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Random notes which probably don't deserve a separate post (yet)

Eventually this page will host my .

how I am scoring books on goodreadsreadingscoring

CREATED: [2018-06-15 23:02]

At some point I found myself scoring books as 5/5 very often and at worst as 3/5, which is not very meaningful. To fight score inflation, I've decided to put some conscious effort and put the criteria I want to use in words.

  • 1: Absolutely awful and useless. Couldn't stand reading and quit.
  • 2: Meh. Maybe even finished it, but nothing interesting or special. Very unlikely to recommend to other people.
  • 3: It's ok, maybe not great but at least somewhat interesting. With nonfiction probably means that the book is not bad, but it failed expectations than it's set and I didn't learn anything new. Might recommend to someone.
  • 4: Really enjoyed and memorable/useful/insightful. Might be niche but would recommend to some people. Maybe one aspect is very special: e.g. plot or insights or language.
  • 5: One of the best I ever read. would recommend to almost anyone. In case of nonfiction, everyone else at least somewhat interested in subject.

Frankly, marking on a linear scale seems like a massive oversimplification, e.g. fiction/popular science/textbooks have different purposes and not very comparable on a uniform scale. Personally I'm not really looking at average book scores, I'm rather interested at what my friends or people who tend to like similar things think, so that's why I figured it's useful to share this.

Another problem is information loss: when you look at your score few years later you might not remember why did you had given the book a specific score. Ideally I think books scoring should be some sort of yes-no questionnaire. Kinda like what Foursquare does when you are prompted about a place you've been to: you don't get to give it a numeric score, instead your are asked questions like "Is this place cozy?", "Is this good for groups?", "Is it loud?", "Does it have parking", etc.

TODOfigure out similar scale for movies? Because of more genres might be even more difficult.

Copenhagen/Malmotravelcopenhagen

CREATED: [2019-07-14 20:28]
  • Buy Rejsekort, makes it easy to travel around Denmark and you can go to Malmo with it. Mind that it needs some minimal balance (70 DKK as of writing), and bus stops often lack the top-up machine.
  • If you go to Malmo, make sure to take your passport if you're not an EU citizen, there is border control on Swedish side
  • Christiania is a bit overrated, just bunch of people who smoke weed
  • Louisiana Museum of Modern Art: a bit too small considering how far it is from the city center. However, first museum to have couple of nude art pieces I actually liked.
  • Bodyworlds exhibition at Experimentarium: cool models and presentations of different layers of human bodies, tissue, organs etc
  • Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo: pure awesomeness. Glimpse into different food cultures, lots of things to smell and touch, and even tasting bar! Also funny how my taste perception changed over the past few years: I didn't find cheese smells disgusting at all.

Lisbontravellisbon

transport

  • Airport We were leaving Monday 7pm and the line for border control was ridiculous, only one out of ten booths was operational, even though the whole queue had to depart in 20 minutes. So you might really want to arrive in advance.
  • Uber from airport: very cheap to city center, 8 euros.
  • LisboaCard: apparently not very good value for money unless you're planning visiting museums a lot [wikitravel].
  • Lisboa Viva Card get it at metro/train stations. Use it for buses, ferry, metro, suburban trains, etc.
  • I've read advice to avoid the metro late at night somewhere on reddit, but can't confirm

food/drinks

Drinking/smoking in public — OK as long as you behave.

Get a wine and snacks from a supermarket. Chill on the river bank, beware the waves, they might suddenly splash you!

TODOFrancesinha

CREATED: [2018-04-16 08:45]

some authentic sandwich?

Fish/squid/octopus. Many small restaurants serve it + veggie plates

TODOCaldeirada seafood stew

CREATED: [2018-04-13 16:04]

haven't had chance to try… but heard it was good

DONETimeOut market for food. Lines are pretty long at lunchtime. Not very cheap and not very authentic, but ok overall.

DONE[A]Trobadores medieval tavern

Very cool place! Looks very medieval, nice Celtic musing on the background. Order chorizo/blood chorizo, you can grill it yourself right on your table! Nice Celtic musing in the background. Drink mead, ginjinha, Porto ruby.

DONEPastel de nata. Nice egg pastry.

DONEGelaterias. Some delicious ice cream: vanilla & basil, salted caramel, pistachio.

TODOChimera Brewpub.

Craft Portuguese Beers

Nice filter coffee in Copenhagen Coffee Lab (beware no wifi) and Fabrica Coffee Roasters

places & activities

DONEBerardo Collection Museum – good modern art

DONEAlfama is higher up and more medieval looking because a tsunami destroyed the lower elevation parts of the city. [wikitravel]

DONESintra

You can get there by cheap (1.5 Eur) suburban train.

Sintra is famous for two local foodstuffs, queijadas and travesseiros. Queijadas are small sweet cakes, that are made using fresh cheese instead of butter. They are actually quite easy to make at home, but when you're there you might as well try some. Travesseiros are rectangular pastries made from fluff pastry and almond paste, and worth a try as well. [wikitravel]

Cabo de Rocha - very nice lighthouse, cliffs, and decent hike to the beach.

Take a bus from Sintra, but beware the way is serpentinish, in case you are prone to motion sickness. It costs something like 4 EUR, paid by cash to the driver. Also mind the schedule.

de abril bridge

Very cool, looks kinda like Golden Gate. Unfortunately not pedestrian.

take a ferry to the other side, walk to Christ the King statue. Nice city view

DONEtrain to cascais (coastal resort)

For Lisbon views, we preferred the Rua Augusta arch over the more popular Santa Justa elevator. The arch is also covered by the Lisboa card (€2.50 otherwise) and is IMO the cheaper and better alternative for some superb views of the city. [wikitravel]

TODOelectricity museum

Art in metro on some stations

Mostly red line. It goes to the airport, so it's hard to miss. Oriente is particularly cool

TODOJardim Botanico

allegedly good, but was closed at the time :(