Adventures in Food: Chicken Nuggets at home

I decided to buy some frozen chicken nuggets to make at home. The label was only in Korean, but the logo was Tyson's, so I figured I was safe. They were okay, not great. But, I was confused. Why do my nuggets look like dogs?


...and stars?


...and Christmas trees?

Adventures in Food and Shopping with Jazmin

My friend Jazmin and I decided to go downtown for some dinner and shopping at Seomun Market. While the atmosphere at the restaurant was lovely (we sat outside on the patio, listening to a live pianist), the food was...well...confusing.

Jazmin had a steak covered with a sauce, with another sauce underneath. (Koreans sure love their sauces.) She had one piece of 3-4 vegetables on the side (hot), a dollop of whipped potatoes with a cucumber garnish (cold), and 2 extra sauces on the side(just for balance, I suppose).


Mine was a carb disaster. Breaded "chicken" drizzled with mustard, on top of some kind of steak or barbecue sauce. With an enormous "side" of spaghetti with meat sauce (not chicken). A ball of cold rice the size of a large marble and 5 french fries rounded it out. Oh, and ketchup. How could I forget about the sauce?


Too bad my feet are man-sized in Korea. And I'm not five.


I did, however, think these were adorable. Jaz informed me that on the wrong child, though, they're unpleasant.

Bad dog!

Lauren loves her dog, but sincerely wishes that he hadn't stolen (and eaten) the two remaining Mini Cinnabons that she brought back from the Philippines and had been rationing. She's even less pleased that the evidence (cinnamony, sticky paw prints, and wrappers) had not been left on her bedsheets. :(

Best. Conversation. Ever.

I decided that I needed to get some food tonight since tomorrow starts the Chuseok holiday and many things will be closed for the nest three days. Part of my quest was for pizza. (Leftovers are wonderful for the lazy, like me.)

I've never called my pizza guy before. I usually just show up and wait for it. But I decided I would call and hopefully save myself some time, since I wasn't feeling very good. Here's our phone convo:

_________________________________________________________
Me: Ah, yeo-beo-sey-yo. Mee-gook-in imnida.

Him: Ah, yeh, yeh, yeo-beo-sey-yo. Potato pee-juh?

Me: Ney, doo-gey, ju-sey-yo.

Him: Ney, Kom-sam-ni-da.

(Hung up.)

__________________________________________________
English version:

Me: Hi, I'm the American.

Him: Oh, hello. Potato pizza?

Me: Two, please.

Him: Thank you.

(Hang up.)

___________________________________________________
I don't even have to identify myself more than "I'm the American." This means that either I'm one of the only non-Koreans who goes there, or I eat too much pizza.

Or both.

___________________________________________________
Easiest. Call. Ever. ♥

I Have Food Issues

I just got squirted in the face by a rogue fudge pop. It was pretty funny. Would've been better with an audience and a laugh track, though.

Dinner with the Yongsan Special Girls

I went to dinner one night with Sharon and Christianna for some Korean food. It was good, but a bit spicy for me. Sharon took care of pouring the beer.


Sharon and I waiting for dinner to cook down.


Korean peppers, like most peppers, are way too hot for me.

Misc. July

New hair cut!


Sailor cake? Why not?!


Unfortunate name.


You really couldn't get away with school uniforms that look like this in the States...


A Louvre-esque pyramid outside of DongDaegu Station? Why not?!


I've been looking for this *supposedly* mythical place for years...


What exactly is "NON-LIFE insurance"???


A tiny toilet and sink in the ladies room of Kyobo Book store.


Someone should probably explain to them that these aren't fruits.


Got tires?

Spice Cake Cupcakes

Had a few crazy classes today, and a couple of surprisingly good ones. Promised "spice cake cupcakes" to some of my girls in one class, so they can see that "spice" doesn't equal "spicy".

6 needles still remain.

Adventures in Food: Potato Pizza

Thank god for weekends. And potato pizza.

Potato pizza in Korea is cheese, potato wedge, "bacon" (aka ham), and corn and onion, which I hold off on. It's delicious!!!

Why don't we have this at home?

Birthday Dinner at Cepheus

Jazmin and I planned a wonderful dinner at a swanky rooftop restaurant downtown. Cepheus is expensive, but delicious. The view from the roof, which they opened just for us (it's a bit early in the season to eat outside here), was well worth it. My birthday was amazing.


We had a mask theme.


The view of downtown.


Overlooking 2.28 park.


Most of the gang.


Waiting for the others.






I got a call from Tyler, who wasn't sure where we were. When this photo was taken, I had just found him, across the street on the 11th floor of Novotel.


Kayla got all decked out for the occasion.




Jaz.


Meghan.






Opening my fantastic gifts.






Sergio really enjoyed trying on everyone's masks. :)






The gang's all here! (From left: Sergio, Josh, Meghan, Korean friend of Sergio's, me, Jazmin, Tyler, Kayla)


We went to get ice cream for dessert. A perfect evening!

Topics: Snacks in Korea

There are many snacks in Korea that I’ve never considered snacks before. I’ve been offered all of the following:

A cup of tiny tomatoes.


Squishy, slimy rice cakes with or without stuff in them. (They take like 5 hours to chew.)

Dried black beans.


Dried “cuddlefish” which is like a squid, and is disgusting.


There are many different types of dried fish for sale. They all seem gross to me.


Not popcorn, but popbean.

Cold french fries, with ramen-type powdered spices.


Cold tater tots.


Dry, broken ramen noodles, with ramen spices.


Boiled potatoes- Small or big, regular or sweet potatoes- No salt or flavoring, just eat plain boiled potatoes, often on a toothpick.

I’ve frequently seen, but never been offered, roasted bugs. They look like shell-less cockroaches, and smell worse than anything on Earth. I’m told they’re a type of silk worm. Ewww.


I’ve also seen chestnuts roasted on a (not) open fire. It’s nice to see at Christmas, but I’m sure how they taste.

I also saw roasted acorns at the Maehwa Festival. Didn't try them. But I like the picture.


I’ve seen other oddities too. Like green tea cake. I didn't even know cake came in this color option.