Parenting is a full contact sport and there is never a break or a half time.

They should put potential parents through a boot camp to see if they are able to handle the task, but I think this would halt human reproduction. You never get a break while parenting.

Well, I guess there is one when they sleep, but that’s when you need a break. Your body and mind will just go into recharge mode.

It’s not the physicality of it that is what is tiring, it’s the mental, philosophical and societal factor as well. You are responsible for your kids and others judge you if it looks like you are doing it wrong. And if you are really doing it wrong, you will end up in jail or worse.

But at the end of the day nobody knows if they are doing it right or wrong. All we can do is try to keep them fed, well, and “happy.” And happiness is a relative term here, for me and for them. For example, I am happy when we are running around with them playing games, when they are eating a meal I cooked, or when we read a book together. These are just minutes - maybe an half an hour, but there are 24 hours in a day. They only sleep (hopefully) for 8 hours of that. But for my daughters the time it takes me to prepare the meal or the minutes I am checking an email before we play hide and seek makes them sad, bored (often equated with sadness) or upset.

I have worked in the hospitality industry for a very long time and my kids are the most demanding guests I have ever had. And it is constant and forever. It’s not like they finish a meal or a tour and then write a review or talk with management to resolve the issue. They will remember and it will shape their world view of the parents and of themselves.

There was one particular week when my wife and I had to work non-stop for an event. During that time our daughters slept over at Grandma’s and her uncle took her to school. The eldest, Hazell, would see us in the evenings. She was well taken care of, but to this day she remembers that week. She’ll talk about the week that she woke up and her parents weren’t there. Maybe she is guilting us to get something but...I don’t think she is that smart yet. She might have abandonment issues now...sigh. Even though we have take time off from our careers to spend with our kids, the week we had to work and wasn’t home is what she remembers.

As for food, we introduce foods to our daughters all the time. They will make a decision in a second if they will eat it or not. Creating balanced meals full of veggies, meats, rice and breads is just a waste of time. It’s like playing roulette to see what my daughters (I am talking about my older daughter here: Hazell, Luna will eat anything) will eat. Hazell eats more with her eyes than by taste. I have found the best thing to do is to add color or roll it all up in a kimbap rice roll. The kimbap thing though is also a crapshoot because just the other day she decided she no longer likes carrots. And no, she did not tell me before I had made it for her. They eat a ton of hard-boiled eggs, but just the whites.

Restaurants are a catastrophe because it requires my wife and I to wrangle our daughters in while we are trying to eat. If you notice the chaotic family in the restaurant, its not because they aren’t trying, it’s because they are. We could just plop an iPad in front of her but that’s not real parenting, right?

I don’t have any real advice. Maybe I am just venting or maybe I am looking for consensus from other parents. Anyway, have to get back to the grind. Lol?

Yesterday I went back to the fish market for the first time in a long time. The Noryangjin Fish Market is still there but the old market seems to be on its last legs and the new one just doesn't have much energy. At least the seafood is still fresh if you know how to look for it. The price has gone up. King Crab is 55K-70K a Kilogram. If you find a good one you can get a fried rice made with the innards.

Cheers,

Dan

For more regular food info follow me on Instagram at @Seouleats

Shabu Shabu in Hongdae at Jayeon Shabu Shabu

The best mushroom shabu shabu place is at Jayeon Shabu Shabu. Look, even if you think that you've had shabu shabu and that it is not real Korean food; Korean shabu shabu is different. You get many more sides and a ton of veggies. It feels very clean and healthy. Jayeon Shabu Shabu is one of the best. You get copious amounts of mushrooms, the broth is delicious, and it was all about their special sesame, peanutty, sauce. You many varieties of mushrooms - some of which I never knew could be eaten. Apparently they are all good for health (and none of them are of the magic variety). Oh, and for vegetarians, the broth is not meat based so it is one of my top vegetarian picks in Korea. After you eat all the veggies and meat, you finish off the meal with some buckwheat noodles. Yum!

Homemade Sourdough Bread in Korea

Hey world, 

Everyone loves ice cream (and gelato), however, the definition of what ice cream is or what would be relative equivalents might differ in the eyes of Koreans. Since 2013, sales of ice cream market size has decreased from 1.6 Billion USD to 910.9 million USD due to increased competition from shaved ice stores, juice shops and cafes. All these sell what would be considered "ice cream equivalents." Subsequently, sales of ice cream have suffered as well dropping from 850 million USD in 2014 to 810 million USD in 2016 (Food Industry Statistics, Nielsen Korea).

However, ice cream is not suffering an irreversible downtrend. The largest competitor for the last few years have been the popularity of the snow shaved ice chain Sulbing. In 2013 they had only 33 stores in Korea but in 2014 this number exploded to 482 in 2014. However in 2015 they only added 8 more stores (Joeilbo News). I have personally seen a number of these stores close in the last year in prominent areas. In contrast, Ice Cream stores have been increasing. Baskin Robbins, the market leader, increased their number of franchises from 1106 in 2014 to 1208 in 2015 (The Bell News). So the market for ice cream has grown but the definition of ice cream equivalents has increased greatly.

Ice Cream in Korea

soft serve in Korea

The ice cream market might have suffered in sales, but this forced them to innovate and find new markets for their products. Ice cream makers created trendy flavors such as banana and salted caramel, which were niche flavors last year. They also partnered with popular brands like malang milk candy to create new, fun ice creams (Yonhap, Wikitree). Common brands like Binggrae are moving into the premium ice cream market by establishing new brands like “Cledor” (Herald K).

Premium soft ice cream using organic milk has also had a comeback in the last year as brands like “Pasteur Milk Bar by milk company Pasteur,” “Soft Lab” by Binggrae and Baekmidang have usurped Softree which was a popular brand about 3 years ago (Sisaon News).

The ice cream hit of 2017 was a traditional shaved ice topped with a sweetened tomato sauce and black pepper. The company Tokyo Bingsu that came up with the dish is slowly franchising but not at the level of Sulbing. They are constantly coming up with new flavors such as pumpkin, green tea and white grape. Softserve ice cream shops are creating new flavors and designs to make “Instagram-worthy” desserts.

This post was sponsored by Host Milano. Visit the expo in Fieromilano from October 20-24th.