|
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 December Photos Now Playing: Sorak-san The Windmill Salmon Festival Soccer Goal   Where do visitors come from? (Since 20-Dec-04) Fave flowesr: Plumeria Birthday: DEC 31st
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
Movies I've seen this month
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 "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 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. |
What makes a good blog?
1/14/2005
I was reading an article online about what makes a good blog. One of the things it said, is that you need to create new entries about as often as you eat. (rolling my eyes...) If that were the case, it would look like I eat once a day, or sometimes every other day. Just the other day, I spent an hour doing an entry about some new bands and music that I was listening to, and wouldn't you know it, my computer crashed. Once the computer was back up again, I didn't have the motivation to type it again. Like eating a whole cake by yourself, you know it's not going to be as good the second time around.
Toothpaste for dinner
1/12/2005
I like the drawings from the Toothpaste for Dinner website, even though some of it is hard to read. In addition to drawing, the author just release a CD and is selling some of his drawing on t-shirts. Go to the Misc. page to find out other things he's done, include a a Lego Porn site. Really!
Jinro Soju
1/10/2005
I was watching the Korean movie, Iron Palm, about a Korean guy who goes to look for his lost love Jinnie, in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, Jinnie is played by Kim Yoon-jin, who plays the Korean woman on ABC's "Lost". More than half of the movie is in English, so it wasn't hard to follow even though I didn't watch the movie with subtitles. In the movie, Jinnie is a bartender and can't go a day without drinking soju. This made me curious to see how much a bottle of soju was in the States. Here in Gangneung, a bottle is about 1200 won. While looking for the information, I found some more info about soju.
The small, simple bottle glows sleek and eerily green, and what's inside is as appealing as shoe-leather kim chee. If the taste--like sour sake or diluted vodka--turns you off too, fear not. There are plenty of other, better reasons to like the stuff. 1. Drinking Jinro Soju helps demonstrate your cultural openness and love for Korea! Soju ("burnt wine") is steeped in cultural importance. It was introduced to Korea by invading Mongols around A.D. 1000. Originally reserved for royalty, soju was distilled from sake; now, however, it's mashed from barley, rice, sweet potatoes and other mysterious grains. While the lucky inhabitants of Asia may abuse countless brands at their leisure (ranging from 20 to 45 percent alcohol), we get only the 24 percent Jinro Soju. Jinro Ltd., a Korean liquor mogul since 1924, is soju's sole exporter and now spreads its love to more than 80 countries. (I don't know how old this article is, because this last statement isn't true.) 2. It's damn cheap and packs a punch. At $4.95 for a 375ml bottle, you can bring Jinro Soju to a party and drink it at the same rate your friends are drinking their similarly sized bottles of beer--but you'll get eight bottles of 24 percent alcohol to their bloating and laborious six beers at 3-6 percent--for the same low price! Sure, it won't taste as good (unless you're a big fan of sake and straight vodka), but that shouldn't matter to all you degenerate lushes like me. 3. Act like a real artist: Put creative expression and drunkenness hand in hand. One of Jinro Soju's many assets is its adaptability. Boring people take it straight, but we artists like to mix it up. Cover the taste and create a culinary masterpiece in one fell swoop: Add fruits/veggies/herbs to the bottle, close it up and ignore it. Crack it open in a week and you have a delicious "Jinro Soju Fusion" and a refreshing wave of creative pride. Deep-pocketed martini lovers with a penchant for cold, anti-human "ambiance" can go to Bluehour for a $7 "Bluehour Martini" and experience the plum Jinro infusion mixed with Ketel One vodka. (Though Bluehour infuses fresh plums in soju for 90 days, the disappointing result is merely a slightly plum-and-sake-flavored Ketel One martini.) Saucebox also employs the Korean magic in creative ways for your amusement. [www.wweek.com]
I actually have no preference on the different types of soju. However, I subconsciously always choose San soju, just because the Doosan soju factory is a 10 minute walk from my apartment, and I feel a little loyal to it. If anyone ever visits a city that has a soju plant, make sure to go on a soju factory tour. When I went, there was a tour of the bottling plant, we watched a video, had all you can drink soju and anjoo (side dishes), and the company even took the people on tour out to lunch! I think it was a special tour because it was during Danoe Festival in the spring.
Crab
1/8/2005
I haven't gone out to eat much lately, partly due to the fact that everyone is gone on vacation and that I need to eat the food in my shelves because I'm leaving in 3 weeks. About a week ago, I went and had crab with Raswan in ponam-dong. It was goooood. You could choose the 40,000 won ($36) menu for 2, or 50,000 won ($45) menu for two. I'm not really sure what the difference was, but we chose the latter. Something interesting about the restaurant, was that it had a small alligator in a glass box, in the restaurant. I just wanted to post some pictures from the meal.
The Torture Tape Experiment
1/7/2005
Here's the premise of The Torture Tape Experiment: Read the full story and listen to the tapes HERE. In my attempt to fully report on this, I actually listened to parts of both torture tapes. I kinda wish I was really bored so I could listen to ALL 3 hours (1.5 hours for each tape)... but not really. Actually, my options tonight were to A) listen to the torture tapes, or B) watch CSI. Hmmm, Gil, you don't say. Blunt force trauma to the head?!? I never would have guessed! Honestly, some of the trackes weren't too bad, but I also didn't listen to them repeatedly for 16+ hours. I've commented on the tracks that I listend to. If one were to make a torture tape for me, it would have to include audio of the Meow Mix commercial (meow, meow, meow, over and over again), the Ashlee Simpson performance at the Orange Bowl ("you make me want to la la"?!? Are those the lamest lyrics, or what?), my grandma repeating over and over, "When are you going to come home and get your MBA?", lip smacking, Kenny G., "Takin' Care of Business"... damn you Bachman Turner Overdrive, Celine Dion - "You Shook Me All Night" ('nuff said), and "It's a Small World Afterall". This would just make up a list of the few things that would annoy me.
Brian’s tape for Henry (in order). I listened to track 1: "Theme From Doctor Detroit" Devo; "Hyperventilation" Helios Creed (yeah, this sucks); "Macho Duck"Donald Duck (funny!!); "Don’t Worry Baby"Keith Moon (torture? kinda liked it); "(Tear Their) Syphilitic Vaginas to Pieces"G.I.S.M. (if I didn't know what the song name was before hand, I would have no idea what htey were saying); "Take You Back (Tough Gym)" Frank Stallone (Rocky III Soundtrack); "Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind" Flaming Lips; "PeppermintMan"Dick Dale; "Whisper A Prayer/The Story Of Daniel" Big Sounds For Little Ears; "Pecos Bill" Disney Soundtrack; "Multi-variational Stimuli of Sub-Turgid Foci Covering Crossevaluative Techniques For Cognitive Analysis of Hypersignificant Graph Peaks Following Those Intersubjective Modules Having Biodegradable Seepage"Man or Astro-Man?; "New Number Order"Shellac; "Hogtied"Cowslingers; "In TheFace of Coldness"Superstar Dan Theman; "School Days" Gentle Giant; "Rock Easy, No Bounce, Floor Stretch"Mary Lou Retton; "Love Balm" Cold Water Army; "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep"Lullaby and Goodnight; "Punk Side Story" Schlong; "Sonic Attack"Hawkwind; "Gingerbread Man"Candyland album; "Nova Musicha n.3" Robert Ashley Henry’s tape for Brian (in order). I listened to track 4: "Also Sprach Kazoostra" Temple City Kazoostra; "I Feel Fine" The Beatle Barkers; "Eating is Fun, Eating is Serious" Chris "Corky" Burke; "Neutron Dance" Del Rubio Triplets; "Shouts of Ol8E"Carmen; "Dur Dur D'Etre, Bebe" Jordy; "Beach Patrol" Hulk Hogan; "Volare" Jack Mudurian; "Insects" Kids of Widney High; "There's No Business Like Show Business (Disco Version)" Ethel Merman; "Any Friend of Jesus is a Friend of Mine" Rappin' Rabbit; "What is this Generation Coming To?" Robert Mitchum; "No Dope No Drugs" Mr. T; "Jesus Wants to Live in Your Heart" Lil' Markie; "Telstar" Joe Meek; "Anal Sadistic" Mike Kelley; "Blue Suede Shoes" Eilert Pilarm (kinda sounds like a William Hung version); "Downright" Price Waterhouse Cooper (a sample lyric: We work with companies that want to grow, increase their markets, and their cash flow); "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" Jack Mudurian; "These Boots are Made for Walking" Crispin Hellion Glover (a combination of singing and crying); "Don't Judge Me" Girls With Attitude; "He's Such A Man" Princess Diana (The Musical) (not really annoying at all); "You're Drivin' Me Mad" Alvin Dahn; "How Great Thou Art" Shooby Taylor; "Give Peace a Chance" Mitch Miller; "Yodelling Overture" Mary Schneider; "The Most Unwanted Song" Komar and Melamid
Yes, I'm leaving
1/5/2005
A few people have asked me whether or not I'm really leaving Korea, because I guess my last post wasn't clear enough. Yes, I'm finally leaving (again) after the last two years here. I was in Korea for a year, went home for awhile, and came back for two more years. It's not that I don't like Korea, but I feel burnt out and need a long vacation. Actually, a "vacation" isn't the right word. I need to explore... see other people, cultures, tastes different foods, be amazed, and humbled by new experiences. Anyone who teaches English here will tell you it's a comfortable life, but it's not satisfying for me as it once was. Will I be back? I don't think so, but who knows? Things usually happen when you least expect it, though. Ras and I are leaving at the same time, and we had originally planned to go to India, eventually meeting up with Kiran. Due to the uncertainty of diseases in India, we decided to go somewhere else and do something different. By tomorrow, he should hear from a travel agent about our reservations to Panama City. We should arrive at the start of the Carnival celebration. I've got a lot to do and think about for the next month, but one of the things I've been wondering about is how often I'll be able to write and post pictures while I'm on the move. That's one thing I would really like to do this time around - regularly update my blog while I'm travelling about.
Packing early
1/4/2005
Last week my director had a talk to me about the rest of my time at that school. Originally, I was supposed to finish up my contract on February 20th, one month beyond my one year contract. Instead, my director wanted me to finish up my year, and work part-time for my last month. I inquired how many hours I would be working, and it turns out, she wanted me to work two, 45 minute classes! At the hourly rate she was going to give me, that barely covers my coke habit. And what about my weekly trip to the stationary store? What am I, a complete savage??? Basically, I tried to tell her that working for 1½ hours a day, for a month just wasn't worth my time. Her English isn't so good, so she didn't really understand what I was trying to say. But who knew that "smell ya later" was a universal phrase in both English and Korean? So, I've started packing, which I hate. I really like packing for trips, but moving is another story.
Update: I had to change the last picture in my last entry. The "dancer" wanted to be anonnymous. Go figure... if I could move my body into forced, unnatural movements like that, I'd do it all the time.
The last days of 2004
1/3/2005
I went to Seoul this last weekend for New Year's Eve, but by myself. It's strange to say that, because I've gone out by myself before, but never on such a "big" day. It's terrible to put so much expectation on a particular day, when so many of the other 364 days of the year provide so much more fun because you least expect it. In the end, the night turned out to be utterly uneventful, but fun because I was out dancing. It's always fun to talk about people you don't know, but blogging about people you actually know is a whole lot MORE fun. (i.e. see blog references to Melvin, Tom(s), Ras, Kiran, Sheena, etc.) I didn't even take any pictures on New Year's Eve, so you'll have to use your imagination. While in Seoul, I did the following...
On Saturday night, I met up with Tom, who was in Seoul to see his friends from Wonju. We went out to dinner with everyone in Sinchon. One of the funniest parts of the night for me was when after introducing myself to him, Richard asked me why I chose that name. I didn't get it at first, and said, "Umm... well, that's the name my parents gave me." Tom then interjected and said, "That's her real name. She's not Korean." I get mistaken for a Korean all the time, but that was a first for me. After dinner, we went to The Bar. The night turned out to be pretty fun, because all of Tom's friends actually liked to dance. If you look closely, you might even see some moves being busted by Tom himself.
More fun to be had in 2005! Happy New Year everyone!
Tsunami
12/31/2004
I can't believe how much the death toll rises each time I check CNN. 12 hours ago, it was around 80,000, and now it's at 116,000. Reading about it on the internet is one thing, but watching footage on TV is more emotional. There are so many bodies. Tonight I made a donation to the International Federation of Red Cross. It's interesting, because I briefly looked at other organizations like UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders, but I basically gave to IFRC because their donation form was short and simple. I wasn't there to read about all the good things they do, or take surveys, but just to give money and leave. Plus, for those that don't think they have money to give, the minimum donation required is only $5. List of aid organizations accepting donations can be found here andhere. This is a story about the outpouring of people giving donations online. Last of all, The South-East Asia Eathrquake and Tsunami blog. This is a very informative site to read more about what's going on there, how you can help, or if you're looking for loved ones.
It's my birthday!
12/31/2004
I'm quoting from the song that Kate said she LOVES, and will still be dancing to when she's 70... I would love to see that...
What is that you ask? What happened on this day in history? Well, I'll tell you...
|
ESSENTIALS THE 411 WHERE TO, NEXT? 
Push My Buttons
Made possible by: Click here to Contact Me Click here for RSS/XML  Layout ?2004 by CHRISTINE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
and Jasmine
