Oh, the Indignity!

So there is this Bag Tag thing going around, and wouldn't you know it, it caught me! I was Bag Tagged by Molly.

THE RULES:
1. You have to show your bag.
2. Show all the contents of the bag - no cleaning out first!
3. Bag Tag five more people.

This is my current bag. I do switch it up sometimes, but I've been using this one for several months now, mostly because every time I switch bags, I must clean it out...

...Yeah, I'm really wishing I had switched bags sooner....

There it is, folks. My purse vomited (i.e. I dumped it out), and that's how the cookie crumbled. It is arguable that the cookie was crumbled before the contents were disrupted (i.e. dumped out), but that is speculation for another day.

Items of note:
1. the earring I thought was lost forever. Yay!
2. speeding ticket (curse those cameras!) receipt that is to be "kept for three or five years."
3. Panda wallet.
4. van Gogh exhibit ticket stub.
5. three pairs of fingernail clippers (so that's where they all went).
6. .... no, that's it.

I do not know if I even know five people to tag, but here goes:

Melissa
Kelly
Jennefer
Cheryl
Steppicita

I do know five people. I'm so happy I could cry. ~sniffles~ Och, I'm feeling verklempt. Talk amoungst yourselves. I'll give you a topic:

What is it about these types of games (i.e. Truth or Dare) that, though we certainly know better, we still comply religiously with all the rules?

Discuss.

I'd be sweating too. . .

I have a stuffed animal collection, and yes I know I am 25 years old. It is not very big now, as I have given most away, but some I keep (for their curative properties) like the Sheepo and the Peep. One of my more recent acquisitions is the Abominable Snowman (hereon referred to as "the Bumble") from that Rudolph claymation. Here's a picture of the Bumble, and yes, Bumbles do bounce.

But then the other day I noticed something rather uncanny about my good Bumble when I was sporting my new hoodie ("Oops! She's ugly").

"!!!" I thought to myself. The resemblance cannot be accounted to coincidence. Upon further investigation, I discovered that there is physiological evidence that the Bumble, previously supposed to be male, might actually be a female, and a rather ugly one at that. I will refrain from mentioning specifically what this evidence is, but I will appeal to Molly (you know what I'm talking about) for a further testimonial.

Egads! but who would have thought?

Oops! She's Ugly

So last night Matt and I went to Myoeng Dong (that romanization may or may not be correct, but I would rather write this long parenthetical comment than look it up, which would probably take about the same amount of time and effort, perhaps less), and I totally scored.

Check out my hot sock buy:
That's right, ladies, behold the majesty of Rain (he's so hot right now).

Let's get a close up:
A decent likeness.

After eating a delicious but slightly over-priced meal at Saboten (a Japanese restaurant) we walked towards the subway and bus stop, during which time Matt's eyes lit upon this hoodie.
That's right, she's ugly. Not sure who, but look at the poor little guy:
She's so ugly he's sweating.

Unfortunately we did not bring our camera, so I actually bought the thing in order to share it with all of you. At first I was worried about the fit, but the guy said it was "namja sizie," which means boy sized. I wonder what people will think when they see a woman wearing it?

Heheheeheehehehe.

Absentee Blogger

Hello, all. My adoring public? Okay, that's going too far. Hello, all my friends and family who graciously read this blog when there is something on it to read. Hello again.

I have not posted in a long while (again), and it is because I have an overwhelming need to write clever comments and post explosive pictures, thus engaging my readers in a witty repertoire of my awesomeness, luring them in for more. Unfortunately, I am pretty awesome but to always have such a manifestation of my awesomeness in my blog entries is a bit exhausting, a bit like doing a jig at fishes.

So what am I saying? I am saying that I intend to keep posting, to continue to make more posts more often than I have been, but these posts may not reflect how awesome I am. Or, more sadly, they may reflect exactly how awesome I am, which is not that awesome at all.

Errr, yes, no, jahg mahrhs, yes I am awesome.

Sungnyemun burns down

Sungnyemun, also known as Namdaemun, was the victim of a catastrophic fire that erupted yesterday evening. It came as a major blow to South Korean national pride, as it is considered a major national treasure.

It's kind of hard to believe that something like this could happen. It's kind of like saying that the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty was destroyed overnight.

The gate has a history spanning 600 years. It's been renovated several times over the years, and I'm not sure how much of the structure was original, but that does not diminish its symbolic value.

It is a tragedy indeed.

Night Out

Tiffany and I went out the other night for dinner and a movie. We ate Korean food and saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It was a pretty good movie. I've really enjoyed the National Treasure movies because, even though they are fiction, they have stimulated my interest in American history. And of course, while we were at the theater, Tiffany and I enjoyed our favorite movie-going treat: cream cheese-filled pretzels.

Molly's Visit Part I: Good Lucky Pig

Molly came to visit us in Korea last April/May (yes, I am aware it is November), and we had a really fun time. We did a lot of cool things and saw a lot of cool places.

I took Molly to meet my Korean friends Jung-suk, Joanne, and Jenna. They taught us how to make kimchi jjigea (not pictured), chon, and jjapchae, three very delicious Korean dishes.

Chon, which is basically a rice flour pancake with greens.

Chon is cooked like you would cook a pancake.

And this is jjapchae, a kind of noodle/beef/vegetable stirfry.

Jung-suk and Joanne also took us to to Namdaemun Market. It was really fun to shop with them. We also saw some funny Konglish T-shirts.

Funny Konglish shirts. Can you read them?

Molly, Jung-suk, and Joanne.

Me, Molly, and Jung-suk.

While walking through the market we found a place set aside for foreigners to sit (yes, it was labeled as such), so Molly and I decided to take advantage of our status and sit.

We later found out that what we thought was a chair was actually a table, and one is not supposed to sit on tables. It would have been really helpful if it had been labeled too. *haha*

After shopping we went to eat lunch. We ate budae jjigae, a relatively new dish introduced into Korean cuisine during the Korean War. During the war years, food was relatively scarce, and many Koreans who lived around the American military bases used whatever they could find or get from the soldiers (mostly SPAM), mixed it all together, and made "base soup," or budae jjigae, the Korean version of stone soup. Since the war this dish has become gourmet, and that is what we ate.

Budae Jjigae has sausage, ramen, kimchi, rice cakes, and vegetables.

As we walked to the restaurant, we saw some cool landmarks:

First Bank of Korea, built in the 1800s.

a Statue of Significance

I think all of the fun we had during Molly's visit could be summed up in one picture:

...we threw a good lucky pig at the window, and it made all the difference.

Check back for Molly's Visit Part II: the Revenge of the Manties.

Hello, everyone!

It has been long indeed since I have posted, but never fear I am back with a fervor to end all fervors. Yes.

I have been sick for the entirety of October, which was really lame because October is my birth month. Anyway, now that I am well again, I will return to blogging.

Some notable posts to look forward to:

Molly's Visit (including hanging panties)
Joey's Visit (including hanging gourds)
Young Women's Camp (including the stank; lucky for you I'm just kidding about the stank)

So check back regularly for these updates.

Poking and clipping

Not long ago, I had the "opportunity" to get my first pedicure. Well, Tiffany really wanted me to go, so I, being the nice husband that I am, decided to go along. Let's just say, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing.

We arrived at the salon, and I was somewhat heartened to see that there was another guy getting a pedicure (and a manicure, but I didn't go that far). Tiffany had said that lots of guys get pedicures, and she was right. I sat down in the comfortable chair which had a built-in foot bath, and braced myself for the experience.

I must admit, the foot bath felt pretty good. But then, the pedicure started. I am not accustomed to people poking and prodding my feet. In fact, I get pretty nervous even cutting my own nails. I was, needless to say, pretty tense.

There was a nice lady sitting next to me, who tried to help me feel better (Tiffany was waiting for her turn). She was nice, but I must admit I was a little bit distracted. My feet were being "exfoliated," my nails trimmed, and my cuticles... I don't know what they did to my cuticles but it felt a bit strange.

Somehow, I survived all the clippings, trimmings, and lotion slatherings. I don't know how soon I will return to the salon for another pedicure, but I did learn one important lesson: women go through a lot of trouble and discomfort to look good. And that's something I'm glad I learned :)

Speed demon

Well, I managed to get my first speeding ticket. Well, first ticket of any kind, ever. I guess it might not count, because it was one of those camera things that takes your picture and you get a ticket in the mail. Anyway, I was coming home from church and I guess I must have been going pretty fast or something. The ticket was for 16 km/h over the speed limit. It wound up being 30,000 won, which is a little over 30 bucks. And by the way, this happened on Friday the 13th :) Go figure.

Gwanak San, Ice picks at the ready.

Hello, my dear readers. Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. But here is the update. While Matt's family was visiting, we went on a hike up Gwanak Mountain to a Buddhist Temple at the top. The hike was only about 5 km, but most of those were vertical meters.

Here we are at the beginning.
There is a rather nice park at the bottom. Andrew is standing by this traditional Korean hamster. That's right, traditional hamster.


The mountain was beautiful.



We ran into this monument on our way up (and yes, my posturing does make sense because the translation of the Chinese is thus: the Rock of the Zealous Woman):

Many stone cairns littered the trail, marking the path we should go. We added a stone and made a wish, as that is what you are supposed to do.
Art imitates life. . .
. . .or life imitates art?
After much toiling (though it really wasn't too bad) we reached the top (where someone had set up a shop with cold drinks, ramen, and other snacks) and the Buddhist Temple.

Here are some pictures of the Temple:


After reaching the temple we had to return to the bottom quickly because the light was starting to fade and we were starting to get hungry, not to mention that Mom was waiting for us at our apartment. On our way down the mountain. . .
. . .we saw some cool things like a helipad. . .
. . .and this cool rock that we climbed under. . .
. . . like slugs. :\

Yes, like slugs. :)

Medicines and Mountains

Dad thought it would be fun to visit an oriental medicine market in Seoul, and Mom and I agreed so we three went. I saw a lot of things, not all of them pleasant (dog shanks and fish heads), but everything was definitely interesting.


I don't remember if we went to Seoul Tower on the same day as the oriental medicine market, but I think it was so I'm including them in the same post.

Classic shot of people foreground tower background:
I know I already have a picture of the sky urinals on my blog, but you can never have enough urinals. Any dude will vouch for that.
Instead of taking the bus down from the mountain, we rode the tram. It was pretty fun. It dropped us off at a strange location in Myeong Dong, however, so we had to walk around a bit before we found the subway station.
Before we found the station, however, we ran into this badboy:
So we investigated and found this:
A cartoon museum? How awesome is that?!

House and 'Hood

That's right: it's time to wake up the neighborhood (or at least your neighbor's hood). I've been meaning to get pictures of some of these places for a while now, but I don't always have a camera on me. However, thanks to visiters, the camera was ever-present in my ready hand.

If Waffle-Man had a single of his theme song, I think this would be on the cover:
Pay particular to the shop in the background. Yes, there is a store called Lullu Shop for Man, and it seems to stock predominantly female items. I'm not sure if it's just engrish or... well, I'll leave that up to you to decide.

This is my kitchen. I had just gone to the flower market the week before and picked up some snap dragons. I love snap dragons. Especially because you can use the flowers as dragons and snap at people with them. Maybe that's why they are called snap dragons. I'm a thinker.
This is an alley (suprisingly well-lit for what it is) that is fun to walk down. They have all kinds of dog soup restaurants back in there. We have yet (if ever) to try any of them.
Unfortunately it is a hazy day, but we had to take a nice picture of all of us for the Christmas card some time. We are on the roof of our apartment in our Sunday best. I wish I had done my hair differently, what with the promise/threat of the Christmas card and everything, but that's me; that is what I look like. No hair can change that. Tschüss.
The long anticipated rotisserie chicken van: the neighborhood just isn't the same when it's not parked at the corner.
Even the most exuberant vacationers require a little down time. During our down time, we watched the office and sang karaoke. Good times.
Technically this wicked -- excuse me-- wicker awesome dragon is neither in our house nor in our neighborhood, but it's so awesome and I didn't want to make a post just for it (it's not that awesome) that I decided to include it here.
Last but not least: our toilet. I'll post a video of its automations (gotta run it through its paces) later.