The Hungry Cat

Yummm... being a foodie, I'm obsessed with watching "food porn" as Monica calls it. Today I discovered The Burger Register and I've been looking and drooling at burgers all day!

This one from The Hungry Cat called the Pug Burger looks especially delicious.

“THE PUG BURGER”
MEAT BLEND: 80/20 Ground Chuck
MEAT SOURCE: Niman Ranch
TOPPINGS: Avocado, uncured pork belly, bacon, blue cheese, lettuce, red onion, aioli
PATTY WEIGHT: 8 Oz.
COOKING METHOD: Grilled
TYPE OF ROLL: Toasted, sliced rustic roll from LaBrea Bakery
PRICE: $16
ACCOLADES: “The pug’s salty burst of flavor fusion is almost like a sense memory of what beef should taste like.” - Matt Diehl, L.A. Citybeat

Taken from The Burger Register. 

Ah! Packing's such a biotch!

The End of My Time as a Lecturer

I gave my final lecture in my time in Korea today. I feel good and relieved. No more stressing and over-night planning. YAY!

I ended up wearing the same outfit I wore to my last lecture, down to my shoes. Shhh! It's a secret. 

Today was, in a way, very eventful. 

I went on my first 소개팅 "group date(???)" today.

My friend Ryan introduced Jane and I to his friends. 

There's not much to say about the event because I don't see a future and it wasn't too memorable. Just the fact that I went to this event is memorable. 

Anyway, I wish I were friends with Vintage Victuals. Then, she could make me some blueberry streusel muffins. 

Don't they look delicious? Ah... my sweet tooth craves this. 

Hot Pink...

This girl, Anni J., caught my eye today on Lookbook. 

I'm going to wear my sailor cardigan tomorrow. :)

Lecture

Ah! Tomorrow, I'm giving a lecture to 50 teachers on how to incorporate English drama/role-play into the national English curriculum. Not only am I too young and under qualified to be giving a lecture to teachers, especially on drama which I have no business doing, but I am also well under stock in the professional-lecture-clothes area. 

Summertime in Korea means really hot and humid weather. This, for clothes, means taking a long time to dry after washing. This leads to infrequent laundering of the clothes which also means no clean clothes that are wrinkle-free and ready to wear for a 3 hour lecture in front of educators who depend on you to give a spectacular lesson on how to use drama in an English lesson and how to make your students, who do not speak English, perform an award-winning play. Wow that was a long sentence. It reminds me of Korean graduate students whose writing I cannot understand due to run-ons and lack of punctuation marks. 

Errrkkkk....

Hope I don't look like an idiot tomorrow. 

On a lighter, brighter note, I sent home a few boxes worth of fall and winter clothes. This action has made packing a bit easier and lighter for me. Yay!

G'damn! Packing: Where to Start?

Completely lost right now on my packing situation. Two suitcases are packed, but they're not the ones that I'm taking home. They are filled with clothes I'm sending and they all need to be dry-cleaned, but I don't have time!!!

I was supposed to start packing today and I began, but I just didn't know where to start first, so instead I laid in bed all day.

Now I'm about to go out to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince with my friend Shane Summers. Got a breezy ring to it ay? Sigh... I'm just cursing to and at myself for not knowing the techniques of packing up an apartment where I've lived the past year of my life. 

My room is a mess, but not because I've been productive. The suitcases that I am taking are open but empty. Sigh.

Anyone is free to help me!!!

Visiting My Homie Kim Jong Il at the DMZ

Back in May, Carly and I went to visit my good friend (jk) Kim Jong Il at the DMZ. 

We risked our lives by going underground N.Kr and climbing hills to spy on our Northern friends. We went with a big 외국인 (foreigner) group with which we toured, home-stayed, and planted rice. 

A bunker

Under N.Kr. They never even suspected.

The million stairs we climbed back up to safety.

The border.

What used to be a train is now only a skeleton.

This is where South Koreans were kept prisoners and tortured and killed.

We were unsuccessful at searching for mines, so we gave up.

Then we went to go plant rice. Some sexy boots ey?

Some friend I made. We were excited to plant rice and do some manual slave labor for North Korea. jay kay

After standing in the hot sun and mud for a few minutes, I decided planting rice was not as fun as I had originally thought.

Working hard.

Then, the man in the blue decided to release some fish into the mud water for us to catch. Can you tell I'm really excited and concentrated? It's my Amazonian heritage coming out.

This girl was a fan of sashimi and another Amazonian sista.

I was absolutely ecstatic. 

Then I realized I had just caught a disgusting, slimy fish with my bare hands. Not so ladylike. 

Time to wash up.

We had some yummy watermelon and matgurli (rice alcohol that's sour and kind of really gross). 

We hitched a ride on the back of a truck while others decided to walk a mile. I felt like I was in Mexico. 

We've become so Korea, shielding ourselves from the sun.

All my hard work in edible form. 

Our tour guide said this is the Niagara Falls of Korea. ermmmm...

Carly and I had planned to go bungee jumping with the rest of our group, but then we were attacked by stomach issues.

Instead, we decided to watch this speedle in complete fascination. It could fly too!

We climbed a lot of stairs that weekend. These lead us to a waterfall.

Not much of a waterfall... Carly doesn't look to0 happy about that. 

KJI brought me some North Korean alcohol. 

The main man himself!

What a fine looking gentleman. :)

Although it was fun to play spy for a couple days, I'm happy to be back in the South away from danger and nuclear bombs. 

A Whirrr of Color and Fabulosity in Seoul

I went to Seoul a few weeks ago to visit my wonderful friend Cindy who I had not seen in years. I had a fab time with her -  walking around and shopping in Hongdae and Myungdong. We sipped on wine and tea and even had Indian food prepared and served by Indians. 

Here are some things I saw.

Hongdae is an artist's scene. Art students from Hongik University have a flea market on Saturdays where they sell their own work. It was so much fun to be surrounded by everyone's creative flair. 

I really liked these  cute recycling baskets that look like laundry hampers.

Korean rockband with female vocalist - Hongdae has a playground where bands have open shows sometimes. There's also a dj there on some nights (usually weekends). It's a fun place to chill with some drinks or street food. 

The flea market is also in the playground. It gets really busy and crowded, but it's definitely worth a browse. There are many cool treasures to find - mostly handmade too!

All the people you see are pins that were hand sewn and painted.

So cool, right? All the people look so lonely. I wanted to take them all and give them a home.

Hongdae has a lot of nice cafes. They can be quite overpriced though.

Look! A shiny asteroid decided to park itself in someone's window. 

Cute cookies I found in a cool menswear store.

This store that I don't remember the name of had such amazing menswear items. I love everything about this summer chic ensemble from the hat to the funky cardigan to Karl's privates covered with Chanel's rose to the oxfords. So awesome.

This reminded me of Michael Jackson. He passed away while I was in Seoul. RIP.

These silver oxfords are so bomb. Helmet and shoes - modern space fashion.

This orange linen blazer was what made me walk into the store. I want a man who can pull something like this off. 

Well-done street art/graffiti is so cool and fun to look at. Cindy and I happened upon these.

This is my friend Cindy 지하 Kim. 

We first met the summer before 9th grade. It was our mutual friend Chris' birthday and being a resident of Valencia, he decided we should go to Six Flags. 

In 8th grade I was kind of a full-on tomboy. Cindy wore a white blouse and skirt with pretty girly sandals and her hair pinned in a girly fashion, while I wore tattered sneakers and overalls with my uncombed hair tied back. We were opposites, but as they say: opposites attract!

Anyway, we went to high school together and we shared many intimate conversations together. We used to always sit in the back of our art teacher Ms. Licht's class and chatter away about the most random things - mostly gross, embarrassing, or racy things. Ah... I miss those days. My boyfriend in high school and Cindy hated each other and they probably still do, but I guess we all know who I decided to side with, because he's something of the past and Cindy and I are well... I still love her. 

Introducing CINDY!

She's such a cutie. She's lived in Japan for the past year and before that in Korea and before that she was an Illustration major at Pasadena Art Center. She's a talented beauty.

I stayed at her place for two nights. This is the garden on her veranda.

I couldn't not buy something. I don't go to Seoul very often. 

I was in dire need of underwear so I bought these. Pretty?

One of my favorite things in my closet right now. 

Cindy made this for me. 

Some stuff I like to wear.

Spending time with Cindy was like eating cake and sipping tea. Delicious.

I'm outie!