Long Live Long Weekends

FYI: this post was originally written last Sunday, but is being posted today after some final touches, in particularly, properly positioning the photos upright to avoid the need for any head tilts of confusion (like that of December 26, "Merry Christmas").

Sunday, January 22, 2012:

It's Sunday on a long weekend and it feels fantastic to know I still have another two days to enjoy before heading back to work.  Monday marks Lunar New Year which is a national holiday in South Korea and creates a four-day weekend in which to visit family and have traditional celebrations equivalent to North American Christmas.

After a fairly busy December and hectic January at work, this long weekend is an excellent time to relax, recharge, and write reports.  While this past week flew by with 12-hour days, Friday seemed to moved slowly with anticipation for the weekend.  For a co-worker's birthday, we went to TGIF's in Gangnam, and ordered four plates of Jack Daniel's ribs (half price!), a burger and cajun-style tilapia.

TGIF's --chosen by my co-worker (Sara) for the reality of name: thank goodness it was Friday.

A little taste of the authentic Canadian decor at Rocky Mountain Tavern

After enjoying delicious home-style meats and a couple of cocktails, we were off to Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon for another taste of home. RMT is a Canadian pub that's home to Chicken Tenders, Candian Club, and plasma TVs playing TSN. Its decor is simple: license plates from all of the provinces, dart boards and of course, hockey jerseys.  After a couple of rounds with the coworkers (birthday girl Sara, Brad, Jason and Chantelle), Dan (a friend of Jason and mine from Althouse who is now working in S.Korea), Dan's friend Sean and Paul, we decided that our best next step was to rent a Norebong --a singing room.

Norebongs are everywhere in Korea.  I have been to a couple since being here --my first norebong experience was actually with my bosses in Buyeo --and, time spent at a norebong always promises to be entertaining. First of all, the music selection is broad and makes as much sense as the weather-themed backgrounds on screen showing the lyrics.  There are some Karaoke classics, one-hit wonders and then the least common songs sang by well-known artists. Our group has a variety of musical interest and the talent ranges about as much as our tastes do.  Needless to say there was a very bizarre yet enjoyable blend of music that included Nirvanna, Aqua, Rage Against the Machine, Jewel and Sir Mix-a-lot among many others. 

After you sing, dance and tambourine your way through a song the machine gives you a rating out a hundred. Not to brag, but our crew didn't drop below 92 and may or may not have had more than a couple 100s. Our room cost 30,000 won/hour which is about average, so ultimately, we spent less than $10 each for two hours of sing time and lots of laughs.  A high point of the evening was certainly when Chantelle and I did a particularly dramatic rendition of foolish games that some might call 'hauntingly beautiful' :D

Saturday ended up being a lot more lazy than expected. A Skype date, a longer-than-usual shower and a quick trip to a very busy Kim's Club was pretty much all that took place before early evening.  Dinner was sponsored by Pizza Mall, with one unfortunate mix-up: the instruction of "no sausage" turned into no pepperoni, so a sausage search-and-destroy mission was immediately employed from the comfort of my apartment while Paul and I watched Taking of Pelham 123. 

With my frequent use of the subway system here I often think about movies that revolve around public transit, in particular subways, and I've had a craving for Taking of Pelham 123 for quite a while now. Unfortunately I always seem to forget my desire to re-watch the movie by the time I get to where I'm going and back to my apartment. Anyway, I see it as a personal victory that I finally remembered to download and watch Taking of Pelham 123 and, as I correctly recalled Danzel Washington and John Travolta being an excellent pair in this high-jacking action flick.

The walk home from Kim's Club, before we knew what horrible mistake had been made with our pizza.  The tall white buildings just beyond the rows of trees are our apartments in the 200 block.

Moving on, Saturday night marked the celebration of Andrea's birthday and another evening out --this time in Hongdae, another hot spot for foreigners and party-goers alike.  After enjoying birthday (cheese)cake and some beverages at my place with the birthday girl, four of us headed for Hongdae to meet up with Sean (Dan's friend from the previous evening) and to fulfill a need to dance that had been brewing since Thursday.  Since it was a long weekend, we were under the assumption that most Koreans, young and old, would be spending the weekend locked into time with family but the crowds in Hongdae proved us wrong.  In fact, it would seem that the copious amounts of twenty-something Koreans bustling around Hongdae were in need of blowing off some steam just as much as North American families do after 24-7 holiday visits.

Nevertheless, we ended up at a less crowded place called Ska 2 which had drastically changed its set-up since this past Halloween when we had visited it last.  The extra space allowed for us to shift nicely from sitting and mingling to dancing without it taking 25 minutes to get from one spot to the next.  The low occupancy rate also afforded us the opportunity to breath a little cleaner as smoking is a-okay anywhere in Korea.  Most of the time, the smoke in evening establishments is enough to warrant a shower the instant you arrive back at home and an immediate toss of all layers into the laundry.

Despite the blur, this photo accurately depicts the kind of shenanigans that arises.  Yes, we are posing with a unicorn and his friend, the rooster (who were later identified as John and Mike, respectively).

So, after drinking, dancing and breathing easily, our group split into two: one group in search of more good times (with the above creatures of folklore) and one group seeking food --it's not hard to guess what group I was apart of.  Myself, Paul and Sean ended up at this delicious chicken place that serves up potato wedges with a side of people-watching from the perfect intersect position.  If you find the interactions and behaviour of people in any Canadian environment funny, you would thoroughly enjoy the sights of early-morning Hongdae.  Once our stomachs had been satiated as much as our desire to dance the night away, we headed home.

This Sunday was fairly relaxed --as I try to keep most of my Sundays --with a plan for dinner and a movie to look forward to.  From our last trip to Costco, I had acquired a 2.5lbs bag of shredded cheese and as a lactose intolerant it is only right for me to share my delicious bargains with those who possess the proper enzymes to break them down.  Naturally the combination of new-found tortillas at Kim's and the abundance of shredded cheese meant quesadillas must be on the menu.  Hilary had bought some caesar salad kits from  and the three of us (Hilary, Chantelle and I) had invested in a 7,000won pie at Costco as well, so dinner was set to be caesar salad, chicken quesadillas, and apple pie.  After checking out recent film reviews via rottentomatoes.com, Margin Call was selected with fairly high hopes.  The dinner was delicious, the pie was freaking fantastic and now the movie: not so much.  To be honest, I am currently typing out this post as we watch the movie, so that should be some indication as to how quickly the plot moves and how engaging the performances are.  Oh well, it's still Sunday on a long weekend, so huzzah to a wonderful weekend so far and to the Monday and Tuesday to come!

From left to right: Chantelle, myself and Hilary making our wonderful three-course meal, sponsored by Costco.  This is my kitchen (hopefully) looking more lived-in than the first photo I posted of it.

 

FYI: The second half of the weekend was just as lovely as the first, with a dress code of comfy-casual.  On Monday, Andrea hosted an evening of chili and biscuits, banana bread and Justin Timberlake --I mean, 'In Time', JT's most recent film.  Tuesday gave me enough time to feel on top of my litany of reports due at the end of January, and I ended the weekend by having Hilary and Chantelle over for a girls' night: watching The Women and painting our nails.  Girls nights were a tradition passed on from our previous co-workers and it usually entails an adventure out on a weeknight, but with our current need for warmth and rejuvenation, a calm night in seems to do the job.

Dinner Dates

Months after being on my no-food diet, I still find myself being a bit cautious about the spice, alcohol, and/or seafood quotient of meals.  Cooking for myself has proven to be enjoyable, especially as I share custody of a toaster oven with Hilary, but as of late I’ve been looking for a change up.  Over the past two weeks, it’s been made a priority to try out some new places, new dishes and integrate some variety into my culinary consumption.  

Last week, Paul and I visited this place called PhoMein in my city of Gwacheon that specializes in Vietnamese dishes while seeming to dabble in Thai food as well.  We ordered egg rolls as an appetizer (which ended up being the smallest egg rolls I have ever eaten), Cashew Chicken and Pad Thai.  My Pad Thai was beyond tasty and felt quite gratifying to eat as I selectively swerved through the cooked egg, chicken, sprouts and noodles with my plastic and seemingly clumsy chopsticks.

Cashew chicken, egg rolls and complimentary side dishes.  Wasn't sure what the yellow stuff stuff was, so I left well enough alone.

The wonderfully delicious Pad Thai and green tea.  This is also a great view of the illusive plastic chopsticks.

As an aside, I’ll take this opportunity to describe the kinds of chopsticks that are available here.  At work, there are metal chopsticks that are quite thin (like a metallic linguine) and come to a fairly narrow end.  I have the most practice with these chopsticks, and I’m proud to say that my eating dexterity has improved enough for my hands to naturally fall at the back half of the chopsticks.  My apartment came with a couple of wooden chopstick pairs to eat with that are cylindrical and come to a point; there are also a couple of take-out style wooden chopsticks that float around my utensil drawer that are ideal for a grab-and-go meal of ramin.  I think back to the day I saw a 100-pack of these one-use wooden chopsticks in No Frills and thought to myself “this will make my asian-themed meals more authentic and exciting” –thank god for my seemingly small sense of adventure through the use of changing up my utensils because that practice has prevented me from starving.  

However, all the practice in the world (yes, I am referring to my almost 5 months here and my previous enthusiasm about chopsticks in Canada) has not really prepared me for the use of the plastic chopsticks that some restaurants give you.  The logical side of me realizes that these plastic chopsticks are probably chosen because they are cost-effective and dishwasher-friendly, but I swear the owners give some kind of consideration to how silly people (mostly of the non-asian variety) will look trying to use these chopsticks and THAT is the deciding factor.  Surely enough, the combination of sauce, noodles and plastic cylinders-of-failure will turn a well-cultured meal into a dine-and-dash from embarrassment.  No, I would never stiff on the bill, but while I am slurping away on my noodles in an attempt to suction my meal into my mouth, I ponder how quickly I could get the heck outta thurr.  

Luckily, my hands make a couple of adjustments through my first couple of attempts, and the plastic chopsticks end up being like an old friend –roughing me up a bit at first to reminisce about the playful moments, and then easing up on me when they’ve recognized a dedication to the relationship that’s never wavered.  I become one with the plastic chopsticks and all is well in the world.

With such successful and delicious attempts at asian cuisine earlier in the week, Paul and I ended up at a Chinese food restaurant last Saturday.  I must clarify: when I say Chinese, I mean legitimate Chinese food –I have yet to encounter a battered chicken ball since being here.  Also, most dishes that you order in Korea are communal, so you usually end up going halfsies, thrice-way or quartering the meal.  In order to get a couple different flavours going, we decided to split Beijing-style Sweet and Sour Pork and an order of Potato Noodles stir-fried with vegetables.  

Sweet and Sour Pork

Stir-fried potato noodles with vegetables... and rice.  Rice is an integral part of almost any and every Korean meal.

Once again, the combination of tastes and texture was terrific.  There was a lovely blend of sweet, sour and crunch from the Pork, the potato noodles had a slightly different flavour than the noodles I have had lately, and the veggies were a terrific tender-crisp that had both of us leaving happy with the quantity and quality of the meal.  In fact, I left so satisfied by the meal that (dare I say it) I felt too full to finish the movie theatre popcorn when we went to see Sherlock Holmes II shortly after dinner.  Now that’s when you know a meal is good.