Book: The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson

The Well of Ascension is book two in the Mistborn series - and it definitely shows. It is a story of growth and adaptation, as all characters learn to deal with the new world that has been delivered by the event of book one.

As such it is less eventful and progressive than The Final Empire, and very much "a year in the life of". That's not to say there are no exciting things happening here - things do happen, but it appears most of the pay off has been reserved for the final book in the trilogy.

So even though I didn't enjoy it as much, it is just as essential a part of the trilogy so far, and one which I suspect I'll appreciate more as I move forward to consume the final book in the series: The Hero of Ages.

Film: The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is one of those films that stays with you after you watch it. Unfortunately it's also one of those films where the more you think about it, the more you realise just how ordinary, and possibly flawed, it is.

I think the trouble I have with the film is that although it clearly states it will rely on the tormented woman trope, it doesn't actually lean on it too hard. As a result the film lacks any kind of depth. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - a laboured take on domestic psychological violence would have equally been ill fitting - but does result in a film that feels quite short of its potential.

Aside from the confused target the film has a few other plot issues, probably borne from a desire to keep giving one last twist. So although I enjoyed The Invisible Man it turns out that this was mildly so, and as such it just about gets a recommendation.

Cornwall, Day Three: Port Issac and Padstow

After the packed day that was yesterday, we decided to keep it a local, lazy Sunday. We headed to Padstow across the River Camel for the morning, taking in another quiet port town during our stay in Cornwall.

It was so quiet that we headed back to Port Issac for lunch, realising that we hadn't actually spent many daylight hours in the place we were calling home for this weekend.

It was the perfect end to a chilled weekend, walking around the streets and further up a coastal path for panoramic sights of the town.

Tomorrow we rewind our trip and drop off the same friend to the same airport we picked him up from tomorrow, so there won't be a chance to do much. And so we made it back to our apartment early, where we enjoyed a final home cooked meal together to mark the end of our brief stint in Cornwall.

Cornwall, Day Two: Land's End and St Ives

The plan today was to head out of Port Issac and drive around Cornwall to try and mop up as much of it as possible, leaving the rest of the trip to relax. In other words, we left early.

Our first stop was Penzance, which was not as exotic as I thought it would be. Of course, it was off-peak, and I could just about imagine the bustle during the summer, but it was clear that a more quiet Cornwall had its own charm, and the lack of crowds suited us just fine.

Next on the list was Land's End, which I suppose was pretty much just to say we had geographically been there - it's a bit like our visit to Cabo de Roca back in Lisbon a few months ago.

After a brief hang out at Sennen Cove for a coffee break, we went on to St Ives where we budgeted time for lunch. This was the busiest place we had visited so far, and although that didn't spoil anything, we really began to appreciate the quiet we found so far today.

But after a pretty packed day we headed back to Port Issac, stopping off at Gwithian for a few photos. It had been a long, but chilled, day, and just what we were after when we set out this morning.

Cornwall, Day One: Getting There

Ad-hoc plans are always the best; I was only given around a week's notice about this trip, but I jumped at the chance of visiting a part of the UK that had eluded me before. And so we left early this morning to pick up a friend from the airport on the way to Port Issac (which, importantly, was the home of the fictional Doc Martin).

It being Jummah we had to find a mosque en route to offer Friday Prayer at. We headed for Woking, planning to also check out the Shah Jahan. This kind of worked out, as although we got to see the historical landmark, we actually offered Jummah at another nearby mosque. The politics of the situation were clear if not a little curious.

After a supermarket sandwich lunch we continued on our way, surprising ourselves as we drove past Stonehenge unexpectedly (another sight I hadn't seen until then).

We reached Port Issac late enough to have us give up on any further plan for the day. And so we walked around the small town, getting our bearings and killing time, finally arriving at Outlaw's Fish Kitchen for a lovely fish dinner.

Food: Watan

Sometimes the best food places aren't necessarily those that look good on paper. Call it cuisine arbitrage, or food hacking, but often you can find something on a menu that is such a good deal it's worth visiting the place just for that single item. As you may have guessed, Watan has such an item.

The basics are good enough too - the place is clean, service friendly. Prices are okay - if you want to explore other things. But what makes this place special is their Chapli Kebab platter - £15 for three kebabs and an afghani naan, and enough for three people to be fully satisfied. We also ordered the Kabuli Pilau, although that was more for variety and craving more than anything else.

I can't comment on the rest of the menu since that's all we had. But as long as such a great deal is on the menu, I'll be recommending this place.