Scallops

We had a delicious dish last night, grilled scallops on the half shell. This was prepared "fushion" style - a spoon of sweet and sour sauce was put in each shell, then another spoon of shredded cheese was put over the top. Grill on a fire. Scoop it all on a spoon and eat. Delicious. I hope I can visit Young Stumbler #1 this month in New Orleans and have her cook this for me!

Odd Elevator

Literally. In the new office building, you see, there is an unusual elevator system. Going up from street level, or going down at all, you have to choose either the ODD or EVEN elevator car, depending on your destination or departure floor. There also is a third elevator shaft, serving the basement parking lots, which is really unusual. Coming UP from the basements, you can to directly to any desired floor, odd or even numbered. But going DOWN to the basement, you have to take the appropriate odd or even elevator to the first floor, then transfer to the basement elevator (the basement elevator serves ALL basement floors, whether odd or even). What a system!



Let's consider my colleague CH, and say he parks on the B4 level. Coming to work, he can just use one elevator, going from the basement directly to our office on the 5th floor. Going home, he must use the ODD elevator to take him to the first floor, then change to the basement elevator to go to B4. Got it?

At least the Korean words for ODD and EVEN have been forcibly driven into my brain now, after I unknowingly got on the wrong car. I'm pushing the 5-button, and wondering why it wouldn't light up. I was traveling well past my floor, when finally by pushing random buttons I got the elevator to stop. I got off, and had to take the stairs back down to the fifth floor.

Reminds me of a logic puzzle one of my friend's mother told us once in grade school. There is a man who takes the elevator from his 25th story apartment to the street level every day to go to work. But at night coming home, he takes the elevator to the 18th floor, gets off, and takes the stairs to the 25th floor. After a LONG session of asking only true/false questions to her, we learned that the apartment dweller was a midget who worked for a circus, and could only reach as high as the 18th floor button in the elevator.

Money Lost

T-Money, that is. I wrote about this special device that is used for subway and bus fares (some taxi's reportely will accept it, too) back two years ago. Well, yesterday this two-year old widget (it attaches to your cell phone) broke. It wasn't visibly broken, it just refused to work. I took it to the station clerk, and he tried it on his machines, and confirmed that it was dead.

You know what's coming... Engineer, broken electronics item... You guessed it. I dismantled the thing to see what's inside.



Here is the main brain. Attached to a wire loop antenna and what I'm guessing is an inductor used for impedance matching.



The cool thing is that I could see immediately what was wrong. One of the antenna wires had come unsoldered. I think I know why it broke, too. You'll notice there is a small pocket in the body of the plastic case, which is where the electronics should be located. In fact, it looks like there was some adhesive holding it down. I say was, because when I opened up this unit, the whole thing was rotated slightly, so that the electronics was at the edge, or slightly outside of that pocket. I believe the resulting stress broke off the antenna wire. I simply soldered it back, and hopefully it will work and I won't lose the $6 or so remaining value.


I'll test it tonight and report back.

EDIT: It works! All those years of Engineering school finally paid off!

Hot Yoga

I saw an advertisement the other day on a post, it was promoting "HOT YOGA". I was wondering what exactly "HOT YOGA" was, until yesterday when a large banner on the next building.



It explains is that the Yoga class is held at a temperature of 38 deg C, or 100 deg F, the humidity is held at 60%, and they provide fresh Oxygen! And the official name? "THE HOT YOGA". Not for me, thanks.

Seat, Sparkling

Toilet seat, that is. When I moved into my apartment over a year ago, the toilet seat was partially broken. Well, the inevitable happened and it broke completely last week. I wasn't quite sure how to get new toilet seats in Korea, but some friends suggested I look at the "mart" first (think K-Mart or Walmart). Sure enough, they did sell some at the mart. Quite a large variety, in fact. However, 90% of them were either baby toilet seats or seats for small toilets. My toilet is large (think oval, not circle). There were only 3 that looked like they would fit, and they all three looked unusual. Two of them looked so feminine, I just couldn't bring myself to buy either one (and one of those was about $50!!!). I settled on one that is barely tolerable - I would call it sparkling, and it set me back about $25:



They are very proud of the hardware and hinge construction - you can see those are made from stainless steel:



Sparing you a photo of my dirty toilet, here is a photo stolen from their website (as were all these photos) here's a photo of the installed seat:



Here is the one I couldn't bring myself to buy, even ignoring the high price:



Two final points... in the literature which accompanied this seat, they had a nice diagram highlighting all the features of this toilet seat. Althouh not fluent in Korean, one caught my attention - basically it said this seat will not be cold in the winter. I am not quite sure how they do that - I'm aware of ELECTRIC toilet seats that are heated, but I have no idea how this ordinary seat could stay warm in the winter.

And I can't end this without pointing out that the toilet seat manufacturer's name, DITTO, actually stands for something. According to the corporate introduction on their website:

"infinite Designs and Imiginations for Total Toilet-ware Organization"

The Konglish just doesn't get any better than that, folks! In case you're wondering about a "Total Toilet-ware Organization", they've provided a chart to explain it clearly:

Cong Bee Gee

I think this stew is replacing soon-doo-boo stew as my favorite. But if I thought soon-doo-boo had a unappealing translation (raw soy bean curd stew, or unformed tofu stew), then this stew has a downright awful translation: soy bean curd refuse stew! The "refuse" is defined as the "edible residue left after the production of bean curd".

The texture (and the taste somewhat) reminds me of grits, although with various items mixed in - kimchi, small pieces of pork, and who knows what else. In fact, I remember being served a spicy grits dish back in the USA one time, I think it was a bowl of grits covered with spicy shrimp and/or wings? As for me, I'll keep enjoying soy beans, in both curd form and curd refuse form.

Phone, Foot and Fast Food

I broke my phone the other day, and had to revert to my older phone, which is a little bit flaky. On top of that, I lost the phone book contents. Well, not entirely. I have the phone book backed up on my computer, but the program asks me for a password and I have no idea what the password is! When I used the program before, the phone was always plugged in, and the password was the same as the phone's password. Now, without a phone, it seems to want another password. So, anyonw who sends me a text message these days gets a standard reply "sorry, who are you?" (that has made a few friends a little upset, it seems, until I explain the reason). Also I've found the new phone that I want, but I need more research and money before I take the leap. For now I'll stumble along with this 2003-model phone.

My foot is STILL hurting me. It doesn't look bad, doesn't look infected, it just hurts. Sometimes it REALLY hurts (like right now), and other times it is normal. It seems to be more sensitive after I've been sitting with my foot elevated, say on the foot stool by my sofa. But, usually, I have put my feet on the stool in the first place because the heel was hurting! I've heard it is slow to heal because there is generally poor circulation in the feet. I've also heard it is because of summer-time weather, that wounds take a long time to heal. I don't really care what the reason, I just want my foot to stop hurting. I guess another visit to the doctor is in order.

I almost NEVER eat at McDonalds. When I do, these days maybe once per month or even less, and usually for breakfast. For some reason, within the past 24 hours, I've eaten there THREE times! On a whim, yesterday morning I ate breakfast there. The on the way home last night, I was really tired and didn't want to cook, and I was walking by McD in the train station, and said, oh well, I'll grab a hamburger for dinner. This morning, Saturday, I woke up early, made a few phone calls, and headed to the office. I was going to eat at the Joe's Sandwich shop. Well, they aren't open at 8am on Saturday morning! Right across the street is another sandwich shop, but they too were closed. Sigh... back to McD's again. At least the breakfast menu is on sale this month. Burrrrrrppppppp.

Warning: Food Post

I'm tired of always eating salmon with mashed potatoes and vegetables, even though I think those three really go together well. So tonight I decided to mix it up just a little bit, and made a salmon - vegetable - mashed potato casserole! As usual, I made too much, and there's enough for at least one more meal, if not two. That is, if I can eat it before it goes bad.

Swine Gyeop Sal

I heard that the value of pork is on the decline, since the recent outbreaks of the swine flu (which we're now supposed to call 2009 H1N1 flu, named after the discovered of the virus, Dr. Samuel 2009 H1N1). Consider that they ordered the slaughter of all pigs in Egypt. Korea has strengthened inspections of incoming pork, despite the fact that eating pork is not known to transmit the flu (tip to Joe Seoulman for this report). With this in mind, I was joking to my friend JI the other day that we ought to eat at a pork restaurant soon - the prices would be discounted and they wouldn't be very crowded because of this irrational fear.

JI took my suggestion seriously, and researched pork places on the internet. Therefore last night we went to the one he chose, called "Eight Flavors".



They serve 8 different types of sam-gyeop-sal (which is pork belly meat, similar to bacon, but really thick). Let me try to remember them:

1. Plain (if you can count this as a flavor)
2. Curry
3. Red Pepper
4. Wine
5. Herb

Oh well, I forgot three of them. We had the curry, herb, and red pepper. My favorite was the herb (shown below), although the red pepper came in a close second place.

Stalkee Update

So far, secretly following the life of my new cell phone stalkee via his credit card purchases has been extremely boring. Let's call him KJ (since those are his initials). So far he's only made two purchases, both apparently a pack of cigarettes. One Tuesday night, one again Friday night. That's all. He must be a very light smoker, or he also pays in cash sometimes.

International Burrito

Made a surprisingly delicious burrito today. Beans, spiced tomatoes, and taco seasoning the The Stumbling Mom mailed to me last year. I used some Australian ground beef, and Korean ham (well, it's a ham-like product).

Compared to a Korean, I go through my rice very slowly. So slowly, in fact, I can't remember the last time I bought a bag. Today as I was making the burrito, I realized that I had only a handful of rice left. But, I remembered that I had a bag of yellow rice brought over from America. So not knowing exactly what I was doing, I added the yellow rice to the handful of white rice in the rice cooker and turned it on. It came out great. So let's add Indian yellow rice to my international burrito. Top it off with sour cream from Denmark, and I'm all set. Burp......

(I'm really not looking forward to carrying the 10kg bag of rice from the store next trip)

UPDATE: The last time I made a burito, for some reason it was much better the second day as left-overs. Not so with this burrito. I think the problem is that yellow rice doesn't keep in the rice cooker like white rice. It looked slightly bad today when I made another burrito, and my stomach hurt for a couple hours after eating it. Finally I've made the connection that you shouldn't leave yellow rice in the cooker.

Tweet Tweet

There was an interesting display outside the office this afternoon. The whole sidewalk was lined with cages of birds (and even one cage with rabbits).



Apparently they were brought to the neighborhood by the bird truck:



Here are some of the feathery fellows:

Cell Phone Spy

In Korea, cell phones have their own area code(s). In the past, each major cell phone company had a unique area code, say 010, 011, 016, 017, etc. However, recently the government is transitioning ALL cell phones to the 010 area code, as part of the number portability plan (similar to what we have in the USA, where you can move your number between different carriers). When someone buys a new phone or service, and has an non-010 area code, they change that person's number to be in the 010 area code.

So for example, say I had the phone number 017-123-4567. When getting a new phone, they would try to assign a new number as close as possible. I might get something like this: 010-9123-4567. So, suppose you sent me a text message using my old number. For some period of time (say a month?) the text message would be routed to my new number, and you would receive a text message showing my new number. (Bear with me, there IS a point to all this....)

A few days ago, I received a text message that appeared to be a change of number message. The odd thing was I didn't know him! He wasn't in my phone's address book, and I didn't remember anyone with his name. I was about to send a reply message asking who he was, when I realized the message hid the complete phone number: something like 010-1234-****. Well, I just ignored it.

There is another service here in Korea, using cell phone text messages. When you use your credit card, you receive a text message within a few minutes from the credit card company, showing the name of the vendor and the amount of your purchase! It's a pretty cool feature, and allows you to know almost immediately if your card is stolen and someone tries to run up a bill. And I don't think there's any charge for this service, either. (No, I don't have it myself, although I do get a text message from the bank when a deposit is made).

Last night, I received another text message with this fellow's name. Turns out it was one of these credit card purchase notices - looks like he bought a package of cigarettes with his credit card last night. Apparently he has accidentally registered my cell phone number with his credit card company, and I'll be receiving notices whenever he makes a purchase! Furthermore, my Korean teacher told me this happened with her son's phone before. She called the credit card company, and they had no method to correct this type of mistake! It only stopped when her son's phone number was changed. At least I will be amused following the purchase of a complete stranger.

Missed Photo Ops

Twice today I missed out on good photo ops. I gotta carry my camera with me everywhere I go. First, I saw one of these viola or cello players carrying her instrument in a hard case on her back, like a backpack. I didn't want to be too obvious about taking her picture, so i walked on past her for about 30 yards. She was busy typing a text message, so I figured I had the time. When I turned around to take discretely take her photo with my cell phone, she was nowhere to be found! I have no idea where she could have gone - especially with such a huge instrument on her back.

On the way home in a taxi, we came upon an accident between a cement truck and a miniature motor scooter (not much bigger than a skate board). Amazingly the scooter was still in one piece, but there was no sign of the rider. I believe he must have been on the way to the hospital, and the police were interviewing witnesses. A cement mixer and a scooter - it doesn't get any more unfair than that.

Beer O'Clock 2

Trevor and MY are finally ready to open the new Beer O'Clock. This time they have a partner in crime, Clark. This one is located in Shinchon, on the second floor corner, with lots of windows and a terrace. My job was to install the video and sound systems, and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I'm getting too old for this work, I think. Crawling on the floor, balancing on ladders, and lifting heavy boxes is not as fun as it used to be 10 years ago! The real shocker was when I had my head up in the corner of the ceiling trying to hook up the speaker wire, and I realized the wire and my tools were all blurry! When you need reading glasses with your head in the ceiling, I think that's a sign...

Here are the technical details. A Yamaha 300 watt power mixer. Microphones are available for announcements and any game nights (I remember Pictionary night being particularly fun). The speakers are from Boston Audio, mounted one in each corner of the room. There are three large screen HDTV television / monitors are mounted around the bar. Two of them are 42 inch PDP displays, and one is a 32 inch LCD screen.


This is the mixer and the computer:



Here is the wiring closet:



And the four speakers:

Number Name

Well, I was first introduced to the concept of a number in a name from listening to my Dad's Tom Lehrer records. The introduction to one song went something like this:

I am reminded at this point of a fellow I used to know who's name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelt it HEN3RY. The 3 was silent, you see.

Then I barely remember an interior design store back in the USA that was called Decor8.

In Korea, I continued to encounter this phenomena. Beginning with the singer and dance sensation "Se7en" (his official American website here).

Then we had an office supply store mysteriously called "5ffice". Mysterious, that is, until one day it finally dawned on my thick head that the number 5 in Korean is pronounced "OH", thus giving you OH-FFICE. NOW I get it. I believe this chain has been bought up by Office Depot, however the 5ffice website seems to be still active.

Now we have a singing group 8eight.

So, I have examples using 3, 5, 7 and 8. I guess I need to search for names using 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9. How about S2mbler?

Surgery

I'm sure Young Stumbler #1 won't approve, but I'm wearing my slippers in the office this week instead of my regular shoes:



A few weeks ago, I noticed my foot was sore. I thought the reason was that my shoe inserts (shoe liners, shoe pads?) were getting too old. So, I bought a few sets of new inserts. As I was installing them into my shoes, I happened to rub my heel with my hand, and felt a small bump. While I think my shoe pads needed replacing, the real cause of the pain was this lump. Over the next few days I noticed the middle of the bump turned a little bit black.

Well, I finally went to the doctor yesterday at lunch time. I thought he would freeze it off or maybe apply some acid to remove it. Well, instead, he surgically removed it under a local anesthtic! With CH helping to translate, I understand that this was some kind of corn. I do feel sorry for CH, having to watch the doctor slice into my foot - yuck! The doctor even gave me the corn after removing it! (no, I didn't keep it, I gave it to the nurse to throw away). Then he gave me several stitches IN THE HEEL. OUCH! It hurt so bad he had to give me a second round of anesthetic shots mid-way through the procedure.

Of course in a few days, everything will be all better. But yesterday, I felt that the cure was worse than the problem! My foot hurt far more than it did before I visited the doctor. Walking is real fun now, using only the balls of my feet. This morning it was feeling better, and hopefully by the end of the week it will be normal. I have to go back today to have it cleaned and inspected. Fortunately the doctor's office is just next door to my office.

Oh, I am not allowed to get it wet. No problem, it turns out there are waterproof bandaids just for such a situation. Don't worry, I won't be sharing any gross photos of my sliced and stitched-up heel - just this photo of my unfashionable sandals with socks.

Incredible Popcorn

I saw this package of popcorn at the store, featuring a photo of ME!

Modern Millie

Young Stumbler #3 was in a most excellent musical this weekend. She played the role of Ruth. It was a wonderful production, with great music and a very entertaining play. Here are a few photos:

Airplane Food

Normally airplane food, even in business class, is nothing to write home about. But on the flight yesterday, the meal was especially good. I don't know if that is because of the new plane, or just a change in the menu choices.

I forgot to photograph the first salad/soup course, but it was good, and they served a tomato soup that I actually liked. Next was the main course, which I selected steak, mashed potatoes and green beans:



Next they brought fresh fruit and cheese plate:



Finally ice cream with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream:

New Plane

There was an airplane problem in Seoul apparently, and they had swapped planes for my flight to Atlanta. Turns out this plane is the first in a new fleet of long range Boeing 777-200LR aircraft to be used by Delta. From talking to the crew, it will be used at first on flights that are even longer the Seoul-Atlanta, say flights to Sydney or Dubai. The cool feature of this plane is new lay-flat seats/beds in the business class cabin.





They were very nice as a bed. I slept for more than 8 hours with no problems. As a seat, I think they need to go back to the drawing board however. I felt like I was sitting too high and too far forward. There were lots of neat shelves, controls, etc., but I felt like I had to reach back to get to them. Anyway, I enjoyed it while I could - this plane won't be regularly flying the Seoul routes anytime soon.

Lounge

I'm sitting in the airport lounge at the Seoul Incheon International Airport. This is a fairly new lounge in the new A-Concourse. Apparently Delta flights will be served from this new concourse, as this is my second flight from here.



You can see my plane out the window (with the Delta tail), and another JAL plane as well.

Recycling Claws

I stumbled upon this scene this morning, which is the morning after recycling day. I posted a photo before of all the bags of recycled material, but this was the first time I've seen the next step. He picks up several bags at one time and drops them into this huge truck.

BTW, I've noticed that the recycling consists of probably 60% plastic. There's probably dozens of scientific papers written about this, but I wonder why there are fewer jars and cans?