Yay, weekend! And more than that, a weekend in which I have absolutely no commitments whatsoever. I can't even remember the last time that happened. My goals are simple: at no point wear non-yoga pants or makeup, spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and get closer to finishing my book. Today after work I multitasked by taking a nap while also roasting vegetables for soup stock. Go me!

Last week's holiday was lovely. I missed the simplicity of going to Korea to hang out, but I had fun and got to see a bit more of Japan. I spent one night in Okayama and saw the castle there, then rented a one-speed bicycle and cycled 15 km along the Kibi Plain, an area filled with temples and rice fields and mosquitos. I do recommend it, but be warned: 15 km on one of those bicycles feels a lot longer.

Then, for the first time, I moseyed on up to the Sea of Japan side of the country. The train ride from Okayama was painfully expensive but very pretty, all forested hills and tiny hamlets and rivers. Matsue is a pretty little town that is trying to attract foreign visitors (for reasons that are unclear to me) by offering significant discounts on most tourist attractions. They also have a beer hall that serves locally brewed beer, so I was a happy camper. On my last night there I went back to see the castle lit up at night and discovered a trail of lanterns and a crowd of people, which turned out to be a traditional dance-play thingy performed for free in front of the local shrine. Culture!

The weather was good for the trip, although this is apparently the hottest October on record in the past 138 years. I had rather hoped we were past the "sweating while doing not particularly strenuous household chores" bit (seriously, sweating while hanging up laundry? Augh!) but no. At least it is cool at night and rumour has it that this weekend the temperature will finally drop below 30. I actually don't have the fan on right now, so there's a possibility that rumour will bear fruit.

The local department store/supermarket reopened after five months of renovation. I mention this because not only has the supermarket expanded their cheese selection, but there is now a Kaldi (a popular import store) in the building. I can now buy things like feta and couscous and real salsa (not the weird non-spicy tomato crap the supermarkets keep labelling salsa) without having to plan a trip downtown and it's only been a week but I'm so happy. Also, I have eaten more dried mangoes in the past week than I have in the entire past year.