When booking my trip to Tokyo from SF, despite the availability of less painful, non-stop options, I thought flying Korean Air would outweigh the hassle of transferring and re-checking in (especially at the Tom Bradley Int'l Terminal at LAX, which I've come to realize, is NOT fun.) Why? For starters, once I boarded, I was welcomed with that warm and tingly familiar feeling - that air service can indeed come with a smile, and that your time in the plane, though rarely ever pleasant, can be made that much more bearable. (Virgin's also pretty damn good at this. ^^) I also had a chance to speak in Korean again. From the counter to the gate to the plane. I even filled out my customs form in good ol' 한글, though admittedly, I couldn't understand most of the bottom part, which I just assumed asked whether or not I was smuggling drugs or attempting to import funny types of cheese. Oh, there's also the frequent flyer miles. But everyone knows IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GOCH...

This is from Paul Hussey of the Seoul Global Village in Itaewon . Here is the website. If you have any problems in Korea from medical care to business things, the center can help you out. How to Make Kimchi at Home Servings: Makes 1 1/2 Quarts Notes: The favorite kimchi vegetable is Chinese (or Napa) cabbage. The Koreans ferment it in enormous quantities. They then pack the kimchi into huge earthenware jars, bury the jars in the ground up to the neck, and cover the lids with straw until the kimchi is needed. Kimchi almost always includes hot pepper, usually dried and either ground or crushed into flakes. Because the ground dried hot pepper sold in Korean markets is generally fairly mild, Koreans can use generous quantities. Some of the Mexican (and New Mexican) ground peppers now sold in supermarkets are comparable. If you can't find ground pepper with a moderate heat level, you might combine sweet paprika and cayenne to suit your taste. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon p...

This is from Chosun.com the Korean Newspaper. Yesterday in Hwaseong held a sort of mini-county fair. These pigs are so cute. I mean I think they should put this picture on a package of bacon and nobody would ever eat pig again. Dan

Here's a follow up to Lunalil's story on Pepero.  11/11 or November 11 th is Pepero Day in Korea and there is a very good chance that you will receive a couple of boxes of these long thin snacks on this day. The classic pepero sold by Lotte is a thin biscuit stick that is dipped in chocolate. Over time these have evolved into thin pretzel wrappers with chocolate inside (called Nude Pepero), Almond Chocolate, Strawberry, Blueberry, Nude Lemon Cheese, and then huge peperos that are the length of an adult’s arm. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the number of these strange thin snacks that swarm the Korea landscape on 11/11. So how did it start?  The Lotte Confectionary Company introduced Pepero to Korea back in the 1980s. Many people believe that the company invented this day to increase their sales. If the Lotte Company did do this then it was a huge success. It sells almost two-thirds of it’s yearly total of these snacks in the two months before November 11 th (Source: Lin...

Oh, disk of crimped delight- a UFO to my heart. Abduct my sense of control; I want you inside me. There you all dressed all coquettish in your pleated school girl uniform. I pull the skirt down a bit to reveal your smooth finery. The first bite is like Bacchus's first sip of wine; I won't stop until I have all of you. The chocolate has a bite that gives way to the crumbly salty peanut filling that sends three taste buds asunder. Oh bliss to be. Oh, bliss to be: Salty, Sweet, and Savory. Tart, Bitter, and Spicy are left wanting as Salty, Sweet, and Savory delve in their orgy of decadent debauchery. The isolated flavors watch with yearning, yearning, YEARNING to be part of the flavor olympics held before them. The chocolate lunges with in a perfect arc and stumbles in a forgiving sandpit that settles the fall with subtle hints of savory, sweet, and salty peanut. Then it's the next event. The mouth and tongue tumble and somersault and pirouette as they savor the essence of thi...

Check this out! It's David Chang's PB and J. This is from the Wandering Eater After waving the white flag on the rice cake dish, I drank as much water I can to calm down the fires burning in my stomach. Eventually, my dessert, PB&J was set before me. This is basically a saltine panna cotta set on top of a disc of peanut crunch, sauced with concord grapes. I do like this dessert, as it plays on the nostalgic flavor combination of peanut butter and jelly, but the panna cotta was very salty if it’s eaten on its own. Come to think about it, even when I had a bite with each element on it, the salty zing still remains in the background. In all, this lunch was relatively a bargain compared to what I remembered spending on dinner (except for the added root beer and brussels sprouts) and it’s a lot less hectic. I just wished my tolerance for heat was a bit higher. Address: Momofuku Ssäm Bar 207 2nd Avenue (on 13th Street) New York, NY 10003 ( map ) You can check out more excitin...

Tomorrow is 11/11/08. That means it's Pepero Day! Pepero is a lot like Pocky , but doesn't seem to come in as wide a variety of flavors. In the past I've preferred Pocky just because of the variety of flavors available. However, in the last few weeks I noticed "healthy pepero " type snacks. My favorite has been a blueberry 100 calorie version by Orion. Right, back to the holiday. Pepero Day is an obviously commercial holiday, where you give Pepero sticks to teachers, coworkers, friends etc... Every convenience store, grocery store, and bakery in Seoul has some sort of display of Pepero and Pepero like products for people to buy and give to their family, friends and loved ones. It's hard to miss the store displays. You can often find pre -made packages with Pepero , stuffed animals or flowers in addition to Pepero boxes. My students have been trying to convince me that I should give them all Pepero too, but seeing as how there are about 2000 of them, ...

I love eating Pumpkin Porridge in Autumn. It is hot, filling, and sheds the weariness of the changing seasons. bonjuk in Korea is sort of the franchise fastfood juk places that have many varites of this hot porridge. For those who don't know what Juk is, it is a thick porridge that is made from rice. Then they add different ingredients to make a kind of homey stew. The popular variations are made from red bean, pumpkin, and black sesame seeds. There are savory additions also such as Salmon, Beef, Tuna and Kimchi, and many other additions. What I like about Bon Juk is that it is reliable. It's not the best juk, I've had but they consistently make it well. Their pumpkin juk is very subtle with a bit of sweetness. It is a great way to cheer yourself up when the changing weather gets you down. Dan

Everything is very rough right now and I don't have time to proofread. I am currently at 12,000 words and I should be at around 15000 to be on track. I find that I like writing with my eyes clothes and that makes my typing even worse. Oh well, here's an excerpt of something I've written and I'm kinda happy with. Dan Chapter 3: Bananas The yellow smile of a banana was something I savored in my mind. When I was five years old, the banana was the most exotic fruit in the world. They were just coming into Korea and for a poor boy they were simply unattainable. A bunch of bananas would cost about 5 dollars- the equivalent of 10 days savings and my money would never last that long. You would think the vendor might give samples of the fruit, but it wasn’t the flavor people sought. The banana was exotic; it’s color and shape defied logic. The banana came from parts of the world that most Koreans had never even dreamt about. And the name: THE NAME! It’s catchy and cool and sweet...

www.walkingslowly.co.kr You can get directions here: http://www.walkingslowly.co.kr/store/store_view.asp?page=1&seq=4 Just say Cheongdam Sagaree. Here is a great cafe in Apgujeong that is totally high end and amazing. It's all about the interior which has high ceilings and an modern feel to it. The cafe has a variety of drinks on the menu such as coffee, tea, wine, beer and they have food such as spaghetti, fruit, and cake. My favorite thing there is the patbingsu. The patbingsu here is very simple. It's not buried in candy, whipped cream, red bean, and other junk. It has a scoop of icecream over red bean covered with some roasted soybean powder, set on shaved ice. The ricecakes are very delicious and chewy. Check it out! Dan

People are always asking me about what is happening in Seoul, so I figured I should put up a calendar so they can easily see what is happening. So what do you think? Is this a nice addition to the site, or is it too distracting? If anyone has a special upcoming event that they would like posted, please shoot me an e-mail. Dan

Making Kimchi for Charity Learn how to make Kimchi and support a good cause at the same time! The Yongsan District Office is holding a very important annual event this month. They are currently looking for volunteers, including foreigners, to take part in their “Making Kimchi for Charity” event. For three days, from Nov. 17th to the 19th, the volunteers will make Kimchi which will then be donated to charity. These Kimchi making events are held in various locations around the country at this time of year to provide food for the less-fortunate during the winter months. The goal for this year’s event in Yongsan is for it to be the largest one in Korea, and they are expecting to use 50,000 heads of cabbage to make the kimchi! The Itaewon/Hannam Global Village Center will be taking a group of volun- teers to join in this event on Wednes- day Nov. 19th. We will meet at the center at 8:30am and depart by 8:45 for the place where we will be making the kimchi. It is possible for you to help o...