリングな読み物でした。

この本を読んで私が非常に不安に思ったのは、メンゲレ博士という人物の存在でした。メンゲレがドイツ語で一般的な姓かどうかは知りませんが、ビルケナウで捕虜に対して恐ろしい実験を行ったヨーゼフ・メンゲレ博士について聞いたことがあります。『Blood Roses』のメンゲレ医師も医師ですが、ミクロス・ニスリが著書『私はメンゲレ医師の助手でした』で語ったヨーゼフ・メンゲレ医師とはかなり異なっていました。

Hobbiton!!!

[GUNDAM] EPYON

The Eternal Husband and Other Stories | Fyodor Dostoevsky | Modern Library

I keep walking past Crime and Punishment written by Dostoevsky in the bookshop.  Despite it being displayed prominently, I doggedly ignore it, never forgetting my failure to repeatedly not progress beyond the first chapter of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

Modern Library puts together The Eternal Husband and four other stories (A Nasty Anecdote, Bobok, The Meek One and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man) in a thick book in English translations that is very readable.

I'm not sure why I have this feeling while reading works by writers who set their stories in the period they lived in: the stories feel more authentic as compared to modern writers who had to research plenty when setting their work in times long gone by.

These five stories put together by Modern Library felt accessible to me, and I would have wished that The Eternal Husband be used as a case study for discussion in Psychology class, because the behaviour of the characters would have made Psychology class a lot more relatable and accessible. 

I am quite surprised that I enjoyed reading these works by Dostoevsky, and am now less fearful of translated works by Russian writers.  Perhaps I might eventually progress beyond the first chapter of War and Peace too.

 

Plane spotting

 私はフィジー航空の飛行機を見たことがなかったので、飛行機の尾翼に見慣れない塗装を見つけたときはとても驚きました。

ニュージーランド航空の塗装が施されたこのかわいいアエロスパシアル ATR 72 を見て、国内線を運航しているのだろうと思いました。いつか ATR 72 のフライトに乗る機会があるだろうか。

Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport

Even though the hotel name is Christchurch Airport, it isn't as near to Christchurch Airport as Novotel is, but it makes up for it by being nearer to the International Antartica Centre and Woolsworth and a cluster of eateries.

Twin room is spacious enough to accomodate 2 double beds with 4 pillows and practical hotel room furniture.

The bathroom is also decently sized, though I wonder why there isn't a towel rack for the handtowel.  Or is the towel rack for the handtowel next to the sink not a habit for New Zealanders?

The water corner (as I like to call the place where the kettle and tea/coffee service is located) is tucked inside the wardrobe area, funnily enough.  So, depending on whether the hotel guests require their drinks or hang their clothes, the wardrobe doors need to be slided to the correct corner.  One cannot boil water in the kettle and hang up clothes at the same time.

I wonder, doesn't locating the kettle in the wardrobe creates steam in the wardrobe, which might cause mold to grow due to the humidity of it?

I had a room on the ground floor, where there are outdoor furniture where other guests could sit and mingle, and also create noise or peer into my room and spy on what I was watching on TV.  This was an irritant for me, especially when the mingling got a little loud into the night.

On 1984 | D.J. Taylor | Abrams Press

ジョージ・オーウェルの『1984』は、読みやすい本であると同時に、消化するのが難しい本でもあります。1949 年に出版され、オーウェルがこの本に取り組んでいた当時の時代精神は、現在と比べると非常に異なった時代でした。あるいは、おそらくそうではありませんでした...

したがって、オーウェルが 1984 年についてどのように自分の考えを形成し、病床でそれに取り組んだのかを説明するテイラーによって書かれたこの本を見つけることができてとてもうれしかったです。これは私にとって、1984 年の付録の本のように機能します。それは、私が英語の授業でシェイクスピアの戯曲に共感するのが非常に難しいと感じたために、その劇の付録の本によく頼っていたのと同じです。

出版社は、本の最後に年表を非常に親切に掲載しており、読者はオーウェルの生涯の出来事を世界の出来事に非常に簡単に位置づけることができました。

こうして私は、表向きはスターリンが頂点に達していたソ連の予兆のような『1984年』が、中華人民共和国宣言のほんの数カ月前に出版されたことにハッと気づいた。

Eating onboard Singapore Airlines [On the plane]

Wasn't quite expecting the VOML on Singapore Airlines to have fried tofu sitting on a bed of fried kway teow with greens and sliced shitake mushrooms, as tofu has the tendency to sour if kept for too long in warm environment.  This tasted decent, although it felt like someone didn't check the menu thorougly because there was tofu in the main dish and tofu in the salad too.

Probably in the name of sustainability, Singapore Airlines had done away with hardcopy menus in economy class completely, so it became a guessing game on what the cake for dessert is supposed to be.  

The baked fish with herbed sauce was decent too, although I wasn't able to discern what herbs went into the alarmingly green sauce.  The dessert was an osmanthus cake which I was quite excited to try, and felt let down because I've had much better osmanthus cake at restaurants on the ground.  I suppose not all flavours and textures can be re-created for meals in the air.  I liked that water was provided in a bottle.  Those little plastic tubs of water used to have tight seals and I would spill water while opening them, and I have to finish the water for fear of spillage when there is turbulence.

The Chicken with cordyceps flower came accompanied with peas and what seemed to be chicken rice.  I think chicken rice is best cooked with long grain jasmine rice.  The rice used appeared to be of a shorter variety and wasn't as fragrant.

According to the online menu, there was supposed to have been a third option of an Indian vegetarian, and I was quite looking forward to be able to taste basmati rice in the air.  However the crew never offered this option.

When I saw the packet of vitasoy for the next VOML, I nearly thought I departed from Hong Kong, as I always associated Vitasoy with Hong Kong.  There was also vegetarian dim-sum of hargow and siew mai in the main dish, which felt quite cantonese.  Still, I like hargow with real har, instead of mock har.

Steamed chicken sitting on braised rice vermicelli is an interesting main dish, which I did not expect on Singapore Airlines.  I feel the effort that has gone into widening the menu options.

There is of course, always scrambled eggs with sausage and baked beans offered for breakfast.

I do wish there could be menu cards for VOML so that passengers do not have to guess what they are eating.  This VOML had long beans, rice and some brown unknown stew.  The rice and beans were a little undercooked though, and was saltier than the usual Singapore Airlines meals.

I barely touched this main, as it was too salty that I could not even bear to chew the food despite my rummbling tummy.  But still I had to eat and forced myself to finish the too-sweet cake.

Must say that I was quite taken aback by the saltiness of the meals.  Usually the saltiest thing I eat inflight would be the cup noodles that I request for inbetween meals.  Overly salty meals mean a lot of food wastage if passengers can't finish them.

[GUNDAM] EPYON unboxing