24 hours in Busan

We took a high-speed KTX train to Busan, which is a rougher-edged port city (like Osaka is to Tokyo, or Oakland is to San Francisco). This place is known for its amazing seafood, and has a HUGE fish market compared to Seoul's. It was dumping buckets of rain throughout our first day there (we were only there overnight), but thankfully cleared up the next day.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM BUSAN:

• Strolling through the sad-looking Chinatown, which was actually filled with Russians & Russian businesses/bars, which had "American" names like "Cowboy" and "Texas bar". Go figure.
• Had street food & chigae stew lunches at PIFF Square.
• Checked out Jagalchi Fish Market & bought some tasty items.
• Stayed at the rockin Zen Backpackers hostel, which is run by the ubercool June Park and located in the Seomyeon District.
• At June's recommendation, waded thru back alleys in the storming rain to an all-you-can-eat Japanese-style dinner at Dea Rim Tuna (for about $28 each!), which had multiple courses & small dishes and tons of ultra-fresh tuna sashimi (different cuts), eaten Korean-style wrapped in lettuce leaves &/or nori seaweed sheets & doused in sesame-oil or gochujang chili paste. The beondegi made a cameo appearance on our table.
• Spent a sunny morning at Haeundae beach.
• Had a street-food munch lunch in the Seomyeon Street Food Alley, where we were schooled by the vendors on how to correctly double-dip your fish-cake-on-a-stick in the communal sauce. Oh, yay.
• Was stunned by the gorgeousness of the Lotte department store food court (too bad we were full of rice sticks, fish cakes, and mandoo dumplings from the street food alley).
• Back in Seoul that night, we had a "Chicken and Hof" (i.e. Korean fried chicken and beer) dinner with Peter and his coworker, followed by a hilariously epic struggle for the dinner bill between Marco and Peter... guess who won?

Pictures can be found HERE.

Seoul Food and other bad puns

We went on a trip to Korea and Taiwan with our friends Tammy & Marco for a bit over two weeks, spending about a week in each country. First stop was Seoul, Korea, where we met up with Marco's pal Peter, who was also best man at their wedding. Peter, who was born in Korea, is now living and working in Korea and was an absolutely perfect guide for us stumbly Americans.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SEOUL:

• Peter points out the "symbol of the Incheon Airport" as he drives us via freeway from Incheon to Seoul. All he said was "it's coming up soon, you'll know it when you see it". And when we saw it, you could almost see the big WTFs on our faces. (it's awe-inspiring when lit up at night, so... porn-y.)
• Our first korean barbecue dinner near Hongik University, with lots of Soju and Cass beer.
• Our first (and only) night at Kim's Guesthouse, otherwise referred by us as "Kim's Stankhouse" or "Kim's House of Feet". It's a dirty dirty hostel (fuck you Lonely Planet!) stay far away!
• Thankfully found Hotel NamKyong the next day (just in time for Tammy's birthday). We actually stayed in the old wing of the building during the next 2 nights, and Marco had to call Peter to help us translate via celphone with the non-English-speaking staff.
• Checking out Gyeongbokgung Palace.
• Shopping and snacking on street food in Insadong district. Tried out beondegi for the first time (the smell haunted us for the rest of our stay in Korea).
• Discovering that channels 2 & 4 in Seoul (possibly all of Korea) is porn. 24/7 porn on regular non-cable/paid network tv. Awkward & hilariously unattractive porn.
• BBQ Chicken & fried rice dinner with Peter & his friend June, followed by drinks at Ho Bar, where we met up with Marcy (this cool chick we met on the plane) and her BF Fletcher. Then a night of noreabang-ing!
• Breakfast and morning shopping at Nandaemun market.
• Meeting Peter and his GF at Noryangjin Fish Market where we bought live seafood, had our purchases "prepared" (i.e. rinsed off and cut up) so we can eat them raw.
• River ferry cruise, followed by a tram ride up Seoul Tower. Then an awesomely good pork cutlet dinner at a nearby restaurant that is known for its pork cutlets and serves nothing else but pork cutlets. Damn, those were some good-ass pork cutlets!

Pictures can be found HERE.

Eating silkworm larva ("beondegi") in Insadong:


Drumline on the streets of Insadong:


Curing our post-noreabang hangovers at the Noryangjin Fish Market:

Maui Madness in March

We were guests at the lovely wedding of Russell's pal Jon Suzukawa to his lady love Christine Martinez, which took place on the island of Maui on Monday March 23. In true Jon & Christine style, they had a gangload of activities for their guests, like scuba diving, Pacific Whale Foundation whalewatch eco-tour, the Old Lahaina Luau, and of course LOTS and LOTS of partying!

Most of us stayed in the Wailea area of Maui, since that's where much of the wedding-related action was taking place. But many guests (including the wedding party) got to Maui the week before and several days exploring the island and meeting & getting to know each other. Russell & I stayed at a condo at Wailea Elua Village with his coworker-friend Rachel & her husband Rich Vigil, which was (thankfully) stumbling distance from Jon & Christine's hotel.

Here's a link to the wedding website for those two crazy kids: Christine & Jon in Maui

And here's a link to our pictures HERE (I only posted small pics, let me know if you'd like me to send you any of the full-size files)

We had a mindblowing time in Maui, experiencing the most amazing things, including but not limited to:
- Snorkeling with the sea turtles, and hearing the whale songs while we were underwater
- Close encounters of the baby-whale kind (our slideshow appears below)
- Spotting a playful seal next to our beach
- Having The Best Giant Mai Tai In The World at Humuhumunukunukuapua'a restaurant & feeding their humongous freshwater carp
- Frying panfuls of spam for Spam Musubi in Jon & Christine's luxury penthouse hotel suite

An awesome time was had by all. Thank you to Jon & Christine for making such an experience possible, and for sharing your love of Maui with all of us! Congratulations to the wonderful couple!

Tribute to Momma

Here's a little ditty from Fountains of Wayne, which was THE PERFECT SONG epitomizing everything our family feels about our momma Julie. Her birthday is March 30 (although it's the 29th today, it's technically tomorrow in the Philippines). Happy Birthday Ma!

We're totally gay for Mamma Mia & HSM

Last night, we had one of our movie/dinner theme nights: Mamma Mia (the Musical) and a big fat Greek Dinner potluck. Pictures of our feast can be viewed HERE. Of course the meal was accompanied by generous servings of ouzo, wine, and beer.

We actually started off by watching High School Musical 3. I guess one could argue the Greek connection due to the latent homosexuality of the male leads, but I digress...

Here's a bit of the giddiness that is Mamma Mia:

More Potluck Action (cuz ya can't get enuff!)

And here are some more shots from Tu & Herman (click HERE for the pictures)
Although I'm warning you now, there are a LOT of close-ups. So don't click on that link if you're eating. Or just finished eating. Or if you have eyes. Or are a human being.

Potluck "Off The Beaten Path"

Tu & Herman had the brilliant idea to hold a "Bizarre Foods" type of Potluck dinner. Or as they described it, "The theme behind this event is for everyone to share a dish that is 'off the beaten path', something a little exotic/fear factorish or just a little different." Everything was surprisingly delicious, even though I was reeling from all the rich fatty mystery meats the next day.

Russell & I chronicled the evolution of the two dishes we brought: Lengua in creamy mushroom sauce and Sisig, two traditional Filipino dishes that we actually had & really liked during our visit to the Philippines. Pictures of our food preparation in all its gory details, as well as the MUCH more appetizing pictures of the delectable potluck dishes, can be found HERE.

Of course no party of this sort would be complete without that Filipino party staple: The Balut (fertilized duck embryo). Here are some slideshows of balut-eating in progress:

Justa's does a shot of Balut


Tu's turn to eat Balut at her potluck


It took a while to convince Billy, Marco, and Jason to do it, but they succumbed to peer pressure and took the Balut Challenge