But this is not about the Korean food that I had at East Coast Park last night. This is about the Korean food that I had in Seoul. And only one word describes it – AMAZING. 

Disclaimer #1 – This entry will never do justice to the world of Korean cuisine. In fact what I am going to describe will just be the 10% of the iceberg, but no matter. You can just read it as an initiation of sorts if you belong to the 0.12% that knows nothing about Korean food.

First of all, the side dishes. These are staples at any Korean kitchen table. Primarily kimchi – preserved vegetables with tinged with salt and spice, there are also others like big beansprouts, potato salad, fried egg, seaweed salad, braised egg – it goes on and on. These side dishes typically comes complimentary (but usually not at Korean restaurants in S’pore – dammit) and you can ask for refills. For those wanting to tighten the purse strings, you can get by with just ordering a main dish of meat, and then stuff yourself with on the side dishes with rice.

Main dish – Ok, I don’t know about anyone else, to me, main dish = meat, meat, meat. And not just any meat (ok, well, yes, beef, pork or chicken) but FATTY meat. Yes, if the slices of meat doesn’t have shiny, shimmering streaks of white to offset the red, then it is not meat. NOT.

An example –

check out the rows of fats...

Then the meats are placed on a hotplate or BBQ grill or on top of coals – whatever that will cook it, I am not fussy. When the juices simmer and the meat turns a delicate shade of brown, then it is time. You take the piece of meat, place it on a piece of lettuce, smear some bean sauce on it, topped with some slices of garlic and cut chilli, then wrap up the lettuce, and pop it in your mouth. 

Me? I usually skip all the above, and just dip the piece of meat in the bean sauce or sesame oil and in it goes. 

I cannot describe fully the sensation of that first bite on the fats, when the flavorsome burst of juices explode in your mouth and as you continue chewing, the fine texture of the meat and as the taste hits you fully, it is bliss. Seriously.

Repeat the above (like 20 to 30 times).

Of course there are other Korean dishes like fried pancake, rice cakes, kimchi/toufu/seaweed soups, stone bowl rice, ginseng chicken etc. But really, they are like the concubines to the emperor – there to provide some variety and distraction but nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the empress who wields all power.

Ok, I know I will die of clogged arteries and high blood pressure and whatnots. But we all gotta die, so die happy.

Korean food, anyone?

Disclaimer #2 – I am sure there are inaccuracies – factual, biased or otherwise in the above (for those in the know, a parallel would be my camera buying “tips” to a colleague some months ago). But hey hey, this is my blog. So what I say reigns supreme. Hah.

*bahp joo-seh-yo – give me that food! (please)

When I first heard of it, I admit that the first thought that came to mind was – How do I get out of it? Yes, not setting a very good example, but I simply did not have time to finish my work, much less “waste” two days at an ulu camp with no internet access, just for team bonding. It also didn’t help that pictures of the campsite and dorms really brought back memories of my school days’ camps where a high degree of tolerance for dirt, sweat and smell (besides your own) is crucial.

However, senior management “decreed” that unless we have a very good reason why we cannot attend the retreat, all staff must go and also to spend the night.

Ok, so the part about team bonding, especially with colleagues from other divisions didn’t really apply in our case (because when we had to spilt into groups, the COM division people somehow sorta stuck together – but that didn’t turn out to be a bad thing since our division was big and I didn’t know a lot of them well anyway). Neither was my team the most “on” (case in point, we failed to win any of the team activities or games. Ha). And of course, you have the usual detractors who after the first day, decided to simply leave because at their age, they shouldn’t be made to look silly and participate in activities that will leave you wet, dirty and smelly.

But as you have already guessed, I actually had fun. True, we weren’t the most “on” team however, we did display a degree of team spirit and co-operation. We participated and we tried to do our best & we encouraged one another. Sure, I know some of us were disappointed that we didn’t win anything but it was never about winning only. And I learnt things about my colleagues & friends that I never knew – that Kel was such a good sport after her “epic” fall, that Harold was a natural leader who had the ability to motivate & inspire, that Naiz was a good catcher and didn’t flinch when he got wet countless number of times during one of the games, that Peiling was such a reassuring motherly figure to have around and many, many more.

Oh and at night, there was booze and music (and for a short while, they played mambo music! J ) and it was such a nice feeling to just chat with some of my colleagues in the wee hours of the morning. I was reminded of my school days’ camping trips and I realised that I really missed those days. Of course, gone were the days when I could pull an all nighter (although I remember when I did that during my uni orientation camp, I was so sleepy the next morning that I nearly ended up with my face in a bowl of fishball noodles at breakfast as I nodded off to sleep!) but it still felt good.

I am not naïve enough to think that the retreat did wonders and all of us now get along famously. But at least it showed that we could do a lot together if we choose to. And it also showed, once again, that things, people, situations and experiences that I had resisted in the beginning, usually turns out to be not so bad after all.

… being able to make bed angels (that’s my current fave of the moment – its just like making snow angels except that you wave your arms and legs about while lying on your bed with optimal satisfaction when you have just changed your bedsheets or when you are exceptionally tired. I swear I actually go to sleep with a smile on my face. This came about after I went on a corporate retreat where, let’s just say that the beds/bedsheets/blankets can do with some improvement)

… munching on chips and reading (or knowing that I have the option to pick from my 49 unread books or re-reading one of my two hundred plus ? books)

… stoning and day-dreaming on my bed (yea, I know, I spend a lot of time on my bed) … surfing the web (cant do that now though coz my computer has conked, yes, again)

… hanging out with my friends, especially those that I have not seen for a long time

Of course there are days when nothing goes well. Or days when I get hit by a giant wave of sadness. But luckily so far, they go away after a while. Despite all that has happened, I realised that I still have hope, and that I still believe. It maybe just a shred but I am hanging on.

开心也好，不开心也好，日子还是一样的过。即然是这样，你的选择是什么？

Anyhows, much has happened in the past two months. Always told my friends at work that I live my life vicariously through theirs coz I am kinda pathetic..haha, but have to say that there were a couple of new or enjoyable experiences recently:

* Attended the Mayday concert in end Aug. That was cooool! I like their songs, they are not exactly mainstream, at least I dont think so. They dont have those sickeningly saccharine sweet melodic tunes with equally diabetic-inducing lyrics but yet they speak to you. In fact, I was telling a friend that the thing about chinese songs is that although sometimes the tunes may be predictable, but the lyrics speak volumes in just that couple of sentences. Anyway, the Mayday concert lasted till after midnight, so that was really value for money, haha.

* Did my first run for charity – 4.5 km in about 30 mins. Ya, not very fast, but I think pretty ok for someone who didnt train before. Oh, I also got laughed at, coz obviously, since this was my first time, I didnt know there were water points along the way, so was clutching a bottle of water. But I had the last laugh, coz the water points were so crowded that I didnt stop for them. Oh, and I also didnt know that I was supposed to bring my own safety pins to pin the race number tag on myself, haha, so had to scrounge from my friends for safety pins.

* Took my first break in a year – went to Sydney and Melbourne for a holiday. I was worried about work at first, wanted to bring my laptop along, but luckily I didnt. Coz once I decided to let go and not think about it, I had fun. No one is indispensable anyway, and certainly not me I particularly enjoyed the Great Ocean Road, and even drove! Haha, my mum was sitting beside me, nagging me to go slow as I whizzed the winding roads – ya, kind of dangerous but ooh, so cool! It was cold but the sights, especially the 12 apostles was worth it. Yes, took pix, but lazy old me havent sorted them out yet.

* Went to 3 cities – one in each continent. Had my first helicopter ride and loved it! Had (or going to have) a total of 3 flights lasting beyond 10 hours to get around the cities – not so great – I always stumbled off the plane looking like I havent slept in days. More on this trip when I get back.

* Oh, and got injured in a damn silly way at ultimate frisbee. Typical of me, some of you may say, and so because you had that thought, am not going to share how I got injured and had to limp for more than a week

facing the erm, spam?

Yes, instead of being perched happily on the edge of the shelf, facing me as I work, they are now facing my can of spam! I tried to find out who did it, and actually only one suspect came to mind (and here I have to clarify, that it not only crossed my mind, but my other colleagues’ too, who all felt that only a certain someone is bo liao enough to do this). But the suspect denied totally.

So now, the question remains – Whodunit?!

Frisbee every Wednesday evening, just started swimming during lunch time with some colleagues (we are hoping to go at least twice a week although I am going more for the sun than the X laps in the pool) and soon, probably a netball session once a week as well.

It really helps that there are people that you can exercise with, although I see it more as having fun than exercise, the latter bringing to mind images of wrestling with some hard to manage contraptions at a gym filled with mirrors (I know it is to make sure that your posture and whatnots is correct when exercising but it just seems somehow kinda narcissistic) 

I never though I would say this but there is something strangely satisfying about having perspiration trickle down your back, of feeling the wind whipping through and knotting up your hair, of having an achingly sweet sensation in those dormant muscles of yours. 

And the best thing after an intense workout? Indulging in my favourite food. More on that another day : )

But whichever way it strikes you, if what follows after is not some form of realisation leading to a decision and an action, then the moment would have been wasted, isn’t it? It’s like finally admitting that there is no Santa Claus, but still continuing to leave a glass of milk and plate of cookies out, for a reason that no one can fathom.

— Jostein Gaarder (Sophie’s World)

I didn’t think it dwelled excessively on the romantic developments between the characters, although yes, a lot of details in the book were left out, and movie was already kinda long. Anyone who enjoyed the movie should read the book. Seriously.

Anyway, my enjoyment of the movie was marred by this irritating guy I sat next to. He was an average-sized chap, but instead of just occupying the space of the rightful ONE seat that he paid for, he had his arm dangling over my side of the seat, so close that he practically could make an assessment on the quality of my skirt had he been an experienced tailor. Only after I pointedly moved to the edge of the other side of my seat, did he get the hint and move his hand.

Then, throughout the movie, he kept having a whispered conversation with his friend. If he was trying to explain the plot, I could maybe try to understand, but no. He was merely articulating what was shown on screen – “they are kissing”, “they are playing quidditch”, “he is wearing his invisible cloak”.

But what happened near the end of the movie made what I had to put up with worth it. At the scene where the inferi suddenly grabbed Harry Potter’s hand as he tried to get water for Dumbledore at the lake in the cave, he got such a scare that he half-jumped out of his seat, went “ahhh!” and grabbed his friend by the arm. I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud. At him.

I think he was quite suitably embarrassed