Cooking

It's been too long since I spent more than half an hour in the kitchen cooking. I finally picked out a recipe and made some broccoli soup. The recipe is from one of the Moosewood cookbooks and this soup has no cheese or heavy cream. Just milk and oatmeal for the creamy texture. Tastes just as good, and I actually like it more less greasy anyway -- a great cookbook, heh.

Burrenchilada

Two friends of mine in Korea and I went out to Panchos for the first Mexican dinner in Seoul. I got their "Super Burrito" with beans, which turned out to be something more like a huge enchilada with rice in it. It was good nonetheless -- they had great chips and salsa, and even decent guacamole. Can't complain.

Also had a glass of great red wine at this bar called "The Bungalow," with sand on the floor and beach chairs everywhere. With my tolerance possibly at its lowest point, I was pretty happy coming home last night after finishing the entire glass. It was also the first night I had a lot of fun just hanging out and chatting over drinks, without going crazy and coming home at 3am. I think I was singing pretty loud on the way home? Oops :$

Inconvenience!

Nothing opens before 9am!

Can't get cash without charging myself an extra dollar before 9am (yes, I'm still not over the fact that my own bank charges me money for taking out my own money from their ATM).

Can't get a cup of decent coffee at a cafe (if I want some, I have to get one from Starbucks and practice the master act of balancing with the coffee in my hand, carrying a purse, and trying to find a bar or a handle to hold on on the crazy bus ride.

Can't even get a can of crappy coffee from a "convenience" store because they open at 10am.

Ugh.

Finally!

I've finally found a loaf of good multigrain bread in Seoul! It smells great, has a very chewy texture (amaizing when toasted too), and most importantly has 9 different grains, extra fiber from apples, walnuts and sunflower seeds! It's called "Energy Bread," LOL.

From Iris's email earlier today:

I Wish I Could Go Back to College (Avenue Q)

I wish I could go back to college.
Life was so simple back then.
What would I give to go back and live in a dorm with a meal plan again!
I wish I could go back to college.
In college you know who you are.
You sit in the quad, and think, "Oh my God!
I am totally gonna go far!"

How do I go back to college?
I don't know who I am anymore!

I wanna go back to my room and find a message in dry-erase pen on the door!
Ohhh...
I wish I could just drop a class...
Or get into a play...
Or change my major...
Or fuck my T.A.

I need an academic advisor to point the way!
We could be...
Sitting in the computer lab,
4 A.M. before the final paper is due,
Cursing the world 'cause I didn't start sooner,
And seeing the rest of the class there, too!

I wish I could go back to college!

How do I go back to college?!
AHHHH...

Good Things Come When Unexpected

Close to 4pm, I was getting very excited to go have dinner and maybe out to a bar after work. But it started pouring around then and people didn't want to come out anymore. I was just gonna go home and chill, play some guitar and watch a DVD.

I was on the bus to the subway station with Jung Sook, who's my partner on the World Congress project. She's three years older than I am, has four older siblings and has a masters in German Literature. We've been working for two months now. Anyway, all of sudden I had this craving for some fried chicken (believe or not). There's a KFC right next to the station, and I had walked by it enough that their marketing made me want to eat their chicken, yikes. So we ordered a couple of pieces each plus their BISCUITS and diet coke. The dinner was great, but what was completely unexpected was the conversation! We talked mostly about my observations and experiences back in Seoul, and her thoughts on Korean culture, ideologies, Europe, the U.S., etc. Overall, it was a really good time. Totally unexpected =]

New (?) Teeth

Mom didn't notice .... lol

Cornell-Sick

Magic of Ten Minutes

It's amazing what leaving the house ten minutes early does. The air is crisp without the sun completely up, neither kyodae or Seoul Univ. subway stations are crowded, there is no line for the bus, and I arrvie at my desk half an hour early! How sweet this extra time is in the morning -- I can check my gmail, play a game or two of scrabble (Ben is beating me badly), get a cup of coffee, do a little stretching ... niiiiiice.

Mom's Birthday (belated post)

It was my mom's 49th birthday on the first of September. She goes by the lunar calendar, so I almost forgot. Usually I have it calculated about 2 weeks in advance .. blame on my full time job?

Anyway, some pictures. Love Dad's look in both of them. Hahaha.

Sleep

Happy September!

Ever since Pysch 101 (Oh I miss Cornell!), one of my top priorities has been getting 8 hours of sleep every night, which, needless to say, is difficult to keep up. I usually get 6.5 - 7, but I notice huge difference when I do get 8 hours. Like this morning :D