At a Thai place on B2 floor at Gangnam Finance Center in Seoul, Yeoksam Station Line 2.
50 minutes ago
Blueberry latte before the Christmas brunch with S and S in Itaewon, just around the corner from the Flying Pan cafe/restaurant. Flavoured lattes such as blueberries are more common here in Asia than in the West.
I met a wise Asian tiger once at an office opening event.
He told me the importance of prioritising even the small tasks, because they will grow to be too huge to handle if left unattended.
Equally important was time, or time zone, management. Three important emails, from London, Singapore and San Francisco, arrive at the same time all requiring your special attention. Which will you attend to the first? Well, from Seoul, the order will go from Singapore, London and then San Francisco. In the direction of the Sun rising, so each receiver can open up their inbox in the morning to see my replies waiting for them.
Lastly, are you happy? Answer it well, it will show if you are a positive or a negative person.
On an after note, my younger cousin TH adds that to speak well, you must first listen well.
All very valuable advices. Thank you.
He told me the importance of prioritising even the small tasks, because they will grow to be too huge to handle if left unattended.
Equally important was time, or time zone, management. Three important emails, from London, Singapore and San Francisco, arrive at the same time all requiring your special attention. Which will you attend to the first? Well, from Seoul, the order will go from Singapore, London and then San Francisco. In the direction of the Sun rising, so each receiver can open up their inbox in the morning to see my replies waiting for them.
Lastly, are you happy? Answer it well, it will show if you are a positive or a negative person.
On an after note, my younger cousin TH adds that to speak well, you must first listen well.
All very valuable advices. Thank you.
Poule au pot is one of the classic French countryside cuisine. Bread is stuffed into the chicken and lots of vegetables are added for the broth soup. This is a truly cold weather affair.
In both cases, a stuffed whole chicken in broth.
It snowed through the night of Christmas eve, and so I woke up to a white Christmas. It was such a beautifully crisp, albeit chilly, blue day.
Christmas drink was a can of imported beer.
A work colleague M baked us a lemon pound cake.
How was your Christmas this year? Happy holidays lovelies! I'm off on holiday down South for a few days, yay!
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| Thank you S for the photo :) |
Christmas brunch! This year I spent the Christmas day with some good friends from New Zealand in Korea. Since I was craving some eggs' benedict for some time, we headed to Itaewon, exit 2, to the Flying Pan.
There are three branches of the Flying Pan restaurant - blue, white, and red. We were at the 'blue' branch today. Even though it was a freezing day there were already many people dining inside when we arrived. With a waiting list.
Since I didn't want to go anywhere else - I've been wanting to come here for ages! - we waited at another cafe until we got the call to come in.
The eggs' benedict wasn't that great, to be honest. The Hollandaise sauce wasn't fantastic. However, the Gangnam style pancake menu was better. The savoury taste of bacon and scrambled egg with the sweetness of pancakes combined. For dessert we had Kahlua tiramisu which was perfectly alcoholic and the portion was large enough to be enjoyed between the three of us without disappointment.
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The Flying Pan cafe & restaurant - Blue
123-7 Itaewondong
Yongsangu, Seoul
(Itaewon Station exit 2)
ph. 02 793 5285/010 2278 3866
The year 2012 began in NZ Aotearoa but took me over to South Korea half way, with a brief visit to Japan.
These were some of my goals for this year.
- Fun with friends and family
- Lots of good work - uni and otherwise
- Keep in touch with friends
- No new clothes (nor second hand clothes) shopping!
- No boys... for a while.
- Happy happy smiles 2012 :)
Thank you Dad and Mum for always supporting me in all that I do, despite my inability to stay in one place for long. I miss you so much this Christmas we are spending apart! I miss talking to Mum, even if on the phone, regularly. The only memory of being with Dad seems to be the wine tasting in July :( Hopefully we will be able to spend some more time together next year.
My little sister, C, thank you for being my flattie for the half-year. It's been interesting, and we've both experienced a lot. Thank you Gran, also, for letting me live with you for the rest of the year, though now you are away. It's not always been an easy time sharing a space with someone who may be close in blood but have not really been close physically before.
Thank you M for being such a lovely friend. You have let me dump all my junk to you while I am away, you trust me with your secrets and I am lucky to have you as my confidante as well. I miss op shopping with you and your house parties.
Thank you A for our almost-daily chats. We've moved from Facebook and Skype to G Chat and App talk. We are chatting even as I write this :) I guess we have evolved in a way, and yet we are still the same. How annoying that we are never in the same place at the same time. Anyhow, I'll talk to you later.
H, your hen party and wedding were definitely one of the memorable events of this year, they were so fun and you were so beautiful! Thank you for inviting me to your special day, and I hope you and E are enjoying the new house.
Thank you for being my Valentine, D. I hope the chocolates have left your fridge by now, please. You've worked so hard this year, so enjoy your Summer holidays while you can. Am waiting by the post box, and for March.
Hey, C, I really enjoyed the epic Tongariro trip, so thank you. As well as the meat parties at your place. Hope you and G have a wonderful end-of-the -year together. I haven't been able to use the rolling pin as much this year, but I can't wait to use it again to bake soon.
C de mi lugar de comidos favorito, ?como estas? Aun pienso que estas mono como los Beatles ;) Gracias por el tiempo divertido, jaja.
Thanks C for joining me on my cafe explores, in Downtown Auckland, especially to Mezze (but then everyone's been to Mezze because of me, haha), and Whangarei. Finally, Whangarei, haha. See you next year!
Thank you C for the wonderful surprise birthday call, it was totally unexpected and had totally made my day.
S, thank you for the Round the Bays, it was so fun to train and then to run it with someone. I was so proud of ourselves ;) I miss going to the art gallery (and the café) with you. I can't wait to meet you again in a couple of days' time!
J, thank you for being such a nice supervisor. I know I promised you pictures, and I will send them soon!
Thank you N for coming to visit us in NZ earlier this year. It was fun showing you around my little corner of the world. Waiheke island and Queenstown! Thank you also for helping me out in Seoul. I hope our trip away this week will be just as fun.
Dakujem, M, best cooker. Korea is getting colder and colder, it's a white Christmas this year. Too cold! Have your exams finished? Ahoy :)
Auntie N, thank you for taking care of me while I'm here in Seoul, worrying over me. We will go on a date as soon as possible in Itaewon.
Thank you R for helping me move in that hot Summer day, borrowing your mate's van to load my bed and beloved armchair. Guess what. I had to sell them both :( But still. Still planning to go to Aus, or are you already there? Haven't talked to you in a while.
Hey K, hope you are having fun in Malaysia with your family. Sorry I couldn't help your bro's gf out. Thank you for honest opinions, as always, and especially this year, the wonderful birthday dinner you took me out to :)
Thank you K for choosing me as your bridesmaid, despite being so far away when I said I wouldn't leave until your wedding day. I can't wait to see you soon in your white dress!
Merci Séoul pour le stage à FKCCI, pour l'équipe super. Merci R pour ton aide importante, et Y pour le voyage à Busan. Vous êtes très mignonnes les filles ! Merci F et H et D et T pour le tour de Séoul. Merci pour le réunion de 7 ans avec A, et pour les dates avec J.
En plus, X, je suis desolée qu'on ne parle plus à FB, boohoo. Bientôt j'espère ! And, last but not least, D, tu me manques !
Thank you everyone for making 2012 such a wonderful year. A lot had happened, and you all took part in it. Please have a safe and fun end of the year, and cheers to an awesome 2013!
The last networking event of the year organised by my department at work was rather a quiet one. No crowds of young people to drown out the venue, plenty of food for everyone, and enough wine, too. Sweet dessert to wind down the day with.
My goodness, it's Christmas eve, ALREADY?!! How time flies! I remember last year today I had landed in Christchurch in time to spend Christmas with my family, back from Paris. Sadly this year I will not be with them, but hopefully I will be able to talk to them on the phone a bit. Also to a few more loving friends back home and elsewhere.
JOYEAUX NOEL TOUT LE MONDE ! MERRY CHRISTMAS! FELIZ NAVIDAD! 메리 크리스마스!
Hongdae is a good place to hang out for all the food eatery choices available, but it can be a little hard to navigate through so many side streets. After Lomography M wanted to find me this restaurant, but we were lost. Along the way, was Plan B. Well, we were hungry, so this will have to do. Plus, how well named for our situation!
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2F, Sangsu-dong 146-19, Mapo-gu, Seoul
02 322 3668
Taking advantage of some quiet time at work, I sneaked a visit to the Lomography site. I have taken an interest to analogue photography last year, and especially the fun Lomography cameras thanks to D.
D is proud owner to two Lomography cameras - a Diana with various colour strips, and a Fish eye. With these cute light toys she makes wonderful nostalgic memories, printed and stuck on her walls in Paris.
I got to visit Lomography stores in Paris and Barcelona last year. When I found out about the Lomography store being in Hongdae, Seoul, I knew I would have to search it out during my stay here.
On the Friday afternoon I looked up the site to find the exact address, I was also made aware of a film preview screening in-store, on the same evening, at 7pm. Perfect timing, I could go there straight after work! The other reason pushing me to go that night was because they were offering 10% discount vouchers to those who attended the screening. Yoopee, I am so going to get one of their products for myself before I leave (I love giving myself gifts, though I shouldn't spoil myself so often).
Lomography Seoul isn't the easiest place to find. I almost regretted having tagged along a colleague, because I felt so bad about being lost. We tried to calm our hungry stomachs with soft drinks and popcorns as we took seats on the beaten leather couch in front of the screen.
The movie with previewed here because some of the shots were made using one of Lomography products. They were recognisable by their long thin horizontal strip sequences, with more subdued colours. We were half an hour late, but the screening hadn't started yet. The director and actors were chatting amongst themselves. I love indie movies, the small cosiness of the screenings. Unfortunately, the movie was more than an hour long, longer than we were prepared to stay. Plus the storyline was not appealing to either of us. I was expecting a more pretty dream like storyline that depicts Lomography for me.
The film was in fact about a dysfunctional American couple living in Korea, with all the typical cultural misunderstandings, mostly unflattering though true in many cases. The film talks about cultural differences, which inevitably goes into racism, as well as male and female relationship and sexist differences in both cultures. For example, it is okay for the American girlfriend to wear a mini dress for dinner because: one, she wants to look nice and sexy for her unromantic American boyfriend, and two, because over the knee is not considered short in Korea unless it's practically up to the waist.
We only saw a little bit before we decided to leave for dinner, so I don't know how it ended, but I wish the film crew all the best for their project. I was happy with the discount voucher on my part, and cannot wait to get my own Lomography camera soon, though I should probably work on shooting better first.
Bonjour !
A block from our work is a cute little white corner cafe. Since the beginning of December work has calmed down so much so that we can even afford to enjoy a little relaxing tea/coffee time. Imagine! Time to breathe! Perhaps another reason I love Christmas time, when everything starts to wind down.
Much awaited visit to Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art near Hangangjin station in Seoul, to see the current Anish Kapoor exhibition. He is showing everywhere in the world right now!
His use of pigments colours, red, blue, yellow, white, are beautiful. There are a lot of red in his work. "Red blacks are different from blue blacks." Darkness is always the subject of his works, and the space between the inside and the outside.
Jaws ddukbokki has the spiciest ddukbokki of any ddukbokki places I have been so far. They seem to get spicier each time I go, whether it be for lunch or dinner. Nevertheless, it is my favourite ddukbokki place in Seoul. Probably because it is also the place I have been to the most, due to its proximity to work.
Other than the spicy sauced rice cakes, Jaws also serves soondae differently from other places. Jaws' soondaes have nuts inside, and it's definitely one of the main reasons I like about them. Also, the odengs here are really nice. Despite the small size of the interior, they definitely have lots of flavours packed inside. All the workers here are male, though that hasn't really been entered into the flavour factor equation...
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Jaws ddukbokki - Yeoksam Station (exit 8)
1F, Yeoksam-dong 670-21, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Ph. 02 556 5435
www.jawsfood.com
Budae chigae is a simmering stew containing white beans and meat, often containing sausages. It is known as, literally, the "Army Stew", for its historic origins. Back in the days during and after the Korean war, Koreans managed to get by with left over or handed out meat from the US Army base such as Spam, ham and sausages, and baked beans.
Budae chigae is easy to make. Just put whatever meat and vegetables are in hand. Spam, ham, sausages, and pork are favourites, cut in small chunks. Since this is a Korean dish, of course something spicy is welcome. Chilli paste and kimchi are usual additions, as well as baked beans and ramen noodles. Everything goes into a pot, enough water is added, and boiled then simmered.
While eating this with French colleagues for lunch, an interesting comparison was made between the Korean budae chigaes and French cassoulets.
Cassoulet is a famous country dish from the South West of France. A hearty winter stew, comprising of similar ingredients as the Korean budae chigae - white beans and meat, simmered in the same fashion.
Korea and France have totally different cultures, yet there are certain similarities to be found, such as this simple dish, with many variations on both sides, which portrays their popularities in their native countries. Budae chigae/Cassoulet is not the only example, either, as I will show you, another time!
Budae chigae is easy to make. Just put whatever meat and vegetables are in hand. Spam, ham, sausages, and pork are favourites, cut in small chunks. Since this is a Korean dish, of course something spicy is welcome. Chilli paste and kimchi are usual additions, as well as baked beans and ramen noodles. Everything goes into a pot, enough water is added, and boiled then simmered.
Cassoulet is a famous country dish from the South West of France. A hearty winter stew, comprising of similar ingredients as the Korean budae chigae - white beans and meat, simmered in the same fashion.
Korea and France have totally different cultures, yet there are certain similarities to be found, such as this simple dish, with many variations on both sides, which portrays their popularities in their native countries. Budae chigae/Cassoulet is not the only example, either, as I will show you, another time!
Favourite Japanese place near work. I love Japanese food, think because I like seafood so much, thus this is one of my favourite work lunch places. This place is always crowded with other workers from surrounding office buildings nearby. No one brings lunch from home here.
Wabisabi
1F, 674-16 Yeoksam-dong Gangnam-gu
Madness. What a crazy crowded city I live in right now. Way too many people packed into a small area. Claustrophobic attack!!
Here is an orchid plant I look after at work. It was a present from one of our member companies, sent to congratulate us on our move to a new location. Orchids are lovely. We have them all over our office, and I wish I could have them at my place wherever that may be, sometime soon. I will one day present Mum with one too, because she equally wants them. Orchids are not the easiest plants to tend to, I heard (and witnessed), but this one seems to be holding up well under my care. They don't like too much water - not too often, either. Here's to hoping they won't die on me while I take care of them, for another month and a half still.
I got my hair cut recently at a local hairdresser's, and it was the most fancy one I've ever been to. The place was big, and bright. The hair technicians were all pretty young, there were many who came to get their hair treated. I had to wait around twenty minutes to be served, but during the waiting time I was given complementary drink of my choice plus two biscuits. Wow. The hair came out okay. I had just wanted a simple cut, in level with my mouth.
Early winter seems to be the kimchi making period, that spicy fermented Korean national dish that is meant to be so healthy and disease preventing. It's a side dish that pretty never leaves a Korean dining table, and Koreans cannot live without it. In fact, you are not Korean if you don't like kimchi, they say.
I certainly am not a kimchi addict, I don't search it out or crave it, and my chopsticks don't really find their way towards the dish often. But I was interested enough on learning how to make the cabbage kimchi when Aunt N asked me if I would like to join her at Gran Y's place one Saturday morning.
Gran had already prepared everything and had done the hard bits the night before for us when we arrived. All the adults of our extended family turned up to help for the day. Though in reality it was only Aunts G and T who actually got their hands dirty, while I helped with bringing the ingredients over as necessary and packaging the containers in the end, Aunt N dishwashing when all was finished, and the uncles discussed real estates.
Sliced and chopped radish act as fillers between the cabbage leaves. These fillers are spiced up with chilli powder, salt, shrimps, garlic, sugar... Then mixed. Green cabbage leaves are mixed in. The handfuls are slobbered between each Chinese cabbage leaves, which are then put into big kimchi containers to be put into kimchi fridges and fermented. They are taken out and eaten little by little, as desired, all throughout winter. Depending on how many families need to be provided for, it can be a big or a little task.
It was a cool early winter day, beautiful, with no clouds in sight.
I love visiting Gran Y, even though she lives in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do except to watch TV and sleep. Maybe that's why I love it.
What a weird looking pair of radishes! Looks more like Ginseng.
Traditionally, when people used to live in proper houses instead of apartments, and before kimchi fridges came about, kimchi and other foods were stored outside in pots like these.
After all the kimchi are made, it's usually bossam time. Bossam is eaten by wrapping fresh kimchi leaves with steam cooked pork pieces wrapped with fresh green leaves. Yum. I don't like soft kimchi in soups at all, but I do like crisp fresh ones with bites.
Gangnam Finance Center connected through Yeoksam Station on line 2 has many selections of restaurants for the office workers in the area. It's always crowded and there are many foreigners about too. The last time we tried a Korean chicken place, but this time round M and I went to Tomatillo, for some Mexican food. Mmm!!
Tacos for M, burrito for yo, filling to the max.
As always, tacos are better soft than hard, in my opinion. It's easier to eat when the shells are soft. Also, as with any wraps such as burritos and kebabs, the dripping sauce in the lower end always poses a bit of a problem for me. Less sauce please, perhaps? At least it's not the actual fillings that fall out, as is the case with me when eating hamburgers. Maybe it's something to do with my small mouth...
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Tomatillo, the Taco place - Yeoksam GFC
Open 7 days a week
M-F 7.30am - 10pm
Weekends 11am - 10pm
GFC (Star Tower) B2, 737 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
02 2112 3883
www.tomatillo.co.kr
Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld is also a professional fashion photographer. He is currently holding an exhibition in Cheondam-dong, Seoul, titled, "the Little Black Jacket."
In the Museum Beyond Museum situated in one of the richest areas of Seoul, huge posters of celebrities and other famous artists are lined up, all dressed in the iconic Chanel jacket. In black, and each in their own styles and interpretations, as it were.
One of my favourites. Love it! They are handing out posters at the exhibition, but the choices are limited, though they do go round in rotations. They didn't have him when I visited on Saturday, though, drats.
The dim black and white ambiance added to the 'artistic' value of the place.
J, R and I were glad to have gone early in the morning because people kept arriving more and more.
Sofia Coppola.
Karl Lagerfeld is a talented man.
Alexander Wang!
Photos are shown on two levels; Carine Roitfeld, former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, poses as Coco Chanel, the creator of the classic little black jacket.
Karl Lagerfeld's Little Black Jacket books, stacked up, looking a little like pizza boxes, I thought, haha.
