Banh mi for breakfast at the Park Hyatt Saigon. They didn't hold back on the coriander! One approves. #vietnam #saigon #food #breakfast

Finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) after some flight delays. There's an interesting citrus fruit in my hotel room: #vietnam #saigon #food

Waiting at MEL for a flight to Vietnam via Singapore. Believe it or not, this is the first time in all my years of travel that I've flown aboard Singapore Airlines. #travel #flying

There's a branch of Axil at Melbourne Airport now! Nice.

I quite like the colour of the carpet here in the Boccata bar in the lobby of the Novotel/Ibis at MEL. Is it green or is it blue? #melbourne #hotel #colour

A reminder about my Travel narrative book about Poland's communist-era relics: The Kick of Stalin's Cow. I wandered around Poland digging up the past, talking to Poles who remembered the era and visiting some wild architecture. You can buy it as a paperback or […] [Original post on aus.social]

Hands off, Mildura! https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-08/mildura-council-campaign-to-take-yellow-peril-art-piece/105985016

It always takes me ages to get my head around metaphors and fables, so when someone tried to explain to me the myth of Sisyphus it was a bit of an uphill struggle.

Weird one https://uff.rip/@farben/115511054076537669

It’s really important that #Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally against bike-lanes, are now among their most vigourous supporters, because of ACTUAL EVIDENCE that they’re better for downtown business than any street parking they replaced. Safe bike-lanes mean business.

Back when I worked in office jobs, I *always* took all my annual leave. I don’t know how people stay sane without doing that. "A 2024 report from HR and software company ELMO, Employee Sentiment Index, found Australian employees have 160 million days of annual leave banked. "More than a fifth […]

New at my Patreon... The great comic author Douglas Adams once wrote, "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'" As I glance at the view across Melbourne Airport on this wet spring afternoon, I have to admit he had a […]

Off to Melbourne Airport, staying the night there before my flights to Vietnam tomorrow. Typical that I should have to tackle a a cold wet day when I'm on my way to hot places.

Can't help thinking we're still working through some of the consequences of the pandemic. It's easy to get sensationalist and overstate the crime rate, but obviously there's something going on. IMO there needs to be more focus on reintegrating these endless re-offenders into society, find a way […]

Had a banh mi for lunch in North Melbourne. I have a suspicion that banh mi places give white people less chilli, so I specially asked for EXTRA CHILLI. 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ Still wasn't quite enough. :) #melbourne #food

I don't really give a sh*t about extra legroom, what I need in an airline seat is extra width. #flying #travel https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/absolute-game-changer-qantas-launches-new-premium-class-for-economy-20251107-p5n8hb.html

Gotta love The Guardian for those quotes from Europeans on #mamdani's win in NYC: "Verbeek backed this with a comment he had overheard in an Oslo cafe, in which Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal." “Normal. That’s the word,” Verbeek wrote in his […]

Failed state https://flipboard.com/@afarmedia/travel-tips-ss3infg1z/-/a-nGxrXPT8RSWojZ0FaGl6iw%3Aa%3A194995647-%2F0

For #fensterfreitag - windows in the old and new sections of the historic General Post Office building (now home to an H&M outlet) in Melbourne, Australia. #melbourne

Unusual flag I saw flying outside a Fitzroy primary school yesterday. I know what it is, but you have a guess! (The Southern Cross should give a clue.) #flag #melbourne

Latte art on my oat latte foam at Udom House, North Melbourne.

Good piece about the remaining independent cinemas in classic old buildings in Melbourne and Sydney. Love the Classic in Elsternwick, we saw a film there a few months ago. 'In Melbourne, at Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick, which opened as a picture palace in 1911, Benji Tamir often faces a […]

Ugh imagine sitting for 22 hours in economy non-stop. No thanks. #flying #aviation #travel https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-first-project-sunrise-plane-takes-shape-it-s-still-two-years-away-20251106-p5n87c.html

This is bad. I e seen the koalas on the island, they're general a healthy problem and free of chlamydia. But their numbers are getting too high. "Koalas are starving in their thousands on French Island, where once-healthy trees have been stripped to bare branches as population numbers career […]

At Black Cat, Fitzroy. #melbourne

New at my Patreon... In Australia we used to have a popular saying, "To shoot through like a Bondi tram." Derived from Sydney's original tram network, it was applied to anything moving at great speed. I thought of that expression in June, on my first evening in Istanbul: #istanbul #tram #trams […]

"We're so angry over California passing Prop. 50 that we are leaving the state! You can keep your high taxes and your 'illegals'!" - MAGAs Bye! - Majority of Californians (busy living our lives) "No, we're really going!" - MAGAs Safe Travels. - Majority of Californians (taking care of […]

The most important lesson for Democrats from Mamdani's victory is this: abandon the decades-old practice of triangulating to win the center. Instead, grow the base with a positive, joyful vision for what government can do when it gives up on being shackled to a Republican base.

New frond opening on our Kentia palm. Tough plant, we've had this one for 22 years and it's thrived on benign neglect.

I see the Aussie use of the word 'thong' is still alive and kicking.

Ha the Democrats are doing well in everything being voted on this year. Bring on the midterms in 2026! That'll make things hard for the wannabe dictator. #uspol https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/election-day-2025-voting-results/

Oh, excellent. Even with the traitorous Democrat old guard running against him. Hope that's a lesson for them. #uspol #nyc https://social.chinwag.org/@sbs_bot/115494837605008315

The lift lobby at 385 Bourke Street has these funky animated designs moving along its ceiling. Impressive what can be done with screen technology nowadays. #art #melbourne

Now free for all to read... I've often pondered whether it's better to leave your passport in your hotel room or carry it with you. Then i was put to the test in London: #london #passport #travel https://www.patreon.com/posts/passport-tension-132943883

Ha this cafe in Docklands is playing Oasis. Funny how cultural events echo like that. I've also been noticing a lot more old Aussie hits playing in cafes since Triple J did its Hottest 100 Australian Songs a few months back. #music

Good! About time this happened. If local networks have local content quotas, so should the big streaming services. "After years of haggling, stalling, negotiation and threats, a deal to force the streaming services to fund Australian screen content is finally imminent. "Labor is set to […]

Fun story about a busker whose Oasis set went huge: "Max Robinson has played a lot of gigs over the years, but nothing quite like the one he did last Friday night. "'It was special,' says the 43-year-old busker of the set he performed at the foot of the Southern Cross staircase, as thousands […]

Hmm these new solar-related plans with energy free in the middle of the day could work well for households where ppl work from home - could use your dishwasher, washing machine etc in those hours. #auspol […]

Awkward. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/push-for-prince-andrew-avenue-name-change-in-melbourne-s-north-20251104-p5n7k8.html

Interesting - Mastodon is not on the federal government's list yet. I suppose without algorithmic feeds it seems less harmful. "Minister for Communications Anika Wells revealed on Tuesday that two more platforms, Reddit and livestreaming site Kick, will be forced to remove under-16s from their […]

Does this sound appealing? Leaves me cold. "Imagine a world in which artificial intelligence predicts what we are cooking for dinner and what groceries we need to buy, then executes that order, then delivers them. "It’s called agentic commerce, where AI bots don’t just answer questions but […]

Would you trust AI to buy your groceries? Hmmmm https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/getting-ai-to-do-the-grocery-shopping-it-s-closer-than-you-think-20251104-p5n7ll.html

My article in The Times today, telling the tale of our family summer holiday to Kusadasi by train (includes a quote from Eurostar’s train manager Blake!): www.thetimes.com/travel/desti...

Still needs Swiss parliamentary budget approval : but a new all-year 3 times a week sleeper could link Basel with Copenhagen and Malmo. ftnnews.com/travel-news/...

Good overview of Mamdani's campaign for NYC mayor: #uspol #nyc https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/zohran-mamdani-path-to-new-york-mayors-office/105964234

People keep asking me if AI is why I can't find work. According to this guy's research, the answer isi "Fuck yeah it is."

Partly because so many formerly leftwing parties have turned to the right, there's a lot of confusion about what right and left mean in politics. I hope this helps: The right defends economic power. The left resists economic power.

New at my Patreon... There was something suspicious about the viscous, dappled surface of the coffee, served exactly as it was when it first arrived in London in the 17th century: supplemented with the likes of salt, pepper, mustard and beef grease. It was, unsurprisingly, horrible, but I was […]

Today is Victoria's second-most ridiculous public holiday (the most ridiculous is the day *before* the AFL Grand Final). Annoyingly the public hol also leaked into yesterday - it was a normal workday but the cafe I wanted to go to was closed. (Sigh) I hate public holidays. #melbournecup

Absolutely amazing: they've got so much solar in Australia that they need more people to use more of it, so the gov't has instructed energy retailers to offer *at least three hours of free power* during the middle of the day. Meanwhile fossil-addled US struggles with an energy-price crisis ...