Lunch is adorable

I never had the opportunity to observe Latte Art before. My lunch today was adorable!!

Do It Yourself BBQ

Friday  learned that the much anticipated market was not to happen.  D: It has been postponed until October because rain was predicted. Rain that has not appeared for months.  Naturally, to our consternation, it appeared that evening.  

Well, being an expert at observing and bitching about rain it didn’t seem too impressive. I guess when it rains I’m used to experiencing ridiculous wind and icy water. Sure, it rained but it’s warm and there was no wind whatsoever (and I think it’s actually gotten hotter!! WTH?)  It is also not the best effort Incheon has to offer. No, it should actually get worse from here on out.

Admittedly, this is not a terrible thing, it’s technically been a drought. We explored the science and it involves a pressure barrier but I certainly cannot explain it well. In short – ‘No rain here, we could do with some.’ I understand that North Korea has officially declared a drought but that is a whole different story.

Naturally, a teeny-tiny bit of rain is the long-awaited monsoon so at the door of my apartment complex…..

I know, right! Actually it was kind of fun to use in a ‘wheeee! New toy!’ sense.

Nevertheless, it was Friday so we all (those who could) went out for dinner. Bornga for traditional Korean barbecue and it was awesome. Also, reasonably priced, ending up at about 8’000W each between the four of us.

 

So Stephanie and Whitney introduced Karen and I to the wonders of ‘do it yourself’ barbecue. I’ve heard of similar concepts but I’d never actually been to one.

At this point I must admit that I apologised for my obnoxious photo-taking. I’ve become that sort of person who constantly whips out my camera.

There is a built in section of the table into which they place a pot of hot coals and then the servers place a grill on top before pulling down the heater to warm it up. What we are given then is a platter and tongs (we had what was essentially beef bacon) and ‘we’ cook it. Well, it was really Whitney who cooked this time but I’m doing it next time!!

As you can see we are laden down with side dishes. I mean, look at that tray of salad!! It’s all included in the price but hot damn!! When they say salad they clearly take it seriously!! That tray of edibles was at my elbow (Yes I did eat a good bit of it, it was delicious.) They also gave little dishes of salad drenched in sauce- also delicious and things we could not really identify but were delicious anyway. :D

I should note that our order was the platter of bacon-beef and two bottles of beer. The rest of this simply came as standard.

On a side note – in restaurants beer doesn’t come in those small bottles or poured into glasses. They give large bottles and small chilled glasses which you should be able to see. The metal ones are for water. Obviously, the idea is that you pour for everyone else before pouring for yourself. I actually like this better, the small glasses are easier to handle.

Also, I’m gradually getting the hand of Korean style chopsticks.

Everyone also gets a bowl of tasty soup – I think it’s kimchi flavour – which is lovely but I can admittedly not handle the kick of the spice. I think it’s the chilis I’m not prepared for.

We only had one platter and the servers did not try to take the tongs away from Whitney (they did turn it down when they came to change the grill top which is done at several intervals) so it was a grand success. Apparently they have been known to take the tongs away from the foreigners and do the cooking themselves not trusting them to avoid food poisoning.  

This place is somewhat famous for their sauce which I put on everything. I didn’t quite believe the girls when they said it was good but yes it is. The ingredients are secret it seems because they wouldn’t tell Bora.  I’m all for stealing a bottle but ECC teachers go here so frequently that they’d know where to hunt us down.

It’s not the kind of place you can go on your own though. Definitely an eat-out with everyone kind of place. We’re going again – naturally.  Dad would love this place, even more than the chicken place!! XD

War of the buttons

A button was considering a move. It was the ‘cast off your shackles and go diving’ sort of move.

I simply could not afford to tolerate this rebellion in such a vital province.  (It was a button I could sorely afford to lose.)

It was then that I realised my grave pressing issue – my sewing kit and box of (spares that came with clothes etc.) buttons is safely ensconced in that temperamental wardrobe. Perfectly safe and completely out of my reach. (Fearghal, I don’t care how much a few stitches will help that outfit, keep your hands off.)

Then I realised that, as a woman, I have a discrimination bonus (+4) in domestic tasks!! I quickly used my common sense skill to buy a pocket sewing kit.

Behold my plunder!!

It fits handily in my pocket so I am no longer unarmed in the battle against fastenings uprising against their liege lords.

Also I can now participate in on the spot embroidery contests – Useful for honour duels.

The proper way to pour a drink.

So Ben and Bora are leaving so we (the company workforce) went out to dinner. Thankfully it wasn’t a fancy place as most of use came straight from work. (I, however finish early on Fridays this month so happily I had time to change. Yes Mother, I made myself somewhat presentable. My green top met great success and dollops of barbecue sauce.)

The place is a fairly nice chicken barbecue joint with very long tables so we would pass plates up and down to be filled by those close to you. It was the most meat I’d had in a while and honestly did not find my stomach up to the challenge.  They kept bringing MORE!! Oh god, I think I’m still sweating out barbecue sauce (say what they want it was ketchup.)

More important than my meat induced coma anyway, was my lesson in proper drink etiquette. So apparently, we don’t really pour our own. You hold your glass in both hands and your friend pours for you. The director got up and poured beer for everyone like that and Helen (who was next to me) and I poured for each other. Apparently, although it says cider on it, it’s actually Sprite. Such scandalous lies.

We went to a bar after which I shall like simply on the premise that it gave us a platter of free food to encourage us to drink more. So Nachos, chicken nuggets (ah, nostalgia!), chips, battered sausages and deep fried bread. Honestly, who deep fries bread?  Personally, I blame America.

I also remembered how terrible I am at darts. Despite the instruction of the great dartsmaster Zach-teacher I suck pretty bad. XD I did win this weird game of ‘conquering japan with darts’ (All the tea and rice a woman could desire) which was hilarious as we had pretty much no idea how the scoring system works at all.  Let me tell you that machine was harsh, docking points for the weirdest thing but giving them even if your dart skitters off.  Obviously honour grudge matches are in our future.

Anyway, it seems that Korea doesn’t do cider like we would know it.  As I said before, what was labelled ‘cider’ was sprite and the closest thing we’ve seen is closer to apple juice. The beer….erm I don’t know it’s all the same to me. The place we went had a pretty good variety at any rate.

Like an amazing number of places here the bar we visited was inside a twisty turny path. What you should know about Songdo is that it is all about the back alley. (Apparantly Seoul takes this to the nth degree.) Everywhere you go has a back entrance that leads into a street with coffee shops, marts and whatnot. (must. get. pictures). And then a lot of these buildings that have entrances that take you upstairs to other businesses hidden upstairs – sometimes it’s hard to see the entrance.

Like my workplace takes three floors of a building and the entrance I take to get in is technically a part of Soopong Snack next door.  Kind of like leaving through the back entrance of McDs to go to the shoe shop there.

Add to this how I’m not used to ‘blocks’, the shortest buildings are at least six stories and my diabolical sense of direction – well, I get lost…..a lot. But enough about I how I spent most of Saturday.

Still hot by the way.

The fabled riceball

I feel you should know that the only thing more ubiquitious than Starbucks and Paris Baguette is 7-11 and their competitors.

24 hour shops are rather unusual by my standards seeing as many places close fairly sharply even in the centre of Dublin but rather than being useful for their late opening hours, they simply fit in better.

Whether it is an Incheon, a Songdo or merely the type of area I reside in opening hours are fairly late. As in Open late (10:00 onwards) Close late (9:30 onwards).

Anyway, I sauntered into one of these establishments one evening feeling hungry but far too lazy to cook. Lo and behold I witnessed the famous riceball so naturally I simply had to try it.

Yes, it’s heavily processed convenience food and not nearly as good as one you’d make yourself (like a sandwich made with leftover roast chicken Om nom nom) but I’m not an idiot………just obtuse.

It was chicken flavoured and well, quite tasty.  I’m not going to buy it again but maybe I’ll try to get the recipe and try it myself.

The Asian equivalent of the sandwich: not bad. Not bad at all.

This blog is only about food.

Seeing how my fridge only seems to contain milk, eggs and a dozen containers of water I do tend to get hungry eventually – the five cans of tuna in my cupboard just ain’t gonna cut it – so I decided to try Kraze Burger by my building which promises authentic American dining. I’ll have to disagree, I mean where’s the mayonnaise? The salt? The super-size option?

Analysis: not bad but I’m not going back if I can.  

As you can see my club sandwich is quite nicely packaged. Lots of salad, nice big chunk of tomato and well cooked chicken – pity I hate lettuce in my sandwiches and I refuse to eat tomato unprocessed.

Yes, yes perfectly good food is wasted on me, I know.  Well after a daily diet of rice, kimchi and things I can only guess at I wanted something relatively plain. God, I could murder a potato waffle.

I will say this though, the wholemeal seed bread bun they used - it was the only decent bit of bread I’ve had since I got here.

Hey, at least I got a free drink for ordering out.

Bow-wow

A cultural thing it seems to be, that dogs here are just tiny.

Small enough to fit in your bag but others I've seen in prams of some size.

I suppose it's a space thing - although I'm the type that would rather not have a dog at all rather than carry one around in bag it can shit in. :C


That's not the point though. Behold, Engrish/Konglish gone horribly wrong.....or maybe it's ronseal. DO NOT WANT!!

Directions

So I asked where was local for stationary and Stephanie drew me a quick map (Finally, a use for my degree!! she cried)

Thoughtful, no?

I discovered that while Koreans only seem to do sweet bread they simply don't do refill pads, only pretty, pretty notebooks with inspirational quotes (in english, natch.)

Belated hilarity was involved though when I looked on the reverse of the paper.

You couldn't plan it better.

Is that...?

Naturally I must try all the eateries advertised by my co-workers so onwards to Cafe Balthazar!!
As I mentioned before, cafe culture is quite frankly enormous here and there is plenty to suit your tastes.

Here is a delicious brownie/green tea gelato confection which I ate on a plush chair out front. Just exposed enough to enjoy the sun shine and sufficient shade for comfort.

Fearghal, this one's for you. They garnish it with Frosties.

It was great.


Central Command - Interiors

If I ever need rescuing from the vicious and violent currents of the sixteenth floor then I’ll lean out the window and holler at the coast guard. I don’t know if they’d understand but I think S.O.S is universal. Failing that, I’ll scream like a ninny. That’s sure to work.

I'm fortunate enough to have two windows (unlike some of my co workers) but one has a net and the other only opens by unnecessary electronics. I think the idea is to prevent people from falling to their untimely deaths. If so, they fail because If I could fir out that window so could the average Korean citizen. 

As you see I have no blind. So anyone on the  16th floor of a neighbouring building could see right in! *le gasp*. Seriously though, sans the potential existence of a highpowered scope I think I'm safe enough. I still want a blind though. The sun wakes me about six daily.

That table is a collapsible one that someone left behind. I use it to do some work on, as you can see by yon mess. I don't know if the TV works only that it's there. I've fond a plethora of wirse and doodads that I have yet to go through. The sofa is quite comfortable though.

The bed is rock hard. It's fantastic ~ <3  Aside from the heat and the sun and the stuffy air at certain times of the night, I sleep really well. XD I tried to get a duvet cover but I'm not paying 50,000 Won for something I'll throw away or leave behind. That's a bit much for a friggin' duvet cover!!

 Also, another table. Always good.

Bathroom is tiny with a drain in the floor - figure it out. As you can see, everything behind those mirrors is storage.

One thing I've noticed is that all the taps are the lever kind that wave from hot to cold. Convenient and utterly ubiquitous.

Kitchen area. Regarding that little cluster on the wall. AC, Lightswitch, doorbell/phone system/letting people in thinguhmobob.

Don't deny you want one Sean. You can phone people and let them in.

Sink is massive. I have the hose extended simply to show you. It's handy for using. The ing with the water is, it's turned on by violently kicking the pedal at ankle level. I don't know why, presumably to reserve water.

So yeah, kitchen. Hob, cupboards, fridge (Goddamnit I know better than to show you the contents!!)
The basics really.

This however, is a little more interesting. From left to right: Food dehydrater, water purifier, bins. Apparantly all a necessity.

The necessity. Please not how it is tucked next to the bathcupboardroom. The machine is actually a half step down in the entrance area along with most of the cupboards.

Across from it, shoe cupboard. To the right shelving.

Aa promised, the walk in wardrobe. Chair is for effect. I can shut it in therewhen I close the door - other side of bathroom. Pretty good right?

And finally, for Sean the techies among you. Witness



The entrance:

• slide up
• punch code
• slide down
• wait for bells and whistles.

Thus for the curious. The interior of the apartment.

Where do I hang laundry? I string the washing line from the back of the door to the window- better than any dehumidifier. XD

Cake Bread

Okay, so one thing I have quickly noticed is the proliferation of eateries that outnumber everything else but what I haven’t really made reference to is the enormous café culture in place here.

Seriously, coffee is the thing and not just the ‘Black Adam’ variety to wake you up. All those fancy kinds are about too. (Sean, I have not yet seen the in/famous bubble tea) the frothy caramel kinds that you wonder if anyone actually drinks.

The tea I’ve had so far has actually been fairly disappointing. Very, very weak watery stuff. I’m led to understand that decent tea is quite pricey but if I let my tea stew brew for long enough it’s fine. The first night Bora supplied me with a few necessities and inheritances from previous residences (But that is for another day) although we were heading to a market. She got me a kettle and told me it would be slightly harder to get regular tea (i.e. the old earl grey.) Fortunately it was revealed with a flourish of my cape that I am a green tea fan. Yays….I’m still going to drink the other kind though. 

And of course, chilled. Everything comes chilled- even noodles but enough about horrible caffeinated beverages this is about cake!!

Ours is better –that is all.

Alright, alright. All the cakes, brownies etc.  I’ve seen come wrapped in a piece of plastic you have to peel off before eating. Not very appetising to be sure.

I’ve tried cream cheese muffins and they’re not too bad but I shudder at the thought of the ingredients. (Is it cream? Is it cheese? Is it simply raw, saturated fat? Don’tthinkofthecaloriesdon’tthinkofthecaloriesdon’tthinkofthecalories)

Along with all of the coffee (and noodle) places I’ve seen quite a few European style bakeries doing cakes and the like. (Choux puff pastry but no éclairs funnily enough) No, I didn’t buy any bread.  Bread is, funnily enough, aligned with desserts.

Witness exhibit A…..*ahem* slightly damaged.

It may look like cake, be decorated with chocolate, have been delivered with a full coffee cup of whipped cream and a fork to eat all with but this is toasty bread.

BREAD!!

It’s also very filling. I only ate a few pieces slathered in whipped cream.

It’s not too bad to be honest but I’d prefer proper bread toasted or some delicious cake not their bizarre lovechild. It’s like something drunken magical happened between a baker and a pasterissie somewhere between the toaster and a bottle of chocolate sauce.

So, it’s like an iced log taken to the extreme.  Needless to say, aficionados of that particular foodstuff would love it.

Me? Two full bags were delivered to the staff room by the parents association. We all got one. A free meal is a free meal and a free dessert is (I’m pretty sure) some sort of religious sign. It wouldn’t do to anger some vengeful gods of sugar.

Beverages

So I need to keep myself hydrated and I haven't managed to find anything resembling squash so I'm gradually trying all the different drinks you get here.

This is iced gree tea.
It is disgusting.
Everything seems to come offered in a variety of being iced funnily enough. The cafe culture has a good hold of Kor5 tea it seems. But not as much as traditional food places.

I swear restaurants outnumber everything else by about five to one.

Now this, is latte green tea and is delicious but probably not very healthy. All the same, NOM

Ramen

So, I decided to try this ramen thing, or rather this eating the korean food thing. Everywhere does take out.

Analysis: Tasty.

Spicy enough for the bread and potato girl here but I rather liked it. Mmmmmm~ Carbs.

On another note, I need to eat everything with chopsticks - it takes forever and I eat far less in the end. That can only be a good thing with all of the finagling I have to do with them. XD

Dubai To Incheon

I hated this flight and not because I had an aisle seat in the centre aisle. It’s because I was up so bloody long at that stage and couldn’t sleep in the seat. I reckon I got a few hours there dozing because I lost a few hours without noticing (or feeling more relaxed.)

I was glad of the change of clothes and chance to brush my teeth beforehand. I was even gladder to get out of that seat because I had such a crick in my ass…

Anyway, I dozed and alternated between too hot and too cold for a while and picked at all the food I was given. I think I had chicken and a bit of John Dory on each occasion (or at least something resembling said substances.) 16 hours inflight left me simply desperate to get there and be done with it all.

After taking the train –where I seemed to be the only one not falling arse over kettle once it moved –  to immigration (yes, it was that sort of airport) and being legally admitted into the country (I did indeed stop somewhere along the line to gush at my stamp – quite sad really.) I rang to let them know I’d arrived and took the Limo bus which looks like an ordinary bus on the outside, swanky chairs on the inside. I mean, seriously, these were the most comfortable chairs I’d sat on in a long time. Bus Eireann could stand to learn a thing.

I had to fight with the public phone though. You’re not dialling fast enough huh? I call B. S.

My flat is on the 16^th floor. (Building C!!) The obscene height is comforting seeing as I have no blinds but enormous windows that don’t really open. The bed is rock hard but surprisingly comfortable, good for the back I reckon. I can see though how there wouldn’t be quite enough space for two people. The bathroom is really the only other room, everything else is open plan. So my ‘bedroom’ looks out the siitting/living/kitchen window. I really wish there were blinds, if only for a bit more shade. (privacy is dubious too but as long as there’s no creeper with a high powered scope I should be fine.)

I wave a card over a sensor to get in and out and have a techy door entrance that Sean would simply love.  Slide up the panel, punch in the code, slide it down, entry granted. Ta-dah! Hours of fun once you lock yourself out.

There’s lots of cupboard space for me and a walk-in wardrobe. Yes, that’s right Mother. A walk-in wardrobe.  (Ohohohohohoho) Well, now that I have all that wardrobe space perhaps I should start by hanging up the things I forgot. Extra white shirts for one - I seriously need to get a hold of an iron soon.

They had it cleaned before I came – apparently. Wednesday is a national holiday so I’ll have that off and unless otherwise told I know how I’m going to be spending my morning. It’s not messy or filthy by any means but it’s simply not up to standards I’ve been raised to. Especially with kitchen surfaces which are just eeugh. The bathrooms going to be a mess whatever I do anyway. There’s a shower hose and a drain in the floor – work it out.

I do have a washing machine but no drying facility – boo- but I’m working on that.

One thing you must realise is how bloody hot it is to me. It’s just a persistent, unpleasant dead heat. Probably not significant for others but I find it easier to warm up than cool down.  Of course, seeing as it’s really hot (by my truly sad standards): I can’t really stomach anything, I keep waking up at odd hours, I’m constantly sweating and none of my clothes feel like they fit right. Bitch, whine moan.  I also got these weird hives on my arms in Dubai (still there, and itchy.) Either Dad slipped some bees into my luggage as punishment for getting a bee caught in my hair (and having a subsequent shrieking fit) or it’s heat related.  Lovely.

I’m still jet lagged despite getting some extra time to recuperate. Let’s talk Wednesday and see how I am then. XD

Apparently, I went light on the luggage. It was immediately commented upon that I brought a lot less baggage than most female teachers do.  There’s a lot more I would have liked to bring with me (like another 15 white shirts) but I had trouble handling what I had as it is. More bags and I wouldn’t have been able to carry or manoeuvre them. I was stumbling enough with what I had.

It doesn’t matter because one way or another I’d still have to buy essentials while I’m here. First, tea, then toilet paper. >:3

Dublin to Dubai

As I write this I am sitting in the squeakiest (albeit funkiest) chair in Haagen-Dazs.  Despite my perfectly legitimate fears that everywhere would be closed/closing at 12:00am (9:00pm GMT) the duty-free and food court is hopping. Silly me, basing my logic on tiny little airports.  I’m having ice-cream and (stocking up on a large bottle of) water precisely because it is about 30C and this large air conditioned building feels like a sauna. I couldn’t have a shower but I did change my shirt and clean up a bit. The toothbrush was an excellent idea.

So, after making my way through the gates I realised a rather large problem with my fabulous new bag (gaze and weep mortals) and airport security. Namely that it is impossible to get my laptop back in without taking everything else out first. But seeing as the first thing I do after getting through security is put myself back in order it makes little difference. I just thought I’d bring it up because everyone male and female (heteronormative and effeminate) covets this piece of leatherwork….no, you can’t have it.

It’s one thing to know, another to experience….which is why I never want to set foot on Ryanair again. I know they’re dirt cheap (providing you only bring your wallet) but I had my own television in front of me to play with, I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for a cup of orange juice and no one tried to sell me scratch cards. (The bus from Cavan to Dublin is nicer than Ryanair)

Aside from that, it was a long flight like any other. I got uncomfortable, the food was horrible and I had a window seat. Those sitting beside me were civil and I wound up watching two movies (Muppets and Tintin) being unable to sleep.

Although Herge drew him like a 15 year old it was fun to remember how much time Tintin spent punching people, shooting guns, having high speed chases and generally being GAR in a manner Indiana Jones would be proud of.  Actually, the movie was pretty damn awesome all around. You’d think the animation would be off-putting but it was fantastic, it segues far better than in The Polar Express. You should see it as soon as possible. Even the fight scenes were brilliant!

I bought The Hunger Games and already have no plans to buy read the rest. They go on about how young the author is and well, her age is really, really obvious. It reads like something written by a teenage girl, not that’s necessarily a bad thing, and the first person (Oh, first person perspective how I hate how society abuses you) simply makes it more-so. Personally, I thought the perspective weakened the opening. It was a bit too busy kicking down boxes to scream “Sue! Sue!”  An outsider perspective would have made Katniss more likeable I think, or rather more forgivable plus adding a juicy ambiguity to everything, not simply the minor inferred.   Collins compensates nicely in the latter half though. I don’t think it deserves the flailing hype surrounding it but then again, few things do.

Now, I know you wanted a lot of photos of Dubai but:

·         I am in the airport

·         It’s 12:00am at night

·         It’s very, very dark

·         They have a real duty-free

The last one seems irrelevant but I just couldn’t fail to notice.

Flying over Dubai I couldn’t help but notice the ships. It got dark fairly early in the flight so all I could really see for the latter half would be lights. Occasionally I would catch a glimpse of a cruise liner, all lit up. But reaching Dubai it was strange. The sea was pitch black and the only light was from boats but there was just so many. There were enormous liners, lit up like an inner city but then there were ones only identifiable by the light on the stern and prow. They were laid out in the ocean on invisible byways which could be the only reason for such mathematical precision on the waters.

But it was still dark, so take it all with salt. Better you go to Dubai yourself. (Note: It’s hot.)

So now, I have nothing to do but sweat unproductively until the flight starts loading.  Hopefully, I’ll get some sleep on this flight now.

Bad for my heart

I've never actually had to arrange a visa so it was a new experience at the very least. On a scale of frustrating bureaucracies I'd rate it a 3. So, not bad at all!! (To clarify, Social Welfare merits a 12 on the 10 point scale.)

The problem I had was that I'm being sponsored for my visa by my new employers (*Hee~* I have a job!! ^_^ ) so I couldn't actually apply until I got the number from them. It wouldn't be too stressful except that the date of commencement for my contract was stealthily chasing me up the street.

Once the number came we scheduled an immediate father-daughter bonding trip and ventured forth. The weather was gorgeous, I didn't throw up, a massive success all round!! C:

Then, came the kicker. I arranged to pick it up Friday afternoon rather than have them post and have it arrive next Monday while I'm on stopover in Dubai. No problem right? Wrong

Yesterday morning they called me and told me that they'd accidentally posted it out to someone else in Cavan. My heart stopped. I nearly keeled over. Fortunately I didn't because that would have hurt - there's a lot of stuff on the floor here.  (Fearghal, you should really clear up)

So my passport (and visa) had been posted to another person while my flight is on Saturday. Saturday!! Now, to the uninitiated, I am definitely a neurotic wreck right now. My glass is half-empty, all my worst fears have come to pass and I'm out of tea!!

However, this turns out that my passport has been delivered to young master X (name concealed for privacy and safety of myself*) who lives in the same housing estate as ones family. The mother of young master X (details concealed for the privacy and safety of myself*) brought it round just as I put on my shoes to head in their direction.

So after <details excluded to protect the innocent*> I received my passport and am once again Korea-bound!

.....My heart still hasn't calmed down from the shock though.


*What you think I'm protecting others? It's all for my health and well-being. Who knows what could get you sued these days?!!