lao_ocean

You made it...
Well, she was a Laotian-American girl
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinkin' that there
Was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to

Email me:
lao.ocean @ gmail.com

My Website My Photoblog
December Photos
My Videos
Now Playing:
Sorak-san
The Windmill
Salmon Festival
Soccer Goal

Where do visitors come from?
(Since 20-Dec-04)

Fave flowesr: Plumeria and Jasmine

Birthday: DEC 31^st
Location: Kangneung, South Korea
Homestate: Oregon. UofO alum
Job: Teaching English in Korea
Super Powers: Super delayed reaction time, perceiving the obvious, & hyper-indifference
Watching: CSI, Gilmore Girls, Cold Case, Lost, Veronica Mars, Arrested Development, Joan of Arcadia, Simpsons, The Daily Show
Fixated on: downloading TV shows, organizing my photos
Want to touch: Old people skin. Oooohh, so soft!
Currently annoyed with: not taking over the world due to my laziness
Looking forward to: Travelling after leaving Korea

Sing like no one can hear
Dance like no one can see
Love like you've never been hurt
Live like it's heaven on earth

Let's set it straight - Is the country Laos or Lao?
Here's the answer

This week...
Things that make me happy

Flying out to Panama on Monday, Jan 31st!
not working all week
sleeping in
discovering the world of webcams w/ audio

Movies I've seen this month

13 Going On 30
21 Grams
Garden State
Meet The Fockers
The Forgotten
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
The Aviator
Hotel Rwanda
The Notebook
The Village

What they're saying about me

"She's a nut! Not too sure how else to describe an "at-first-glance" seemingly quiet girl who dances like a chicken when she thinks no one else is looking, who likes to pass off her "made up" answer for fact, until you look at her and see her hopelessly trying not to crack a smile, who WITHOUT FAIL remembers to put a line of dental floss in her purse before she goes out (and isn't afraid to use it after dinner, thankfully NOT at the table!!). I can always count on her to know the hottest hollywood gossip, and to dance till all hours of the morning with me."

"My co-worker just told me that there was a premiere for Bridget Jones 2 last night, just blocks from my work, and we missed it! Hugh Grant, my beloved and the framework upon which my future husband is based, was just blocks away, breathing the same oxygen, and I missed it! If I had a friend here who was as savvy with E-news as you are, this catastrophe would never have occurred!"

Guess what I heard...

Oh my god!! This donut is so good! - Ras about a Krispy Kreme donut

Just because I've been drinking doesn't mean I can't start shit. - Tom B.

You know what they say, if your burps smell like shit? You've been eating shit. - Melvin

"I want to do! But what is paintball? There is no such word in dictionary." - Suwa, Japanese teacher

"I am now skipping church to see if I am going to win my bids!!!" "YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA.....I won the felt tip pens!!!!!!!! Yippeee...."who let the dogs out...arf, arf, arf, arf"...."let me hear you say Y..M..C..A"....oh yah, who's your daddy!!!" - Renee

"I was sitting in my office the other day and I suddenly got this horrible wrenching pain in my ankle. It really felt like I got a type two sprain just from sitting there. The strangest thing. Too bad cause I saw that Richard Gere movie and I got some Swayzerific moves." - I asked Tom R. if he was going to dance this weekend.

Other favorite quotes:

A gift is an offering. A selfless act that adds something to someone's life. Something that they need.

Have you ever walked by something and you just had this feeling that someone you knew would absolutely love it?

Faith is believing when there is no rational reason to believe.

Homer: "We Americans are England's children... I know we don't call as much as we should, or aren't as well behaved as our goody two shoes brother, Canada... who I should mention has never had a girlfriend... I'm just sayin'..."

Anything less than mad, passionate, extraordinary love is a waste of time. There are too many mediocre things in life, and love should not be one of them.

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.

When your heart speaks, take good notes.

Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel's immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.

It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

Sometimes to see the light, you have to risk the dark.

New Video

11/18/2004

I'm experimenting with putting videos on my website, and not exceeding my bandwith. Here's the first one. Let me know if you can properly view it, and if the connection's slow. If it works, I've got some fun videos to post.

Sorak-san video with monks chanting in the background.

Posted at: 2:19:10 pm

Someone has spoken (1) Permalink

Tanks rolling

11/18/2004

A couple weeks ago, on a quiet sunny morning, I heard loud thunderous rumbling from outside. My whole apartment shook, and it almost felt like an earthquake. I poked my head out from my 2nd story apartment and saw tanks rolling down the street! I got pretty excited, since I've never seen real tanks actually moving somewhere. I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, as I searched for my camera. I took some pictures, but the soldiers were staring at me. I guiltily snapped shots, wondered if it was a breach of security. About 20 tanks later, nobody had made an effort to stop their tanks. I'm looking forward t the next convoy that comes by.

Posted at: 11:10:06 am

Someone has spoken (1) Permalink

My Spam dish

11/17/2004

If you don't know already, I LIKE SPAM. It's true - just check out my entry from March 3, 2004. Part of that entry included a haiku I wrote about Spam. I'v also added a second one I wrote 2 minutes ago.

Pink, tender canned ham
Glistening with salty gel
I procaim, "Spam rocks!"

A quarter less salt
Luckily the gel hasn't changed
Don't forget the gim

Rory's entry about his sausage sandwich inspired me to include my own Spam dish. I'd be one of the first to admit that eating Spam without cooking it would be disgusting, but once you cook it's, it's quite tasty. Here's how I eat Spam.

I've already eaten half of this can. A full sized can will make 4 serving. It's actually better if the can has been refigerated, because it's easier to cut and work with.	Don't forget a freshly cooked pot of rice. Since being in Korea, I've met some foreigners who have never used a rice cooker. I'm the opposite - I've never cooked rice on a stove. I have no idea what Uncle Ben's rice tastes like. AND, I was once shocked to see a non-Asian putting BUTTER on their rice! I'm a traditonalist. It's better in its fluffy, white form.
This is what it looks like in the pan.	Flip the pieces over when it's this brown. As this is cooking, also fry 1-2 eggs, so that both the spam and eggs will be done at the same time.
Don't forget the gim. Some people spell it "kim", but it's not a hard "k" sound. Instead, it's a soft "g", so I wrote it "gim". Oh yes... gim is dried and salted seaweed.	This bite inclludes a piece of seaweek, rice, fried eggs, and spam. This is really good, but you have to at least like seaweed.

This is my Spam dish. You an also put soy sauce over the eggs like I have. Seriously... try it. Fried Spam is pretty good!

Posted at: 11:24:29 am

Someone has spoken (6) Permalink

Gmail anyone?

11/17/2004

I've got at least 10 Gmail invites available to give out. I'm too lazy to make up witty email addresses like ashley.simpson.is.a.total.poser.4lip.syncing@gmail.com and selling them on eBay. If anyone wants one, send me an email. Preference will be given to people I know and those that have left comments on my site. Sure, call it a bribe if you'd like. [read more about the Ashlee Simpson reference]

Reny asked what a "permalink" was. If you click on the "permalink" at the end of this entry, it will only show this entry on one page. The address above is the unique web address for it. A permalink is a link to the individual entry that will still work even after the entry is no longer available on the front page (hence, it's a "permanent link"). You can can easily link to your favorite entries (maybe in your own bookmarks) and pass the links to friends. Therefore, if you want to email a friend about this particular entry, they can go directly to it, without having to scroll down and look for it. You will see that I linked to an old Spam entry in the one following this one.

Posted at: 1:21:13 am

Someone has spoken (14) Permalink

Watch out for me!

11/17/2004

Sheena called me tonight to express her thoughts on my account of her Saturday night. Luckily, she wasn't mad, but it definitely is a surprise to see what pictures other people take of you when you're not looking. I think Kiran warned her to be careful around me and my camera. (If he and Krista are going to be drunk and fall down while dancing, what sane person wouldn't snap a shot and write funny captions about it???) Yes, it's true that I take my camera everywhere, and will take pictures of almost anything. Still, one shouldn't worry around me! The pictures don't lie... it's what I say about the pictures - that's the part that is sometime refuted. She even said that she should create blog just to counteract my blog. Come one! Like I haven't heard THAT one before! She'd be standing in line, right behind Tom R.

Posted at: 1:07:28 am

Someone has spoken (1) Permalink

I sprained my ankle

11/16/2004

This week has been really cold. It definitely felt like fall, maybe even an early winter. I've had to take my down jacket out of storage and started wearing scarves again. Yesterday was blustery all day. It was about 7:30 pm and I was walking down an unlit street behind the post office. Suddenly there was a large gust of wind, almost blowing me over. To get away from the wind, I crossed the street and scurried to a wall near a construction site. Because it was completely dark, I didn't see the lip on the street. Many times in Korea, when they repave the road, they don't take off the old asphalt. Instead, new asphalt is laid on the old, creating a lip on the side of the road, like the one below.

The scene of the accident, the day after.

As I walked quickly towards the wall, I tripped on this part of the road. It completely surprised me, and I fell forward, rolling my ankle and skimming my knee. It's funny the things you think about when accidents or bad things happen. First thought: What just happened? Oh no!!! Did I just sprain my ankle? Second though: If I DID, how am I going to dance at The Warehouse's Club Night this weekend!?! Hahaha! Seriously, that's what I thought. It's funny now that I think about it. I slowly tried to get up and walk it off, but fell back down because my ankle was so weak. As I was wimpering and trying to get up, a woman behind me, who obviously saw the whole thing, walked by me without a second glance. Ummm, thanks a lot lady!

This was after it just happened, and doesn't look so bad. Aftwards, the whole area around the knee was bruised. Plus, I ripped the knee on my favorite jeans.

As the hours passed, my ankle got really stiff and I realized that I did sprain it. I went online to find more information about sprains. Out of 3, I have a Grade 2 ankle sprain, acording to Webmd.com

In an ankle sprain, damage to the ligament varies from simply stretched or slightly torn to completely torn.

Grade I is stretching or slight tearing of the ligament with mild tenderness, swelling, and stiffness. It is usually possible to walk with minimal pain.
Grade II is a larger but not complete tear with moderate pain, swelling, and bruising. The damaged areas are tender to the touch and there is pain with walking.
Grade III is a complete tear of the affected ligament with severe swelling and bruising. Walking is usually not possible because of the ankle gives out and there is intense pain, although initial pain may quickly subside.

Last night, I didn't fall asleep until after 4am because it was throbbing so much. 24 hours later, it's feeling much better. Dancing will probably be in my future.

Posted at: 9:06:22 pm

Someone has spoken (3) Permalink

Another All You Can Drink

11/15/2004

This past Saturday was Bumpin's All-You-Can-Drink night. Mr. Lee holds this about once a month, but there have been times where it has been twice a month. Usually, I'm not as excited about this event as the other party animals in this town, due to the fact that I don't drink that much. For 30,000 won ($25 USD), you can drink basically anything in the bar, AND you get to mix it yourself! Plus, Mr. Lee makes a great BBQ!

The pressing question of the night is, "Will you be drinking at least 6 drinks that night?" because that's how much one needs to consume to break even. I really wasn't sure if I could do it, but was in the mood to try. Of course, you have to expect a lot of debauchery on a night like this. I recall the time when Glyn drank a whole bottle of Jack Daniels, then went home to sleep and puked in Kate's bed. The next day at McDonald's, Glyn's only mental note was to start chewing his dukcalbi dinner better. Well, at least he didn't eat noodles or rice. That's one of the worst things to regurgitate. I should know.

Like I said, a lot can happen on a night like this. Here'a a recap. There were two people that had A LOT of fun that night. The first victim of the night was Sheena.

"Hi y'all! I'm Sheena and I like Pina Coladas and long walks on the beach. I'm looking for non side-mouth-talkin' cowboy. Interested? Call 1-800-GRLZ-GWLD"	It's all fun and games until somebody gets their eyes poked out.
When skewer licking comes to fruition, you *know* the night has taken a turm for the worse.	Ms. Blair Witch, let me get a cab for you.

Next victim: Melvin

A little foreplay with some boy-on-boy action. Andre and Dylan give him a kiss.	That wasn't enough for this thrill-seeker, so I offer him the tights that I'm wearing. He takes off his jeans and puts them on, over his boxers. I hear the Bolshoi Ballet calling!
You think drunk college girls are easy? Guys can be too. All Melvin had to do was grab Tom's breast, and the next thing you know...	They're both practically naked. You also have to envision (or not) that Melvin is *still* wearing the black tights.

James was also there. It was quite a surprise, because he didn't tell anyone he was coming. He's here for the week, then it's back to Canada for his PhD.

James and the two-faced Tom... literally.

As for myself, I didn't ever become I-can't-believe-that-happened-and-hope-nobody-blogs-it drunk... Thank god! I definitely drank more than my share of 30,000 won, though. I also had a martini for the first time. YUCK! It's too strong, and just not for me. I liked the picture of Tom and I hold our glasses, though.

Posted at: 10:47:59 pm

Have something to say? Permalink

Good ol' fashion, linking fun

11/13/2004

I'm liking the movie poster for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's simple, artistic, and the colors are nice. I'm also a fan of Johnny Depp. He plays a lot of different role... who knew he was headed for bigger and better things than 21 Jump Street? There's no trailer yet.

MTV's Kurt Loder does an interview with Chucky, the satanic little doll that kills people. Seriously, I'm more scared of Chucky than Freddy or Jason. He's just creepy and EVIL!

Reportedly, Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh (yes, that van Gogh) was murdered, because of a controversial film he made about Muslim women. Click here to see the 11 minute film in its entirety. The film includes verses of the Koran written on a nude female body. Van Gogh had received death threats after his recent movie sharply criticized how women are treated under Islam. He was repeatedly shot and stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street.

Could Britney Spears be pregnant? Probably... Y'all! I also read Britney's letter to her fans. Did I really need to know that her dog Lacy got fixed and isn't acting like herself? One more thing... Britney posted a honeymoon poem she wrote. [via sterogum]

Britney Posts A Honeymoon Poem
Before y'all dis Brit's iambic rhythms, consider that she probably wrote it with 11 or 12-year-old fans in mind. Or don't. Whatever. Here's the latest masterpiece Mrs. Federline has shared with the Official Fanclub.

Honeymoon Poem
11.10.2004

A honeymoon at last, to get away from it all
My assistant Fe gave me the call.

I remember it well, as she was smilin'
She said it was called Turtle Island.

I packed my bags light and quick,
Then grabbed my pink dress & favorite lipstick.

We hopped on a plane and took our flight
I slept really well, all through the night.

As we arrive, I turn and look out the door,
People are greeting us right at the shore.

A meal, a shower and some ice cream
Then I threw my man down, you know what I mean!

Magical nights filled with stars
Silence is golden, no running cars.

Private dinners, romantic fires
Little piece of heaven, whatever your heart desires.

Friendly "hellos" and never goodbyes
When you're having fun, oh, how time flies!

As we sit and prepare to make our part
I thank you, Turtle Island, with all my heart!

~ Britney

The 4 disc Nirvana box set is coming out this month, and I thought of Kiran, who's a big fan. Here's a trailer for the box set, which includes audio clips, as well as video footage from a DVD included in the set. Entertain us...

Wanna see some ugly sweaters just for the hell of it? I thought so... The guy in the last picture even looks *a little* like Rory.

Remember way back when I had an entry about this Asian guy and various pictures of him that had been phototshoped? Well, now there's more. These are my favorites so far.

Posted at: 10:07:43 pm

Have something to say? Permalink

BitTorrent taking over the world

11/13/2004

I've decided to make a conscious effort to blog more. I don't think my life is THAT interesting, but there are at least 5 people I personally know that make regular visits to the site, and see what I'm up to. I started this blog about 9 months ago and have been getting a steady stream of hits. Actually, I passed the 10,000 mark last month, and have received 3000 hits within this last month alone. Of course, those aren't from unique addresses... but it's stillimpressive to me. I remember Rory asking me last month how I promote my site, and I answered, "I don't". Sometimes it's strange that people know quite a bit about me because they read my blog, but it's even stranger that some people sign up for email notifications of when I post entries. Actually, that's kinda cool, but I remember when the first person signed up for that. I was so freaked out that somebody wanted to be updated about what I had to say. I felt the pressure of having to write good material. Luckily, I don't feelt that way anymore. It's just a fun blog - not trying to change the world. On the other hand, I like the fact that Rory's trying to conquer the blog world, and get people to leave comments to his entries. In his latest entry, he purposely uses the word "Seoul" many times to drive up his Google search rating.

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT??? (Seoul, Seoul, Seoul, Seoul, Seoul, South Korea, President Roh Moo-hyun, Hyundai, Kangneung, Chuncheon, Busan, Lotte, kimchi, gimbap, land of the rising something, pepero day, LG, KT, Korean Pop, Samsung, '88 Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, Be the Reds, DMZ, North Korea, Korean War, AFN, that popluar Korean drama in Japan - Winter Sonata, tae kwon do, hot Korean chicks, Chang-ho Park, Seoul, Seoul, Seoul, Seoul.... ok, that should do it.)

My aspirations aren't as high, mostly do to the fact that I'm lazy. Keeping up a blog takes up quite a bit of time. It's not just about writing in a journal. Sometimes you've got to research things, so you don't seem like you're talking out of your ass.

Part of the reason I don't blog more regularly, is that I have a tendency to fixiate on one thing that interests me, then focus on that for a week or two. This time, it was bit torrent. It's a way of downloading movies and tv shows that Ras introduced me to. It's Fan-freakin'-tastic! Before, I was using Kazaa Lite. I'm the first to say that I don't know much about how these downloading sites work, but I know how to use them. Let me try to explain why bit torrent is so great. Let's say I want to download CSI, season 5, episode 1 (CSI - 501). With Kazaa, I would have to download it from somebody who had that file. If they went offline, I would have to wait until they got back online. With bit torrent, I'm downloading from many people who each give me bits of the file until I have the whole thing complete. If there are many people who have the file and share it with others, the download time is faster. Here's an analogy someone wrote:

One analogy to describe this process might be to visualize a group of people sitting at a table. Each person at the table can both talk and listen to any other person at the table. These people are each trying to get a complete copy of a book. Person A announces that he has pages 1-10, 23, 42-50, and 75. Persons C, D, and E are each missing some of those pages that A has, and so they coordinate such that A gives them each copies of the pages he has that they are missing. Person B then announces that she has pages 11-22, 31-37, and 63-70. Persons A, D, and E tell B they would like some of her pages, so she gives them copies of the pages that she has. The process continues around the table until everyone has announced what they have (and hence what they are missing.) The people at the table coordinate to swap parts of this book until everyone has everything. There is also another person at the table, who we'll call 'S'. This person has a complete copy of the book, and so doesn't need anything sent to him. He responds with pages that no one else in the group has. At first, when everyone has just arrived, they all must talk to him to get their first set of pages. However, the people are smart enough to not all get the same pages from him. After a short while they all have most of the book amongst themselves, even if no one person has the whole thing. In this manner, this one person can share a book that he has with many other people, without having to give a full copy to everyone that's interested. He can instead give out different parts to different people, and they will be able to share it amongst themselves. This person who we've referred to as 'S' is called a seed in the terminology of BitTorrent.

So, one can download a recent episode of a show faster than an older episode, because more people will have that file. Many people (like myself), delete shows after watching them, so it's harder to get episodes from previous seasons. That's how I was able to download episodes 1-5 of "Lost" in about 24 hours. Needless to say, my concentration for the last two weeks has been on downloading and watching this season's show. In these past two weeks, I'm now caught up on Arrested Development, Lost, Joan of Arcadia, Entourage, Cold Case, CSI Las Vegas, CSI New York, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, The O.C., and sporadic episodes of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and The Daily Show. It's so easy spend hours watching tv, because there are no commercials and I can watch them whenever I want. Actually, I'm running out of things to watch, but I will NOT succumb to The Bachelor, Extreme Makeover, or Smallville.

According to British Web analysis firm CacheLogic, BitTorrent accounts for an astounding 35% of all the traffic on the Internet - more than all other peer-to-peer programs combined - and dwarfs mainstream traffic like Web pages. A great site to check out is www.SuprNova.org, which gets about 1.5 million hits a day! (Note that there's not "e" in suprnova.)

Posted at: 8:50:22 pm

Have something to say? Permalink

Pepero, the poor man's Pocky

11/12/2004

Yesterday was Pepero Day, an unofficial holiday in Korea that is celebrated by giving each other boxes of Pepero - long, biscuit-like sticks dipped in chocolate. Pepero Day falls on November 11th (11/11), which resembles 4 sticks of Pepero. If you ask adults, they'll say the holiday was invented by the Pepero company to make more money. It seems to be working. This article by the JoonAng Daily said that Lotte sold $11.7 million dollars worth of Pepero last month to retailers.

My stash of Pepero and imitation Pepero. Ok... Pepero doesn't taste that good to begin with, but giving somebody an imitation of a bad snack? That's low...

The picture to the left shows a big, long box of Pepero. This is what was inside. REALLY BAD! I threw it away, and almost spit out the one bite I had.

I'm not a big fan of Pepero day, soley for that fact that Pepero sucks. It just doesn't taste good! The biscuit part is not very crunchy, and the chocolate is typical of chocolates made in Korea - waxy. One of the other Korean teachers I work with lived in New York for 10 years, and we both agreed that Pocky (the original Pepero, made in Japan), was much better. The sticks are the same size as Pepero, but crunchier and the chocolate tastes better. My personal favorite is the strawberry Pocky. When I was a kid and went to Asian supermarkets with my mom, I would always stealthily drop a box into her basket... five if I was daring. They were good enought that you'd want to take time lick off the chocolate, and not just devourer the stick. Back in the States, Pocky cost 99� for a small box, and about $2 for a regular box. In contrast, a regular box of Peperro cost about 50�. I'd like to get some Pocky here in Korea, but don't recall seeing any.

Pepero boxes for sale at Emart	This box is called "Friend"
These box of Pepero come with charms	This box comes with Pepero shaped shopsticks and a spoon.

Wikipedia had this background information on Pocky, pronouced "poe" as in Edgar Allen Poe, and "key", something you put in door.

Pocky (Japanese: �|�b�L, pokki) is a snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico Company of Japan. The classic form of Pocky was first sold in 1965, under the name "Chocoteck", and consists of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. Pocky was an instant hit among Japanese teenagers, and brought in sales of 30 billion Yen its first two years. The name was changed to "Pocky", after the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound Pocky makes when bit, "pokkin" (�|�b�L��). The original was followed by "Almond Pocky" in 1971, with an almond coating, and "Strawberry Pocky" in 1977. Today, the product line includes such variations as milk, mousse, and coconut flavored coatings, and themed products as "Deco Pocky", with colorful stripes in the coating, and "Men's Pocky", a bittersweet and "mature" version.
Pocky is as popular in Japan as M&Ms are in the United States. It has a significant presence in East Asian countries such as China and Korea as well. In the United States, Pocky can be found in Asian groceries and the international section of most large supermarkets, and is popular among Japanophiles and anime fans.

Strawberry Pocky is the SUPER BESTEST! Its even got bits of dehydrated stawberry.
The many versions of Pockly. Other versions that aren't shown are grape, green tea, white chocolate, and mousse.