And finally

This should get me up to date with my phone photos!

News for today, I passed my last two Open University modules from Year 1, S187 Elements of forensic science and ST174 Inside nuclear energy! The pass was never seriously in question, although it's the only official mark you get - there is some additional feedback and I was scored very highly on that too, which is nice to see! That will definitely help to keep me motivated for my current studies. S294 Cell biology is proving to be a wonderful recap of things I've already come across in other courses, S240 Analytical science is looking like it will be very useful for when I next come across an analytical technique, and S205 The molecular world is, well, turning out to be a substantial challenge. But I have two twelve-hour flights and many hours of train journeys ahead of me in the next few weeks...

I managed to get out for some walks by the river, although not as many as I should to get ready for Japan. The local herons are almost always out.

Christmas has reared its ugly head again, mainly in the form of chocolate and cake. Advent calendars seem to be the thing here, rather than selection boxes. I like the rather optimistic resealable sack o'chocolate.

I know about umami - the mysterious "fifth taste" - but didn't realise it was so in fashion. First "umami paste" at Coop (made entirely of non-Japanese ingredients) then "umami spray" at Globus.

Globus also had some yuzu and ginger-based hot sauces that look very nice indeed, and what I can only describe as icing soy sauce.

We wanted to get David's nephew this for his birthday, but the parents voted for an equally acceptable Playmobil pirate ship set.

There were further culinary delights in the shape of a (real, wooden) box of different smoked fish from Germany, and the wonderful Japanese baker/patissier Hiro Takahashi has started to sell his cheesecake as well as his breads at the Korean food shop in town. I also had a look in the window of Merkur, one of my usual stops when I need Swiss gifts.

Although there isn't much in the way of autumn colours yet around Adliswil, I walked back from Leimbach on Monday and saw some beautiful foliage there. Hope to be seeing the Japanese version of it soon! (Just as beautiful, but fewer sheep.)