Greetings from Ulsan, South Korea

New Zealand's Lochmara Lodge

We always say be careful what you wish for, and be even MORE careful what you write down!
SB and I had a trip planned to come to Seoul in April for 4 days on our way to another destination, and in the manner of all the best laid plans, we got diverted via New Zealand instead. The trip was booked, paid for, and I'd gotten a little ahead of myself and marked South Korea off on my list of countries I'd visited...

Two of Seoul's many contrasts

So, the week after my holiday finished, off I tripped to South Korea for work!! I've been blessed to be here for some of the best weather of the year, and managed to see some stunning sights and experience some uniquely Korean moments.

One of the things I noticed while I was here how many expats have gone to the effort of making really cool blogs of their travels. I know that the basilisk's lounge is always going to be a book-based world, (hah! assuming I ever post!) but I'm thinking it doesn't hurt to add a little more "life" to this, especially since I've not finished much in the way of books this year!!


I'm currently smashing the latest Kate Daniels book "Magic Breaks" from Ilona Andrews - and have managed to keep up to date with Richelle Mead's Bloodlines's series with "Silver Shadows". Because these two series are just way too fabulous not to finish.

I also got stuck in and caught up on my Molly Harper, one of the first urban fanatsy authors I read, it was so cool to go back and catch up with the characters, and remember just how funny Ms. Harper truly is. Her latest "Better Homes and Hauntings" alternated between genuine "can't go to sleep right now because I'm terrified of the things that go bump in the night" and laugh out loud one liners -  the first chapter title and lines of the book is one of the best lines published this year:

"Chapter 1

Ignoring the Frantically Waving Red Flags

Beware all enterprises that start with the purchase of Crocs."

Find one better than that. I dare you.

One of the other activities taking up a heap of time normally dedicated to reading copious numbers of books has been the commencement of my fundraising campaign for Unicef Australia's Cycle For Kids Campaign 2015. I've started training, and more importantly, I've started fundraising. With a big fundraiser happening in just 2 weeks time, I'm mildly freaking out, and I'm hoping that all this half-assed effort is worth it.

How talented is RC?!?!

I've also instituted a swear jar at work, it's raised a heap of money, and I Think before I Swear Now!! Yes, cutting out the swearing altogether would be better... I'm working on it!

So, the moral, I'm going to start using this blog more, as a record of what I've read, where I've been and what my latest fundraising endevour is, so that I can look back on the last half of 2014 and be proud of everything I achieved.

If not, well, at least I procrastinated with something useful tonight!

A Great (Wall) Adventure

Note: I wrote this post last year for a competition and didn't use it, so thought I'd pop it here instead.

No-one who goes to Beijing should come home without having seen the Great Wall of China. However, as a consequence of everybody knowing that they need to see the Great Wall, the tourist sections are a crowded theme-park version of the original. Badaling, the most popular section of the wall for day trippers from Beijing, comes complete with cable cars. I knew that we were up for something more challenging: we had the time, and we were all capable of a decent amount of walking.

Initially we thought to climb and trek the Simatai section of the Great Wall – the lonely planet warned us we would need our arms free for climbing and there is a zip-line for descent (who doesn’t love a zip line?!). However, as luck would have it, on that gorgeous month of April, Simatai was closed for renovations.

We jumped on the internet and my boyfriend with long experience of reading my mind, found a tour operator offering a private hiking tour from Gubeikou to Jinshanling.

The tour started out reasonably early, Sam and Mitch my travel companions for the day meeting in the hotel lobby before jumping in a mini-van up to the site. After about 45 minutes driving – the last 10 of which were filled with thoughts of “oh god, no-one knows where we are!” we arrived at the base of the Gubeikou portion of the wall

And so the trek began. After a solid 10-20 minutes of uphill terrain, we set foot on the Great Wall. What a feeling to be standing on an original part of history. Gubeikuo, as our guide informed us in perfect English, has stood un-renovated for the past 600 years.

Definitely not the most accessible part of the wall.

We headed east along the wall for the next hour or so, constantly looking upwards and behind us for incredible vistas of the wall stretching as far as we could see in either direction. As the day continued and visibility increased we started to get some incredible photos.

After stopping for a photo opportunity and water break at one of the watch towers, our guide advised us we were to make our way off the wall now as we were approaching a military facility and needed to give it wide berth. We looked at each other “Wait a minute! Does this mean we have to leave the wall and go down the hill?” Yes, it did.

In the inevitable follow up, after following what can only be described as a goat track for the next hour, we then had to re-climb the hill to find the wall again. Having relocated the wall, and consumed a quick meal standing under a gorgeous wild fruit tree in full bloom, we again started walking along the wall, making our way to Jinshaling.

Finally, and with the suddenness of a cold bucket of water, we arrived at the Jinshaling section of the Great Wall. How did we know? This might have been the giveaway: 

One minute we were traversing fallen rocks and loose stairs, the next, we were in the supremely accessible, smooth-cut road-like renovated section of the wall.

10 minutes later it was time for a toilet break and water before jumping in the van to head home. The trip home was much shorter - we all fell asleep within minutes! Absolutely the best experience we had in an amazing country.

Mooses in Canada

Note: I wrote this post last year for a competition and didn't use it, so thought I'd pop it here instead.

I love travelling with other people. I don’t care if I’ve known them an hour or 15 years, the people make the trip for me. In 2012 I had the chance to travel to Canada for my friend’s wedding and, at their invitation, my boyfriend Sam and I joined them for a couple of days during their trip through the Rocky Mountains. As is always the way when you travel with people you know, there are expectations that everyone has regarding the trip: It was a honey-moon so it had to be romantic; it was four under 30’s, so it had to be fun, and it was the Canadian Rockies, so it had better be stunningly beautiful.

Lake Louise, Alberta. Possibly one of the most photogenic places in the world.

After months of planning, the trip was booked: Wedding in Vancouver, train ride on the Rocky Mountaineer to Banff, drive to Lake Louise, then take the Icefields parkway through the Colombia icefields to Jasper, where we would go our separate ways.

The only thing Adam wanted to do – other than get married of course, was see a Moose. Personally, I have no idea why, they’re great and all, but seriously, get an easier goal. Moose are notoriously difficult to find, and the remarkable staff on the Rocky Mountaineer warned us early on that the chances of seeing one that time of year (or ever) was slim to none. Many of the staff had one story of seeing a moose. One.

The incredible staff on the Rocky Mountaineer went over and above the call of duty during our trip, including the beautiful desserts, complete with love hearts and message of “Happy Honeymoon!!”

So it was of course, that on day 2 of the brilliant sights and tastes tour that is the Rocky Mountaineer, Adam was dutifully looking to the right as instructed by the crew, towards a sight of scenic or historical interest when the shout of “MOOSE!” went up from the left side of the cabin. And everyone ran to the left. Poor Adam didn’t stand a chance, and the moose was well behind us before he caught a glimpse. I did see it, very briefly, but there just wasn’t enough time to appreciate (or photograph) the creature as the train lumbered onwards – a constant problem with transport related journeys, we also missed any shots of the black bears we saw.

Needless to say, it was ON. Throughout the driving of the next 3 days, the continual call of “MOOSE!” kept Adam leaping from one side of the car to the other.

We did eventually find a Moose for Adam, and he even got to take one home with him

Not overly impressed with the moose we found you Adam?

Welcome to 2012

Happy New Year!
So this year, my resolution is to post weekly on the rather neglected Basilisk's Loungeroom wall... (now all I'm seeing is crayon on a wall...) which is essentially all I have been seeing for the past 3 months - since I got back from Europe in October, we have been flat chat with the renovating, in order to get our lives sorted out and in display home condition to sell the house in January. whew! it's been hectic, with painting, and throwing out - literally - tonnes of stuff (special mention to the LB's hard working boyfriend - he has slogged through so much rubble from the back yard! (and is still slogging as I write!) but; I have had time to read a few odds and ends - and, with the throw-out comes the terrible burden of announcing that I took 7 crates to Elizabeth's warehouse in Fremantle. Elizabeth's Bookshops - love you long time... but I miss my babies!!
Allegedly, it's all already sold (see, apparently I do have good taste!); but ohh! the bits that went:

all my Jasper Fforde (except the one I was reading!)
all of Isabelle Carmody's Obernewtyn chronicles (except the new one)
the entire collection of Kylie Chan (except my signed & chopped 25th anniversary of voyager hardback edition of White Tiger!)
the entire collection of Traci Harding (I'm really gonna miss these, a lot aren't available on Kindle yet - please help me Harper Voyager!)
Every Tamora Pierce book (some twice) except for Terrier & Bloodhound - I've still gotta find a home for them
the first 5 Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews
the first 5 Mercedes books from Patricia Briggs
the first 4 Jaz Parkes novels from Jennifer Rardin
The first 4 or so Kitty Norville tales from Carrie Vaughn
Sharon Green's Convergence series (I can't remember the actual series name... see, already they are fading!!)
Souless from Gail Carriger
assorted Garth Nix, Racheal Treasure and other Australian Authors for young and old,
the full Twilight Saga (now I'm really embarassed)
Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials collection,
all of LB's boyfriend's Matthew Reilly's, and Dune Chronicles,
all 4 sisterhood of the travelling pants
the entire collection of Jodi Picoult
the entire collection of Janet Evanovich, the numbers, between the numbers, the early romances, the lot!
the entire collection of JD Robb
my books from Paris, from the Hague, from China... rondom books from used book sellers around the world,
signed copy of Paul Carter's Don't tell mum I work on the Rigs, she thinks I'm a piano player in a whore house, and his sequel, This is not a Drill.
Possibly most wasteful and embarassing of all, I must have thrown out about 20 books I've never even opened.

so anyway, enough ranting - I threw out 2 bookshelves and another one is basically empty (but for my lonely planet guides and a few books I can't throw away, either cos the dog ate them or they are personally autographed. I took out a mortgage (kidding... mostly!) to cover the replacement of a portion of the above, triple what I got for selling the books and it's gotten me less than 20% of the books back on Kindle. To be fair, some I would never have read again, but others, well... lets just say I might be over it by next new years post!

I must say, it is good to be a little less cluttered with book shelves, the next to go are the DVDs and the CDs.

so anyway, did I actually fit any reading in?

I got through a few books - namely the 6th in the Thursday Next Series: One of Our Thursday's is Missing, and Jasper Fforde's new series debut Shades of Grey. I loved them both, I have been hooked on Jasper Fforde since Dymocks did their top 100 books 5 years ago, featuring The Eyre Affair. I have to say though, as I'm a (albeit reasonably well-read) engineering type, I really enjoyed Shades of Grey, possibly even more than the Thursday Next series - I think because there were no in-jokes of the literary variety... you know the one where you think - I know he's making a really witty joke here, but I haven't read [insert book title here] so I don't get it!
seriously, if you have read every penguin classic in the past decade, you probably still wouldn't get every cultural reference Fforde makes - which is one of the things I love! I always pick up something after the fact. Shades of Grey is different, the jokes are of a chromatic hue, and are thus much more accessible to gits like me. I did love stopping to get back to painting my little home beige (the colour Fforde associates with hell...) it made me appreciate the world so much more!

ummm... aside from that, there's heaps more, but I think I've taken up enough of the lounge time, better go sort out some sustenance!

September is all but over...

So – yet another locale, and another post – this time, the Thayls somewhere between Paris and Brussels – and what a stunning evening it is! The sun is setting out the window and the visibility is gorgous. This week has been the best (driest and hottest!) we have had all summer, and it’ nearly the middle of autumn! Just stunning.

So anyway, what are we here for? Right, so still finding more and more Steampunk authors to fawn over – Lindsay Buroker continues to surprise and delight with her mix of fantasy and steampunk - not sure if I mentioned how impressed I was with The Emperor's Edge? I know I should have, but my laziness knows no bounds. I'm really enjoying the mixture in this author's writing - especially the Emporer's edge series and supporting novellas: really fantastically imagined world, heavy, bordering on gruesome imagery, and really fun heroines. Why can't I write sassy heroines like all you guys do!?! Sorry, I'll stop gushing. I recently finished Flash Gold which was the first of a new series aimed more at a yukon steampunk world than the fantastic word of the Emperors Edge series, which further goes to show Buroker's flexibility. This project again finds our heroine, a gal who is good with her hands (a mechanic, you dirty minded perv!) with a tall dark and handsome stranger who she can't trust - *sigh* can we ever trust the tall dark and handsome men of the world? In the rough and ready world of the dog-sled racing pioneers, our mechanical genius needs to race against the competitors, and a harem of assassins who are just dying to score some extremely powerful loot...

I notice there is another one out now, bless all the prolific authors in the world! if only because I admire Buroker's attitude towards publishing and the excellence, I would recommend it, but I have genuinely enjoyed reading all the stories, and while I'm sure an editor and publisher might smooth out the lines and ask the difficult questions on occasion (there are times I wish I could!) I think what Lindsay Buroker is doing is applaudable, not just the quality of the works, but also the methodology of the execution.

After My Buroker fest, Zoe Archer has been a great way to maintain some of the joy of steampunk, her Blades of the Rose quartet are fantastic escapism, and while a bit too much time is spent between the bedcovers (or behind trees, in enchanted streams, sail boat cabins, etc etc) for me to be able to call them literature, Archer's variety in location, the depth of the character and story development and the width of the mythology described has me hooked. Although her world building is not always consistent (it does my head in when her characters talk in today's parlance - which they do regularly), Archer's story telling is enjoyable and I can't fault her stunning descriptions of times and places. I'm looking forward to finishing the final installation in this series.

So what else has the Basilisk had a bookmark in lately?

Cameron Chapman's Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris (The Steam & Steel Chronicles); man can I say I was shocked and awed by the conclusion of this novella - I dig it. I admire it, and I hope that the consistency is maintained, should there be more chronicles, as it's a brave brave author that does it.

JR Rain's Vampire for Hire series - I got through Moon Dance and Vampire Moon, and really enjoyed them, not sure I'm going to keep reading though - Samantha Moon is a pretty desperate queen of the night, her struggles to be a mom and carry on her evening existence is kinda heart-wrenching to read. I see great potential for the series, which is 4 novels and several novellas strong, I'm just not sure I want to witness the suffering, sorry!

The latest from Kelley Armstrong - Spell Bound yay! we love Savannah!!

Smoking 17 from Janet Evanovich - and may I say, how exciting is it going to be to have Katherine Heigl playing Stephanie Plum in One for the Money - she could not be cast better.

So, that's it from me, nearly back in Rotterdam, from whence I trek back to Zoetermeer... yay!

LB

From August 2011...

So, sitting on a plane, heading back from Amsterdam to Perth – another 24 odd hours in planes and airports – living the dream. Had a couple of things i wanted to discuss last night, but after a couple of beers, it didn’t seem like a good idea.

So the latest on the basilisk’s bookshelf:

Tales of a Female Nomad – Rita Golden Gelman. Rita’s story reminded me a lot of a friend of mine from Sydney. Rita, and my friend M, are both more senior adventurers. M is a fantastic warm and funny woman who opened up her house and her heart for me after we met on a bus – that’s just the kind of woman she is. M lived as an expat in Saudi Arabia for 25 years and used that as her base for travel throughout the middle-east, Africa and Europe. I wish she would write a book on her experiences! Slightly different to M, Rita’s story starts, somewhat similarly to Elizabeth Gilbert’s pop-culture classic “Eat Pray Love” with a decision to make the change from the married life in high-achieving Los Angeles and commence a lifestyle vastly dissimilar to that which we would hold as an ideal. Unlike Eat Pray Love, Gelman does not stop after one year, and traverses quite a bit more of the globe. Gelman’s story resonated with me far more than Gilbert’s – which is a great read, and a must for women to read – because it wasn’t focused on “fixing” her life by taking time out, Gelman is instead describing a full-time lifestyle of a woman who chooses to embrace different cultures from the inside, and communicating and interacting with the aim of exchange – whether it be teaching English, singing songs, or cooking with the village. When I started the book, I was expecting it to be escapism – it has never been a conscious dream of mine to embrace cultures the way that Gelman does – she studying anthropology prior to her separation from her husband. Anyway, afterwards I was so fired up about the experiences she describes – I don’t know if I would ever be that brave, but I wanna be like Rita Golden Gelman and M when I grow up.

Following the completion of Tales of a female nomad, I couldn’t sleep, so thought I would jump into something a little different – James Allen's "As A Man Thinketh."

When posting: Oh my gosh – my transport related posts seem to be never ending – unfortunately they tend to run out of steam with the battery on the laptop!

And then it was Feb

Good afternoon lounge lizards,

I was looking over my CV today and one of my friends suggested inclusion of my personal interests in my resume... this gave me pause for thought, for two reasons...

1. I don't do anything cool!

2. I don't want to admit that I don't do anything cool!

So, in order to limit the damage, I have listed:

Personal Interests:

1. Travel

2. Writing

3. Renovating

Travel, definitely

Writing, well, my lack of input here would reflect a certain reticence regarding that

Renovating??? definitely have issues with calling that an interest... I have been "working" on my bathroom since Aug 2009, and by working I mean stripping some paint for an hour every 6 months or so, with the result that my bathroom constantly looks like it's moulting:

So, I'm not sure I can claim renovations, but we will give it a go....

Anyway, the actual purpose of writing - keeping you up to date on the latest and greatest in Urban Fantasy....

So January was Kelley Armstrong Month
I managed to swing a trip to Houston for work, and went absolutely mental on the Amazon "one click" button, with the result that I have a heck of a lot of reading to catch up on.
First was to get my teeth stuck into some Kelley Armstrong, starting at the beginning...
Bitten is written from Elena's perspective - a thirty-something female werewolf; she's living outside the pack's protection but as an extremely rare female, it's tough to fit into human life when the males of the species will do anything to get their hands on you.
This book set Elena on the path to be a regular favourite in the "Otherworld" universe, but it wasn't until Stolen that Armstrong really got to the guts of her vision of the otherworld.
Again, Elena sets up the story, but now we are introduced to a whole swath of other characters who will feature for the next 12 books, countless short stories and two spin-off trilogies.
I really liked this method of introducing a character in a book possibly two or three (or in Savannah's case 11) books before you really got their story... it gives you a chance to actually care about the character from the start of the book, but allows for tales which could never have been told if Armstrong had stuck with Elena's first person view of the world; it also removes the need for wearing in the reader to the new universes just to be able to tell a story, and gives the feeling that at book 11 we are only just beginning to warm up! Armstrong revisits favourite characters, and has provided a reality that's not just good and evil, but really plays into the shades of gray that we see daily - I love the idea of the Sorcerer's Cabals being multinational corporations, it gives them depth and nastiness but also provides a logic for the power base (by providing protection for their many employees from the prying eyes of humans, they are able to occasionally kill a recalcitrant security guard out of hand...)

So basically, with witty prose, smart and varied heroines and some incredible imagination, Armstrong has created a world for escapism that at times can be sweet, raunchy, political and geeky, with mystery and action thrown in for good measure.

recommendation: read them in order... as much as you can figure out the order!