Seoul along the Han River (back logged photos of a leisurely weekend bike ride)

Project Complete

Here's the final product (ha ha ~~) of my first knitted creature project. It's a little ugly and stupid looking, but I did it, so I feel a little proud.


Beginning the project - this could have been made into a nice hat.



Here he's sleeping...



And... then here he is flying...


I got the pattern from this website: http://easyknittingpatterns.blogspot.com/2007/09/easy-knitting-patterns-my-super-easy.html
This woman has some pretty creative, hip, and fun projects written in an easy to understand language as I am not yet fluent to knitters-speak.

I didn't pay heed to the weight of the yarn as well as used three different types. I knew it wouldn't turn out exactly like the original pattern, but I was too excited to get started and try it out for myself. Here's what the original looks like as fashioned by 'the lazy knitter.'

mAkEsHiFt cHiLi

During this week of languor, I realized I was WAY past due on my chili intake. Thus, I began concocting my hodge-podge style chili that continued to get better as the days went by. (The first day, you eat it because you are hungry and so excited about it. On the second, third, and fourth days, all the flavors marry together to excite your taste buds in ways never thought possible.) I've gotten into the habit of adding tons of vegetables and basically whatever I can find here in Korea as chili fixings are hard to come by.

This recipe is really easy if you just don't have much around the kitchen but odds and ends...

Easy Breezy Chili (oh, so true in so many ways)

Round-about Ingredients:
fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes
1-2 cans tomato paste or some spaghetti sauce or some v-8 juice or some tomato juice
cut up carrots
cut up zucchini or green pumpkin
random veggies - this time i used some bok choy
cooked potatoes, diced, if you have them
1 onion, chopped (I like white or yellow onions)
some garlic, chopped
some beans, any kind will do
1/2 or 1 packet of chili seasoning or add cayenne, paprika, salt, pepper, tabasco and whatever
other spices you have around
some ground beef or ground turkey (optional)
some tofu, medium or firm texture (opt)
salt
pepper


Directions:
1) Sautee onions and garlic with olive or vegetable oil until they are slightly browned in a frying pan.

2) Add tofu, carrots, zucchini/green pumpkin, random veggies, bok choy, sautee. Remove from heat.

3) In a chili sized pot, brown ground beef or turkey (opt) - you can add some of the seasonings now to get friendly with the meat.
**If you did not cook meat, get a chili sized pot ready now.

4) Add beans, tomatoes and paste/sauce/juice to meat. Cook for a bit - bring to a light boil, then reduce to a simmer.

5) Add the rest of the seasoning packet.

6) Add sauteed veggies to mix.
**You can add the cooked potatoes or you can just put them in the bottom of the bowl when you serve the chili.

7) Add salt and pepper to taste

You can serve with saltine crackers or top with cheese and fresh onions.

I deliberately left off the measurements because chili is something that tastes good pretty much any way you make it. Let your tastebuds be your guide. Let me know if you make it and how it goes!

how we spend our free time on our week off ( = dorklove)

Yesterday we came home at about 11 pm from a burger and beer night with some friends. We find ourselves in our studio apartment, a mere few feet from each other. We have both logged onto gmail to get caught up with our 'lives.' The following is a transcript of a g-chat we had with each other. whileinthesameroom!












We have been toying with the idea of getting a pet bunny.

One Week and No Plans

photo credit: Sam A. Gray

This was the sky on Sunday afternoon after we'd abandoned any stray thoughts of biking through the farmlands of Korea. The morning was full of medium style rain. My friend Becca had informed me that Sunday was supposed to be the most severe of the heavy rains this week. It seemed the typhoon was moving over to pay a visit to Hanguk-land from Taiwan, where 6 people had already died. Although, this photo clearly shows a spot of sunshine plaguing our plan to abandon ship. Crikes!

We tried to clear the cobwebs of the 'should we go, shouldn't we go' syndrome and took a trip to a few new places in Seoul. We headed to the arboretum and played around with our cameras. I took nothing noteworthy, but got some practice. It began to rain again and we thought 'Alas, we won't look like dumbasses for not going. It IS raining afterall! ah- HA! We are so clever!'

So we headed to Coex Mall, a good place to be on a rainy day (that happens to be at the beginning of summer vacation break-which encompasses every grade level at every school in Seoul). Yeah, you get my drift. Anywhere you go in Seoul is packed with people anyway and the aquarium at Coex Mall was especially populated. Additionally, I'd been spoiled by the great design and forethought of Osaka's aquarium This was without a doubt the BEST aquarium I'd ever been to - if you are in Osaka, it is a must.

For starters, the Coex Aquarium was kitchy as all get-out, which is standard for Korean style. For example, we could examine wedding halls aplenty, and are decked out in what Koreans think is traditional western style wedding accoutrements. This always points towards a cheesy and memorable 'traditionally western' trailerpark wedding. Or we could look at clothing for all ages, which includes mixing stripes, plaid, and animal prints or men thinking they are classy while sporting the shimmery tinfoil-esque suits. I think most women exclaim in their heads "HE HAS MONEY!" when they see these salarymen. Then there's always the coffee shop or hof (beer and food joints) art deco decore (reminiscent of 1980s jams shorts) plastered all over the couches and walls.

But alas, I am straying from the point. The Coex aquarium was not worthy it and unfortunately I missed alot of the good stuff, like seahorses, because there were just too many people. I am not usually closterphobic and I was definitely toeing the line.

The day ended at Kyobo Bookstore where I found the English crafter's section. For this I am very grateful. I purchased a new book and then went to Dongdaemun searching for yarn today.
Even if this posting bored you to death, it will all be worth it when you enjoy this photo:


This made my day worth it.

we woke up to a sprinkle, but now it's more of a steady stream

Sam took this photo at about 7 am with his new dslr. The low visibility is due to heavy rain. Hence, we have pushed back our starting time. The sun has come out, the children are heading to their last half Saturday of schooling, and the rain is now a blanket of mist. Soon it will be time....

Biking from Seoul to Busan

Well, the traveling duo has struck again and this time it is whirlwind bike tour of South Korea.
Well, perhaps it's not as much a 'whirlwind tour' of Korea as whirlwinds pretty much spiral around and go everywhere they want to. It's more like a straight shot alligator attack down to the Bayou. We are planning to take the next five days to go about 60 miles a day from Seoul to Busan!

This is us at about 11 pm tonite preparing for our bike trip with the bare minimums! This trip has me so excited that I've had a hard time getting to sleep at a decent hour this week. The information we found was on this site - http://user.chollian.net/~boonstra/korea/sebu.htm
check it out to see the route or plan your own trip. It seems the hardest part of the route will be on the last day nearing Busan where we climb from 250 to 700 meters in altitude in about 5 km. We have not been training extensively, but I anticipate the most difficult hurdles to be 1) humidity and 2) monsoon weather. Earlier in the week, it looked like tons of rain, but now just some scattered showers and perhaps some token lightening bolts. The total trip is about 500 kilometers (300 miles). We plan to ride about 100 km (60 miles) per day, so we can arrive back to Seoul via train. Then we will be left with a few days for rest and relaxation before our 24 hour a day 2-week summer camp.

This marks the slow revival the the 'Turbulent Twenties' blog, so
feel free to peruse it at your leisure. Perhaps the blog will be updated as the trip goes on
if there is availability of both energy and PC bangs (rooms) in some of the podunk towns
we hunker down in for the night.

We have decided that the best way to travel would be to take our craptastic sleeping bag
stuff sacks (fashioned and purchased for an overly hefty sum in the Thar Desert of India)
and fill it with ziplock bags full of short socks, undies, the most minuscule toiletries,
a plastic bag poncho, ipods, point n shoot cameras (not our new pricey slr tanks!), our maps,
and a few bottles of water. As Sally Gray once pointed out, the best travel buddy is a stash
of ziplock bags! This has become the most valuable piece of advice thus far especially
for India. I hope to return to Seoul after this trip as worn as I was after India - a warmed and worn heart as well as an exterior filthy as hell. What a grand feeling - it's like being a kid again.

Wish us luck! Hope you are well. <3

ALMOST A YEAR LATER ON THE DOT

1st picture: I woke up to these two guys yesterday morning.
2nd picture: I wake up to this guy every morning.