Airplane food in Suwon

My friend Young Sul sent me this link earlier this morning. It brings airplane food to a whole new level.

쉐리 vs 하늘... What's in a name?

My friend 구현 was the first person to inform me that I'd been named after a laundry detergent (see above). After what was probably a bad soap joke, I then remember him mentioning that 구현 also stood for "implementation" so I shouldn't feel so bad.

Truth be told, I never really took a liking to my name. I didn't think it suited me, and I'd scribble a variety of alternatives, testing each one against how well it meshed with my last name, as well as how good it looked on paper, in both print and signature form. I never really had a problem with my family name, appreciating the way it rolled off the tongue and the fact that it was atypical, for America at least. That is, until last year, when I discovered that it's actually one of Japan's most common surnames. Ouch. I'm no longer unique?

I've got a variety of nicknames, but the only ones related to my first name are "Cher," "Cher Bear," and "Cheri Berri." I particularly recall one kid in elementary school who had it out for me one day and consequently wrote a jingle. It was actually pretty catchy, and I still remember the melody. Cheri Merry Muffin. She cooks. She bakes. And she smells stink too. The fact that his grammar sucked made it less scarring, and besides, I could think of worse things to rhyme my name with.

What really irked me was the mispronunciation (Cherry? Sher-ree?) and misspellings (Sheri? Sherie? Sherry? Cherie?). Not a single soul at Jamba Juice or Starbucks has ever gotten it correct to this day, FYI. I remember my friend Jihey once went so far as to telling the clerk her name was Kim Chi, because what's the point, they were probably going to spell her name wrong anyway. Luckily, it seems that most people (with the exception of my Korean side of the family, who insists on calling me "Selly" on some days and "Shelly" on others) have since caught on, and these days, it's my last name that people are having trouble with - likely a result of having moved from majority-minority Hawaii to the mainland.

After having lived in Korea, I took my long-neglected Korean name out of my back pocket, and have since started the debate.

쉐리, the laundry detergent or 하늘, translated as "sky" in Korean? If you could guess my sister's Korean name, you'd think my mom had a thing for astronomy. Truth be told, I guess it doesn't really matter. You can call me anything you want, as long as it's not 아줌마 ajumma.

The F4 Encore

I never thought I'd be able to appreciate a man-pama (perm) until I met Goo Junpyo.

Let's cue the cheesy music and enjoy...

Chapagetti (짜파게티)!

There are moments when I enjoy a bag of Chapagetti or Chacharoni over "real" jajangmyeon...





Mmmh.

Goshitel

Goshitel's a pretty fun word to pronounce in a bad American accent. So what is a goshitel? Simply put, a goshitel is a cozy little closet that some people call "home" and others call "storage space." More nicely and appropriately put, it's an inexpensive living alternative similar to a dorm, usually for university students looking to get their study on.



I can't speak for goshitels or goshiwons in general, but from my personal experience (see video above), it was really clean and well-kept, always well-stocked with free rice, eggs, kimchi, and ramen, and aside from the occasional slamming door, very quiet. I definitely didn't get that homey community feel I got from my hasuk-jip, but I did run into a couple nice people in the kitchen-dining-laundry room from time to time. And you know what? It was kind of neat being able to reach everything I needed within comfortable arms' length. :)

The reason I moved into one for a few months last summer was simple - I wanted air conditioning! My friend scared me into believing the horrors of living AC-less in Korea (dying of heat and being bitten alive by mosquitoes), and I decided straightaway that I wouldn't be able to handle anything remotely close to that. We went searching for an AC-ed hasuk, but none of them met my cleanliness standards given the short turn around time. I was slightly worried that I'd develop claustrophobia, but surprisingly, I rarely felt that way, maybe because I broke up weekends by crashing at relatives' and tended to not stay in the room for long periods at a time. :)

P.S. In case you're curious, here's the "well-being tel" I bunked up in: http://www.id.wbtel.net/ My room went for about 350,000 won, but it was window-less (yeah, I don't recommend that), while some of the ones with bathrooms in the unit were as high as five or six hundred thousand. On a side note, when one of my friends came to visit, she stayed in a room with a bathroom, and unfortunately, the ventilation wasn't so great, which kind of gave the room an interesting funk. On another note, goshitels are also great low-cost alternatives to hotels, especially if you don't plan on staying inside much - her room cost about $100 for a week!

Lotteria's Rice Bulgogi Burger!

I don't eat beef burgers, but MC does, and last year, he gave Lotteria's rice bulgogi burger a generous 5/10 rating. I managed to take a bite of the rice "bun," and you know what, it wasn't half bad. I bet this thing would sell pretty well in Hawaii, home of McDonald's Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice breakfast!



PS. Is it just me or does the burger wrapper seem a little... inappropriately amusing?

Eating at Sanchon in Insadong

I'm not much of a meat eater so I may be a bit biased, but this is definitely a place you should try at least once - its extravagant spread of vegetarian temple food, clean flavors, and decor warrant a visit - and it's a particularly good experience for out-of-towners.





Review: http://www.seoulstyle.com/seoul-sanchon.htm
Website: http://www.sanchon.com/

Dragon beard candy in Insadong (인사동 꿀타래)

Mmh, nothing like 16,000 strands of stretched out sugar wrapped over nuts to satiate your sweet tooth!



You can find these 꿀타래, or dragon's beard candy, stands in touristy areas like Insadong and Myeongdong; they can draw quite a crowd with their enthusiastic cries of candy making joy in just about any language you please. (Well, for the record, I've only heard it in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese.) Is that really 16,000 strands, you say?!

Who doesn't love dak kalbi (닭갈비)?

Every single American friend I've introduced dak kalbi (닭갈비) to has taken quite the liking to it. How could you not? Watch Stephanie as she becomes mesmerized with the yum-yum-in-the-tum-tum stir fry. I think I'm going to open up my own place stateside. Would you come visit?

Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)

We were going to put together a silly "Seoul guide" video but never got around to filming the rest... maybe next time. ^^ I thought I'd share this clip anyway.

Street food

There's nothing like deep fried goodness and rice cakes soaked in chili pepper paste, especially when you're in need of a quick bite or cheap eats (particularly nice after a few too many drinks). I can't say I'm 100% confident that it's completely sanitary, but it sure is tasty. ^^

Those darn acronyms

I've had more than my fair share of Korean slip-ups. I found this English one amusing. ^^ These are the types of things you'll never forget, and it's definitely beneficial to the learning process.


Speaking of which, I've started a blog in Korean, mainly to practice my writing. I've yet to update it, but the URLs can be found at cheripracticeskorean.blogspot.com and blog.naver.com/csaito. ^^

You can take the girl out of Korea...

...but she'll make the kitchen smell like kimchi. ^-^

Some random home cookin', granted, it doesn't look very appetizing so you'll just have to take my word for it. I wish you could have seen my delicious japchae, hehe, I was damn proud of that beautiful thing.







And just for kicks, my œuf mimosa (because it sounds so much cooler in French.)

How to eat your chamchi Korean style

Now there are two things in the world I love, one of which is sesame oil. It's savory scent is almost as good as, if not better than, inhaling gasoline. I admit the latter's an acquired taste. But honestly, I'll put sesame oil in just about anything - in my salad dressing, on my rice, in my noodles, while I'm frying up an egg, doong doong. (On a side note, I'm considering replacing all future 'etcetera's with the much cuter sounding Korean version, 등등 doong doong. "Hobbies? I like writing, playing tennis, dining out, doong doong. Favorite food? Ice cream, roasted hazelnuts, cheese, doong doong.") The other is fresh ahi, what I'm accustomed to calling "tuna" in Hawaii, or "chamchi" in Korean.

I went to another "chamchi jib," a restaurant specializing in tuna, a while back in Suwon. This one charged a minimum 65,000 won a head, which meant we were treated to sprinkles of fancy gold flakes over our sashimi. The entire spread easily included over a dozen additional non-tuna courses, ranging from a simple salad to fresh shrimp, and by fresh I mean alive and kickin' - one of them literally jumped off the plate.



One of the most interesting things I discovered upon this visit was the fact that the tuna platter was served with not only salted kim (also known as nori, or dried seaweed), but also three types of dippings - hot sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Having eaten poke all my life, I don't know why I found this so marveling. Sesame oil and tuna, you say? No... really? Yes, really. I had noticed Koreans eating it this way before, but I guess old habit or pangs of hunger had overruled curiosity as I ignored the practice and went along with my usual face-feeding ways, sans nori and sesame oil. Still, I thought it was worth sharing - how to eat your chamchi Korean style: dip, add, wrap, and repeat. : )

Gee Gee Gee!

When I heard this song (SNSD's "Gee") for the first time, all I could do was cringe... I have to admit though, it's since grown on me, and dare I say that I've actually come to enjoy it? o_O haha, in certain doses of course. Anyway, this remix version was pretty cool...!



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