Flavours of Seoul

In Seoul, Michelle showed us some great times and great food!

Spicy and flavourful, Korean food even comes in "Pungent" flavour.

These egg brioches were less pungent and more street.

They went well with spicy bulgogi balls.

Michelle told us about a new trend: Koreans are loving cheese! We did not try the salted cheese iced tea because we were confused about what meal that should join, based on the picture.

We also did not try the ribs dipped in cheese, because we are looking to live a bit longer.

Similarly, I think we made a rational decision about this burger.

But dak galbi spicy stir fry with cheese!? Now that's for us!

In the corner store, you can get your Denmark in Pocket cheese, just like the Danes have in their pockets.

The tube meat is below the liquor, so I guess that's what it goes with.

Barry has just decided what he was born to be!

 I, on the other hand, marveled at the invention of water envelopes. Pour, drink, recycle!

We are not doing Korean food justice here, so let's get to the cabbage, shown here in its rare ornamental form.

The radishes were the size of my double-hooded head!

Here, Barry demonstrates the proper outfit for kimchi making. Under the rubber gloves, there are optional secondary warm gloves as well as sleeve covers for extra protection. We got to keep the kit for home use.

Yup, we kimchi'd with the help of these kind folk. Here is my little guy. Devastatingly, the airport officials declared him a "gel or liquid". Better luck next kimchi season.

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Tricking the Eyes

To contrast the previous post, we went to the TrickEye museum.

This required more skill than expected. Barry, who is operating the tap?

Above, not quite the right ballet pose, but below, much better!

It was also confusing. Why does the dinosaur have a frame of my head and legs? Is this from a movie I missed?

Why would I be hanging from the rafters if there was a giant snake breaking through the walls. I know better and would succumb to armageddon.

 

 This one is confusing because this is what Barry's legs actually look like.

 Barry was better at this Trickeye stuff than me.

Here is how Barry feels when cycling, but with more spandex and happy chanting in real life.

Eventually, I got better at Trickeying. You can hardly tell I'm not a panda.

And I'm a natural shark surfer (why, Trick Eye, why?).

Barry is careful around lava flows.

 Randomly, there was an ice museum.

Here I am as the ice queen, which is much easier than being a Trickeye.

In the end, Barry didn't want to leave!

 

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The Northern Edge of the South

Here I am with a fake South Korean guard and a real waiver for the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea.

Here is Barry with a real guard. They stand perfectly still in a tae kwon do pose, which makes them look a lot more intimidating than, say, Barry.

Here I am, standing in North Korea and working on an appropriately respectful DMZ face. Don't worry, they said they locked the door behind us.

In a rarely used feature, the Polycom demarcates the border above. Below, the concrete bump serves this purpose. You can see the North Korean guard in the background.

This man is the first North Korean I have likely seen in my life!

Speaking of North, here is their town of Kijong-dong, also known as propaganda village. The flagpole, the fourth largest in the world, flies (only in tame weather) over shells of windowless buildings.

This is the aptly named Bridge of No Return, where prisoners of the Korean war were freed and got to make their most important life decision: North or South.

As part of the tour, you get to visit the ultra-modern non-functional train station.

They call it the Peace train, but it's more like a Train of Broken Dreams, really.

Final stop: North Korean dug tunnel. Barry tried to convince me that we didn't need to go because he thought I would be scared. I think he was projecting.

What useful souvenirs do you buy after this? We chose not to get the doll guards to face off against each other on our shelf.

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A Good Egg and More Else

 

Happy Deepagiving, which was officially celebrated in Singapore last weekend. Our friends eat nearly 1 lb of turkey each, and their children prefer mashed potatoes.

In Changi airport these days, there are sculptures compelling you take foolish-looking pictures. It's very hard to resist. Barry can achieve foolish looks with regular durian eating, however.

We entered the modern ice age at the 3D theatre. I was not warm enough in my hoodie and scarf, so I had to steal Barry's down jacket as well. I think you can see the icicles in my nose.

Since 1978 the good eggs have been going into Minglun pancakes, although I'm a bit of a bad egg for stealing this picture from my blog stalkers.

Sometimes you see an invention and wonder if it could have saved you tens of hours of waiting after missed flights, and a couple of foot injuries.

Wedding idea: stuffed bride and groom toys. Because who doesn't consider their groom to be a bit like Stitch: part Disney character, part alien experiment, and part Japanese video game!

The best way to get to the North South School of Technology is by bike.

When you visit Hussain and family, you get childcare, food and more else!

And finally, if you were being lazy this weekend, maybe it's time to think about grammar and/or how it relates to petty crime.

 

 

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