And...we're back to the food

Here's a little story I wrote about the restaurant across from my hotel in Jeju City:

Found a nice little resto right across from my hotel. The name said it specialized in 추어탕 (loach fish soup) but there were some 찌개s (spicy stews) mentioned on the menu as well. Went inside to find a cozy place staffed by about 4 ajumma. I didn't see 찌개 on the menu so enquired about 물회. I was guessing that this was 'water-hwoe (raw fish)' but couldn't figure out what it was exactly. When I asked one of the women, the first thing she said was that is was 'refreshing' (시원하다) and then went on about how it was a Jeju special dish with '자리'. I kind of got lost so just said 'ok'. Not a minute later another ajumma came over and asked if I'd tried the dish before. I said no, and she expressed her concern that I might not be able to eat it because of soy-bean paste (된장) and spiciness etc. I said that was all fine. A moment later the banchan (sidedishes) showed up and and I saw that even if the main dish was gross I would be ok with just the scrumptous looking sidedishes and rice. I need not have worried, the main dish was DELICIOUS. It was sliced raw fish in an iced bath of tasty tasty broth. It was garlicy and a little spicy with some soybean paste and sesame seeds. Soooo good, though knawing on fish tails wasn't my favourite (the fish were pretty small so there were several - pretty sure those were the 자리). After I finished eating and was sipping a coffee the ajummas started a group analysis on what I had or hadn't eaten ("Did she eat that?" "Yes yes she did" "I don't think she had any of the potato" "Oh yes she had some"). They seemed particularly focused on the leaves. Fresh leaves are often served so that you can make 쌈 (ssam) which is where you wrap up some rice and whatever in the leaf. I was served three kinds of leaves: lettuce, sesame leaf and one I didn't recognize which the ladies told me where soy bean leaves (콩잎). I told them I'd never had that kind of leaf which elicited further animated discussion from the women. Anyway it was a great meal and those ajumma were quite friendly.

Here's the front of the restaurant just in case anyone wants to find it. Look at that happy fish!
Since the trip to Jeju was my vacation and considerably cheaper than my usual trip to Canada, I figured it was within budget to spend a night at a slightly expensive hotel. Slightly expensive hotels of course come with fantastically priced room service. Here's what a $20 bacon and eggs looks like. The coffee pot looks nice doesn't it. Too bad it contained only one cup of coffee. Cheap bastards.
From the sublime to the mundane. Overall I enjoyed travelling by myself except when it came to eating. A lot of the interesting Korean food doesn't come in single servings, which means eating in a restaurant is sometimes a hassle. Fortunately the franchised corner stores actually sell a reasonable selection of what qualifies as real food. One of the most ubiquitous chains is Family Mart. This one was cute with its traditional style roof. One of the stand-by corner store lunches is 'rice triangles'. Just a triangle of rice with a dollop of meat or fish wrapped in a crispy sheaf of seaweed. My favourite is tuna mayonnaise. They're actually a clever bit of work as they are carefully wrapped so the seaweed only comes in contact with the rice at the time of eating. This is to prevent the seaweed from becoming soggy. Nobody likes soggy seaweed.
My last night in Jeju City my friend Adam and some of his friends were available for dinner. We had more delicious Jeju style food. In the front you can see more of that yummy 'mul-hwoe' and the reddish dish that has been quite decimated is the remains of 'go-deung-oh jo-rim' (고등어 조림) or Braised Mackerel. Again, another super tasty dish.

Jeju cont'd

In Jeju city there's a rock called Yong-du-am (용두암) which basically means Dragon Head Rock. It doesn't look *exactly* like a dragon's head but with a little imagination you can see it. I was almost equally interested in the swarm of people dressed alike viewing the rock from above. Probably high school students.
Here's the rock set against a moody sky.
Here's some evidence of Jeju's semi-tropical status - cacti growing happily at the side of the road.

The island's lone airport is eerily close to the city. Though it's hard to tell in the picture, I felt like this airplane was about to land just adjacent to where I was.

Trip to Jeju Island - First installment

The last week of August I squeezed in a solo trip to the island of Jeju. It's a semi-tropical island a few hundred kilometres south of the Korean peninsula. It's a 45 minute flight from Busan, and though it's part of Korea it's quite unlike the mainland.

The first place I visited was a bonsai, or as they're known in Korea, bunjae garden. It was truly beautiful with lots and lots of miniature trees amongst spectacularly landscaped grounds. Most of the trees were over 50 years old, with plenty well over 100 years old. Though it's hard to tell, this tree is no taller than me. I particularly liked its expressive trunk.
There are a lot of pine trees in Korea and they play an important cultural and historical role since they are apparently associated with lordship. They are also very beautiful. This tree is not a miniature but has been carefully pruned to reveal this fine form.
Right up in the list of my favourite things is fish. So I was very delighted to find this koi pond where you could skip across stepping stones whilst gazing at the fish (ok maybe you can't really gaze and skip simultaneously). Still the fish were mesmerizing, and some of them quite large. I overheard a man say that fish of this size could go for up to $10000. That's some expensive fish!
When I finished at the garden I went back to town to catch the bus. First I wandered around for a bit. I walked out to the end of this ________ (What's it called? I haven't built up my coastal living vocabulary enough yet. It's a long, narrow, concrete 'spit' which extends out along one edge of the harbour, same as the one in the distance that's got a white lighthouse. Presumably to protect the harbour from big waves...?) and had a small lunch behind the red lighthouse.
On my way back down the ________ I saw this cheeky cat. Can you see what he's doing so brashly??

More good eats

One of the tastiest Korean meals is the barbeque. Near the university there are loads of barbeque places and the most popular meet is called samgyupsal (삼겹살) which is essentially uncured bacon in a thicker cut. It is often eaten in a lettuce wrap with bean sauce, garlic and / or onion.

Here's Minsu working on some tasty cuts. This place has charcoal fire; that thing hovering above the grill is for sucking up the meaty smoky fumes. Yum!

Welcome to the neighbourhood!

After much anticipation a new cinema has just opened down the street from me. The amusing thing is that aside from the theater itself the rest of the building is, well, incomplete. The theater is on the fifth floor, and on the other floors is, well, nothing.

Random find

On a recent walk in Igidae Park I took a new path. It wound steeply up the side of a hill, and when I popped out at the top I found this lonely punching bag.

Igidae Park / 이기대 공원

I seem to recall mentioning a magnificent coastal park near my house, and I'm finally getting around to posting some photos. It actually only takes about 25 minutes on foot to reach the water's edge. I can't believe I've only started going this past year!

The day I took these it was overcast and drizzly - actually very good conditions for taking the coastal path. The trees look extra green contrasting against the rough rocks that extend into the water, and the ocean often looks stormy and moody - very dramatic. One of these days I'll get up on the ridge and snap some shots. The view of Busan is incredible from up there. [click on images to view larger size]





Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, it was the beginning of summer vacation which means people will head to any piece of shore they can find. These folks were hanging out above the swimmers pictured above.

Two posts in one day. Whoaaaa....

Well, I took a test. I'm not a nerd. The internet says so. Must be true~!




Uber Cool Non-Nerd. That's me baby!

If you're unsure of your status, take the test here.

Literary Notes

Of late I'm trying to re-engage literary habits, that is reading books. My latest arrangement is reading non-fiction in the mornings and fiction before bed. This is going quite well and I thought I'd mention a few of the interesting titles I've been diving into recently.

First off, after years of resisting my brothers exaltations I finally got into the Harry Potter series. Yes, they are very good books. A few weeks ago I finished the final installment, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' and my my if it wasn't an exciting read. Stayed up till dawn to finish it.

Now my fiction read is 'HMS Surprise' by Patrick O'Brian, well-known for the film adaptation of 'Master and Commander'. He writes meticulously detailed historical nautical tales. A tad difficult going at times due to arcane vocabulary but since one of my secret ambitions is to become a sailor an important read.

For non-fiction I've just finished 'The Professor and the Madman', a most interesting story by Simon Winchester. It has to do with the creation of the Oxford dictionary and the friendship that developed between the head developer, the Professor, and one of the dictionary's leading contributors, the Madman. As a side note, if anyone would like to purchase for me the complete Oxford dictionary I'd be much obliged. (On CD ROM please, I haven't got the space for the 20 volumes)

My next book is 'This Is Your Brain On Music' by Daniel Levitin who is currently a neuroscientist in charge of McGills's Labratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise and who has past experience as a session musician, sound engineer and record producer. I've just read a little of this fascinating book but wow this man knows a lot! And the book is packed with loads of interesting bits of information. Did you know, that if you take the recordings of several different instruments individually playing the same note, then edit the 'attack' from the recording that the instrument's identity is no longer, well, identifiable. That is, without the initial sound an instrument makes, different instruments playing the same note cannot be distinguished. I think your mind was just blown...! Anyway apparently this experiment was done first by Pierre Shaeffer, one of the originators of musique concrete back in the day.

Lest you think all I do is sit home and read books, don't worry I still watch plenty of junky TV too. Lately I'm seriously hooked on an American teenage drama called 'Veronica Mars'. She's a young, smart-mouthed P.I. going to a rich kid's school in Southern California where people are always getting double-crossed, murdered or roofied. Don't know why but am seriously sucked into Veronica's world...Oh and the second season of 'The IT Crowd' (HT to Ian) is underway. Hurrah! We love you Moss!