summer!

It's been much too long... and I know I promised a post on my new flat, but thought I'd catch up on the last few months first... since I don't have any good pictures of the house yet... Maybe later this week if it's sunny...

So, in late May I went to Austria. It was only a few days - and I was there for work, but did actually have a little time to wander around Graz a bit.

The city centre is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. The architecture varies greatly and some of the buildings date back to the 1300's.

This is the 'Mur island' in the middle of the Mur River which runs through the city. Kind of weird how some of the city is so modern and other parts are so ancient.

Since I was there to cover the England v Japan friendly ahead of the World Cup, we had to travel into the mountains to their training camp... It was really beautiful and reminiscent of Switzerland.

From the resort hotel where the team were staying.

The game was pretty rubbish - I don't even remember the score!

In June I got to go to Wembley Stadium for the first time - and to see Chelsea play Portsmmouth in the FA Cup Final... of course, Chelsea won!

Wembley Stadium, before the match.

After we won!

I know people are always saying I have a really cool job, and well, I do. I try to play it down a lot, but seriously, professional football, to awesome music festivals to the Prime Minister's house... We (I) cover it all. And this year, I got to go to the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park again... where Pearl Jam were playing! And while I didn't get an interview with them, but at least I got to see them! (sort of)

Yes, that is Eddie Vedder!

There he is!

And then I got to spend some time with my very good friend from university - Maria! We hadn't seen each other in about three or four years and she happened to be in London for a couple of weeks on an NYU exchange program.

Maria and me in Brixton

In July, Tom and I celebrated his birthday by going to Maze Grill, one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants in London. It was probably the best meal I've ever had in a restaurant!

Happy birthday, my love!

mmm... soft shell crab for a starter.

The best calamari ever!

We both ordered steak... what else would we have gotten?!?

The waiter came around before we ordered and showed us the various cuts of meat and explained the difference and where they all come from. I got the Hereford 21 day grass fed fillet - for a mere £28! and Tom got the same but in rib eye. Then we ordered chips, salad and onion rings for the sides. The meat came with roasted garlic and a sprig of fresh herbs.

So, I've been busy... which is one reason for the lack of posting... Coming up - all about our new home - which is awesome! I promise not to make you wait too long!

it's sunday

As promised in my previous update, here I am!

I encourage you to scroll down and read my last entry, as it was rather comprehensive and there are some nice photos. In case, you don't though, I've decided to post on Sunday every week, just so that there's always something fresh here. It's possible that I may post more often, but Sunday's will be the minimum.

Since I last posted on Thursday, I don't have much to write...

But, on Friday I got to go do an interview again, this time it was for "the Big Story", which was about a celebrity wedding... I got to interview a woman from the Daily Express newspaper. I didn't get to edit or package the video afterwards, which is too bad, but it was still nice to get out and about. The only thing wrong with my interview was that in a few of the shots my microphone is showing... :( boo. It was a particularly bright day and the itty bitty screen on my camera and the fact that I couldn't be looking at it throughout the interview meant that I didn't realise until I got back to the office. Oh well... I still got compliments on the aesthetics of the shot... it does look really nice... check it out here. I think it's pretty obvious which part of the pack I shot, but just in case, it's the woman who is talking throughout and not the shots from Italy!

Friday night, after a few pints with a work mate, I went to see Gnarls Barkley with a few friends. I didn't know who they were until Friday and was told that I would only know one of their songs... and I did. It's that song 'Crazy' that plays all the time... maybe you know it too? Probably. Anyway, it was a good gig (as they call shows here) and afterwards we all went for a couple of drinks a little closer to home.

Saturday was a BBQ at L's, sans L. Her flatmate, K, had a barbee for all her kiwi friends, so I met a load of people and saw a bunch I already knew. There was so much food that I can't even remember everything that we had, burgers, sausages, shrimp, salmon, asparagus, salads of all descript, garlic bread, oh and beer. Lots of beer. The weather could have been better, but it only dripped a little rain on us for about five minutes and then we had clear skies.

Today has been a lovely sunny day, but not too warm. I covered all the basics today, cleaning, laundry, gym... and now, blogging. That's it, I'm done with this week and am almost ready for the next one to begin... hopefully it will be just as good as the last.

a serious update... or january in a nutshell... or it's a really long one...

I can truly say that I brought in the new year with grace and style this year. I think I did anyway. The evening started out that way, kind of. Ok, maybe I'm wrong and it was actually a night of total and complete debauchery... it was so long ago now that the details are fuzzy, though that could also be blamed on the champagne.

Lisa and her most wonderful flat-mate hosted a party - and since I was still living with them at the time, I sort of did too, even though I didn't know very many people there. Lisa and I started cooking the day before - sausage rolls (from her dad's famous recipe), vol-au-vent, dips of all sorts (two Canadian imports - my world-renowned spinach dip and an onion dip). there were meatballs, and plates of veggies - and that's just what we made. There was also a cheese porcupine (you know when the cheese is stuck to toothpicks and they are stuck into a melon to make it look like a porcupine!) sandwiches, crackers, breads, and on and on, like I said, my memory is a little hazy...

The spread at the start of the evening... see the porcupine!?

The bathtub was filled with ice and cold water and the drinks were dumped in. Somewhere in the range of 30 bottles of champagne, as well as unknown amounts of wine, beer, and liquor. (I vaguely remember shots of jack daniels at around 5 am.)

The bathtub at the beginning... should have taken before and after shots...

All we needed were the guests, and like in that famous movie, if you build it they will come... the rest, as they say...

Someone brought these awesome noise making balloons and we all went nuts with them!

It was a truly brilliant night. Sorry there are no photos of me, that's what happens when you're the official photog and no-one knows how a real camera works! Oh well... I think there might be a few shots of me floating around somewhere, but I will likely never see them... and so, neither will you!

At midnight.

The last guests left the party at 7:30 am. If that isn't a night of debauchery then I don't know what is! It reminded of my late twenties when I'd go out clubbing on St. Laurent with the girls *wink wink. Not something I like to do often, but amazing when it happens.

The next day I 'moved' to a different flat a twenty minute walk from Lisa's to (of all things considering my allergies) cat sit. I spent a week there and moved into my own place when my duty was up.

This is when life in London really began for me. No more hanging with people I knew all the time... having my own space... finding my way to work from my new home... getting all the shopping done... and all the other stuff that comes with life.

My room is in a house with seven other people. A Kiwi couple in one room, a (I think) Polish guy, a Columbian exchange student, and three Algerian guys. There is no common room, just the kitchen and two bathrooms, but that's ok. My room is what is referred to as a "double" because it's big - almost, in fact, as big as my apartment in Korea was. (There will be pictures when I tidy up...) It came furnished, almost, but it has everything I need now.

My house. My room is the bottom window.

It's on the first floor and I have huge bay windows that look out on the street. This can sometimes be annoying as I can't leave my windows open, but I don't think I would in London even if I were on the fifth floor! (More on crime in London in another post.) I DO get lots of light though when I want/need it (or when the weather chooses to co-operate!)

In early/mid January, I had a couple of visits with D & A of Korea fame. They finally made their way here after seeing most of Asia, Australasia, Russia and much of Eastern/Northern Europe (I think anyway - check her blog for greater detail - coulda woulda shoulda (doesn't open in a new window, so wait til you finish here!!)) It was kind of surreal to see them here, but it was amazing to have the opportunity. hint hint... anyone coming to london... ?!?!?!

The rest of the month has been mostly work and more work. I work at a regulating body - I'm a spoke in the wheel of bureaucracy... how ironic. It's boring, but it pays for the extraordinarily high rent and cost of living... I just get by really. Sometimes I work overtime on Saturdays.

Sometimes I go into work with Lisa on Sundays - which is incredible. I don't want to name names, but many of you must know where she works, and for me, it is the most amazing place to be learning. If you want more on that you'll have to email me directly, as I need to be more discreet here than in Korea... people... speak... English!

To get to the Tate Modern... follow the orange posts...

I've walked around nice places like Green Park and St James Park (they're both next door to the Queen's house, otherwise known as Buckingham Palace). I went to the Tate Modern a couple of weeks ago, which was one of the nicest museums I've been to... oh the Miro's and Picasso's and Pollacks. I even bumped into an old J-school friend while I was there. Weird.

St James Park

Also St James Park... looks out of a fairy tale...

I will leave you with some pictures and put January out of my mind (and this blog) now... though, if I think of anything, I will let you know.

A black swan at St James Park.

One last thing for January, I hate Haggis for the first time on Robbie Burns Day. It was good, but I preferred the vegetarian version. We even read aloud the ode to haggis... good times.

The Haggi' fresh out of the pot. Veggie on the right.

The meat one being chopped up.

On my plate and ready to go.

Popping Penguins

YAY! got to school this morning and was informed that my popcorn machine FINALLY arrived. my co-teacher had actually called to cancel the order because it was taking so long... and i was certain i'd never get it! but it came!!!! YAY!!! it's the cutest thing ever... and in true korean style it's shaped like a penguin!!! (of all things!)

in all it's penguin glory

first pops!

it's fast and efficient!

anyone who knows me knows how much i LOVE popcorn... i can't live without it. i've been eating the microwave kind for years, but they don't have any light or fat free here in korea... i've gotten so used to light and butter free that i can't really stand the stuff anymore, so this is the perfect solution! i can put whatever i like on it! (usually kernels flavour powder, but i'm all out and waiting for more to arrive from canada... hint... hint... ;~) anyway, just so happy... at least one good thing happened today.

korean cooking adventure

yesterday i was a good girl. i went to school, i went to the gym, and i went grocery shopping. but what made me a super star was looking up recipes to cook before shopping and buying the right ingredients. i wanted to try to make some of my favourite korean dishes (the ones i couldn't stop thinking about after my good/bad post) so i got a recipe for pajeon, japchae, and dokbokki.

i had the dokbokki yesterday - they had a pre-packaged do-it-yourself kit at the store, so i got that... just to make sure i wouldn't be disappointed.

dok bokki

it's rice noodles in a spicy sauce with veggies. mine didn't look as good as the picture above, but i'm sure it tasted just as good. i was surprised that the packaged one turned out so well, and will certainly be buying it again.

pajeon is korean pancakes. 'pa' is green onion, and 'jeon' is pancake, so they're actually green onion pancakes. when i get this at restaurants i usually like it better with kimchi, but i'm actually fresh out and forgot to add it to my list... oops.

pajeon

after making it today, i realized even more why i like it with kimchi, otherwise it doesn't really have much flavour. you're supposed to eat it with a sauce made with soy sauce and vinegar, but that didn't turn out, so the whole thing was a bust. they weren't very good... they'll be better next time 'cause i'll add some kimchi to it.

finally (after the pajeon fiasco i was still hungry) i made the japchae. i love this stuff! in restaurants and now at home too! it totally worked out!

japchae

it's made of sweet potato noodles called dang myun, marinated beef, carrots, egg, and onion. the sauce is made with soy sauce, garlic, green onion, and sugar. mmmm... noodle stir-fry!

i was so proud when i bought the beef yesterday too, since i had to do it at the counter and everything... the woman seemed confused that i didn't want pork, but i managed to get some really nice beef, which they even sliced into perfect strips for me!

like i said, it's always trial and error with the cooking korean, and today was no exception, but it just feels great when you succeed. you're all invited to dinner at mine...eventually!

Whirlwind pt.7

(or more shopping and eating)

we left gangnam around sunset. we were meeting dan at dongdaemun market at 8, so we had some time to shop in this incredible shopping area. i would recommend this place to anyone visiting seoul... the best shopping in the country can be found here.

dongdaemun is the big black spot!

i had been looking for a pair of jeans for two days, but never found anything that fit that wasn't covered in sparkles, glitter or other weird decorations... but i did at dongdaemun. i am now the proud owner of a pair of 100% korean jeans! and actually, after wearing them for a day, they're too big... i should've gone down a size... oh well, at least i know where to go in the future!

all malls... shopping, shopping, shopping...

we ended up in this mall called "doota!" i didn't take any photos... not sure why, maybe i was justso amazed by the floors and floors of clothes, purses, jewelry, shoes, and everything else under the sun... i was dazzled and too busy looking around to take photos... how odd... i'm usually more of a shutterbug... but i got this shot of the floor plan:

'dooche'??? you can see on the map this is just one small section of one floor (there are 8)

a canal just outside the mall... very pretty at night...

after shopping for a few hours, we met dan for dinner. we were looking for tak galbi, but ended up here:
we had bulgogi, which was tasty though there were tons of mushrooms mixed in...in case you don't know bulgogi is meat that is cooked on the table in front of you. you eat it wrapped up in leaves with all kinds of side dishes... sort of like bbq, but cooked in a different way.

after dinner we headed out to the sinchon area (not too far from where we were staying) to look around and have a drink.
this is part of the wall in the subway... there were a ton of these cats performing different sports...something to do with the olympics... this was the best one though... cats with guns!

we ended up walking around the area for a long time before settling on a little bar. i wish i had taken more photos... i just always think they'll never come out when i take them at night, especially with the little crappy camera i have (more on that next post)... as we were walking around we saw a photo store... this is something i have been wanting to do since i learned about them so i was really excited to do this.

basically there are stores that are like those little booths you see in the subway where you can take your picture with your friends, only these are way cooler. you pay about $5 and each person gets to choose a prop. kim wore a wig, dan had a hat, cyndi wore a viking hat, and i had a tiara. you get into the booth (which is much bigger than the ones in the metro):

behind the curtain please!

once you get in there is a little screen so you can see your pose. we needed help since everything was in korean... thank god there was a guy who spoke really good english. first you choose a background - eight of them actually - and then you pose. after the pictures are taken you go around to the side of the machine to 'finish' them.

this computer is used to choose borders and write messages on your photos.

when the process is complete you print them out. you can choose one big one, lots of small ones or a mix of them. we got eight miniature ones - 2 of each as we were only allowed to pick four of the eight shots. here are the two i got:
i finished the one on the right and cyndi did the one on the left... love the "girls night out '07" with dan in the pic!!! it was loads of fun. they're also stickers so you can put them anywhere... you can also buy keychains to put them in, or get a mobile phone dangly thing with your pic in it... i'm just keeping them in my wallet.

after pictures we walked around and saw about a million noraebangs and bars... a lot of the bars in this area look like they could be foreign bars since they're all named after foreign bands like the doors. we ended up at the 'S Bar' for a drink and then ran to get the subway home. but we missed the last one and had to take a taxi.

up next: seoul electronics market and the continuation of the eternal search for merrells.

Whirlwind pt.6

(or the beginning of the eternal search for merrell shoes, mexican food, and english books)

Since we were out so late on saturday we slept in on sunday until around noon. i was excited because we would be going to the gangnam area to look for my merrells (one of the only things i really wanted to do in seoul). let me give you a little background. i have a pair of merrell hiking shoes. i love them. i bought them for my trip to greece many moons ago, about three years. they still look great, but they're falling apart now and i desperately need some new ones. so, about a month ago i went searching online to see if i could get them here. their website listed only one store in korea, and it was in seoul. i knew that i'd be going up there, so i kept the address and phone number and waited. well, sunday was the day we were going to find them... i was so excited.

gangnam... on the other side of the river...

we had to go to the Gangnam area on the other side of the Hangan River. luckily it didn't take too long because our subway station was on the same line. we met kim there too as she was going to take us to a mexican restaurant and then an english book store.

this is from the subway window as were crossing the river.

Gangnam is the most affluent area on the south side of the river. since we were meeting kim, we went for coffee at starbucks to wait.

i took this shot of the street vendors on our way to lunch.
this was a huge intersection and i stopped in the middle to snap a few.
a couple of blocks down the street we came to 'Dos Tacos'.

it wasn't really what i was expecting when i think 'mexican' (i always think of three amigos in montreal) but it was mexican food! the walls were painted bright white and had posters from the US hanging on them. the tables were white plastic and the chairs were multicoloured - not really the kind of ambiance that screams mexican... maybe it was a fusion restaurant before... regardless, we sat down and ordered: two plates of nachos to share (one with meat, one without) kim and cyndi got a burrito to share, i got a chicken fajita, and the other kim got a taco. i was so excited that i forgot to take pictures... sorry!

one side of the menu

the fajita was tasty, but strange as it had mushrooms (which i hate) and it wasn't wrapped up like a fajita, but was in the shape of a waffle cone. i make awesome fajitas at home, and you know when you make something really well, i just never tastes as good in a restaurant... but it was still great.

kim eating the last nacho

after lunch it was on to the bookstore! i was so excited. we have a bookstore in gimhae called "english" but their selection is smaller than what i used to have in my bedroom at home... and they're mostly classics like war and peace... there is another one in busan, but the selection is also quite small and they don't really have any new releases... really what i wanted was a copy of vanity fair which i have been craving since i arrived in september but have been unable to find anywhere.

we got to the store and i have to admit i was a little disappointed since it was Kyobo... the same store we have in busan.

kyobo tower in seoul

but as soon as i walked in and saw the size i knew it would be different... this was, after all, seoul. we headed to the "foreign" section and they had about three or four times more english books than busan. i picked up a copy of "i know this much is true" by Wally Lamb, and "the curious incident of the dog in the night" by mark haddon. i was meant to read it last summer, but never got my hands on a copy, so i'm excited to finish what i'm reading now to get started on it.... anyway, the search for vanity fair was on!

the magazine section was on the other side of the store, so i found my way and started looking. it was amazing how many foreign magazines they had! but oh-so-expensive! Time was 6,000 W which is almost $8 cdn - a total rip off... i couldn't find the VF so i found a guy to help me, but it was kim who ended up seeing it on the rack... it came wrapped up with a copy of seventeen - which is totally weird, but i got them anyway, for 13,000W - around $15... twice the price of what it's supposed to be, but it's worth it!

next we were supposed to go looking for my shoes... and we did, but never found the place... i gave my paper with phone number and address to kim so she could call and figure it out - since she speaks korean - and there was no answer when we tried during the afternoon... she promised to go online to a korean site and figure it out for me and then email the results to cyndi before monday morning... the shoes would have to wait.

stay tuned for more! up next: dongdaemun market and sinchon for drinks

gyeongju - the finale.

in the morning we were woken by someone and told we had to get up or we would miss breakfast. it was already 8 and it was only being served until 8:30. we weren't too fussed about it, since none of us really like to eat rice and seaweed soup in the morning, so we took our time getting up. in a period of about 20 minutes five different koreans came knocking on our door reminding us to get up for breakfast! (on a side note koreans are under the impression that no foreigners ever eat in the morning.)

we missed breakfast.

but that was ok... eileen had some nuts and dried banana, and i had some crackers, so we ate those. at nine all the kids and teachers were rounded up for an english competition. of course, it was outside in the same place as the bonfire the night before, even though it was freezing... and the wind coming off the lake didn't make it any better. after a while emma and i snuck inside to where the competition was moving after they had gotten the contestants down to 200 students instead of 900. the contest lasted for about an hour and half and then we were free.

we figured that since we'd gone all the way to gyeongju that we should try to get some sights in before leaving so we headed out of the amusement park to find a cab. that didn't prove as easy as in gimhae, so we got a lady in a corner store to call one for us. he took us to the bus station downtown so that we could see what time the buses were heading back to gimhae. we didn't have much time because we had plans to go to a friends that evening for our ladies wine and cheese night (also known as "chat n fat" - you can read about it here on kim's blog.)

if we learned one thing, it is that gyeongju is huge. it takes a while to get anywhere, and all the many many temples that cover the place are all quite far apart and not in the center of the city (obviously). so after a sketchy lunch of boiled beef soup, we headed to the nearest tourist site - the Daereungwon Tomb Park.
this is from the entrance. it cost us 1,500 won (~$1.75) to get in. it is the biggest park of tombs in all of gyeongju - 23 tombs, which look like this:
giant mounds of dirt covered in grass. well, to be fair, there are things buried inside of them... though most, if not all, have been excavated. you might remember my post on suro tomb - i thought his was big (compared to the ones you see all over), but as it turns out, i guess he wasn't that important.

it's probably a lot nicer when the grass is green...!

these are the tombs of the royal Kim Family who ruled during the Silla Dynasty. apparently you can walk inside one of the tombs and see the excavated objects, but i guess we didn't get that far, as we had a bus to catch... oh well, next time!
this sign was atop the gift shop that was open! and yes, everything was (price and quality), so i didn't buy anything...

on our way to and from the park we kept seeing stores selling "gyeongju bread" i was really excited because i could read the sign. i know the korean word for bread and sounded out the korean for gyeongju...it's nice to think i may be getting a grasp (however small) on this language. so, we had to get some - gyeongju bread, that is.
this was the shop we bought it at... "barley bread of purity korea", yeah, ok. they're kind of like mini pancakes that have stuff inside. i say stuff, because there seemed to be a couple of different kinds of them in the one box. one of them had red bean paste (sweetened) and the other almost tasted like maple, but we aren't sure what it was. here's what they looked like:
they were pretty tasty and we managed to scarf down a load of them on the bus... we also bought some for the ladies night...

all in all, it was a nice day and a half to break up the monotony of gimhae... and i'd do it again in a heartbeat!