Comfort Foods

During the last two weeks, I have had my up and down moments during the transition, and I realized that when I am having my down moments, I have turned to one food item. Gummy bears.

Alvin and I weren't even planning on packing gummy bears, but thanks to Mama Lee, she surprised us with a couple bags of junk candy hidden in our suitcases. The last few years in the states, I have avoided eating candy because I was afraid I would get cavities. So I slowly weaned myself off all candy. But the last few weeks, when I feel I need a pick-me-upper, I grab the bag of gummy bears in the fridge, and start chomping. They are a easy treat because I don't need any language skills to get them and eat them, and they remind me of home.

For some reason, I really like the green gummy bears. They are my favorite. The other day, I was in a stressful moment, so I grabbed a handful of bears and put them on a napkin. I saw that there were three green gummy bears. So I was going to eat one to start, one when I was half way through, and one to top it off. But Alvin came over and grabbed a green one. Noooo!!! I freaked out. He had no idea why I was making such a big deal about the green one. So he grabbed the bag, and started giving me all the green ones. Noooo!!! Then the next time I have a stressful moment, there will be no green gummy bears to cheer me up. Eventually I explained to Alvin and he understood, but still thought I was being a little obsessive.

I guess I should find another way to destress instead of eating candy; also, I am on my last bag of gummy bears.

What candy helps you de-stress? Do you think green gummy bears taste different from the other colors?

More Things Food

I am positive that there will be many, many more entries in the future that pertain to all things food. There's just so much to share about regarding food... restaurants, street food, how inexpensive it is, what you can buy in stores, produce in markets, what results in digestive unpredictability, etc.

But for today, I just wanted to write another entry on food, even though Bethany's post yesterday was also on food.

First, Bethany cooked dinner at home again tonight. Maybe it's the fresh ingredients from the market down the street... maybe it's the super hot gas burner stove... or maybe my wife just rocks. Probably all three. But the home-cooked food has been so good. Here is a dish from tonight's dinner - it's kind of like kung pao ji ding, but without the peanuts and slightly less spicy. Nonetheless, it was delicious. Here's a picture to make your mouth water...



Now (and I'm sure there will be more posts on this topic), some quick snapshots of cool snacks that you can get out here in the grocery. I am a big fan of how they have cooler flavors for snacks and drinks out here. For example...

Sure, mint oreos are pretty good, and I haven't been able to find that out here. But, strawberry... that's pretty good too!



And ok, I haven't been able to find jalapeño kettle chips. But, on the average, the flavors out here are way more creative than "salt & vinegar" or "sour cream 'n onion." Here are some fun flavors for Lay's and for Pringles...





Looking forward to finding some other cool snacks that we enjoy out here... sodas, candy, chips, cookies, and other junk food. Will post pictures of any other cool ones that we find...

Home Cooked Meal

I really enjoy cooking at home. It is my way of relaxing and making sure that I get the nutritional value that I need. But this last week I haven't been able to cook a full meal because I didn't have everything that I needed to cook. Although I have cooked a dish here and there to accompany the take-outs, it was not until today that I was able to make a full home cooked meal.

The stove is a little different, but it can make the food taste more like a Chinese restaurant. First, it is a gas stove that ranges from "very hot to flaming." There is no such thing as a slow simmer. Second, the flames from the gas stove envelope the wok (the side of the wok has heat directly around it), and therefore the whole wok gets very hot, so I can flash fry the food.

Also, another difference is that in the states I would usually have to go to a specialty grocery store to find Asian groceries, here it only has Asian produce. I have to go to a specialty store to find produce for other types of cuisine. Also, currently I am shopping not at a grocery store, but in the open-air market. Quite an interesting concept, hopefully we can get pictures up soon.

Can you guess what dishes these are? The vegetable in the last one is probably not as typical in a US grocery market, but I will give you a smiley face if you are close.

Meet The Press

Friday morning was one that I was looking forward to for... weeks. It was my first morning in our new home... with hot water available. I was so excited to try out my new French Press. This was the beginning of how I would be making coffee for, potentially, for the rest of my life. So here it is, my Friday morning... in pictures...

The Equipment - all carefully laid out the night before.



Sugar - the basic white sugar here is a little bit wet and fluffy.


Milk - sold here, in boxes with about 18 pouches each. Unrefrigerated. Seems to be fine with everyone else, so it's fine with me.


Whole Bean Coffee - 1 Pound of Starbucks Komodo Dragon. Don't worry... I didn't brew the whole pound. But, ask me again in 2 weeks.


Hand Grinder - Made by GSI, purchased at REI. Had a lot of trouble finding a place that would sell inexpensive hand grinders. But I couldn't get one that plugged in, since outlet voltages are different here. But would you believe it... REI had one, for $15! For all those coffee addicts who go camping and have no electricity...


Hand Grinder mounted on French Press - The grinder is designed to be able to mount onto various size presses. Convenient, eh? Will be working to perfect the level of coarseness for the grinding. By my second half-pot on Friday morning, I think I had it pretty good. By my third half-pot on Friday afternoon :) I had the coarseness at about where I liked it.


Add Hot Water... and Wait - There it is. Doing it's magic. Doesn't it look so good and tempting? Caution - do not lick your computer screen.


Final Product - So good. French Press coffee is the kind that leaves you with a little bit of mud at the bottom.


All in all... awesome. Now I can't wait to start my morning this way every day.

Top 5

I'm alive, and I'm doing ok. And ok is good with me, for right now.

A friend once told me, when I was in a different city for training, that I should think of five things I like about that city. So I thought I would do that about the city we are in.

Here is my top 5:

5. Living life here includes exercising. When I was in the states, I would constantly be planning out my week to make sure I get all the workouts I need. Over here, whenever I go grocery shop, or go to our friend's house, we hop on our bike or we walk. Also, since we live on the fourth floor, it is kind of like doing stairmaster. Eventually we will start putting in more exercise routines (like going to the yoga place on our road), but for now, running errands makes us bike a lot.

4. We are the Koreans. When we go to a store and start speaking, the store owners automatically think we are Korean. The reason is because we look Asian, but do not speak the language well. Since there are also a lot of Koreans here, we get called the Koreans. This is cool for Alvin because he always pretends he is Korean when we go to Korean restaurants, and orders in his Korean accent.

3. I really like my apartment. It is bigger than my place in Dallas. It has three rooms, and wood-like floors. My favorite purchases for the place so far are my bedroom curtains and my toilet paper dispenser, which you will see in the bathroom post.

2. The food is so yummy. This past week, when we visit other ex-pats, we have eaten spaghetti, burgers with swiss cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, banana bread, salads, cookies, chocolate cake, etc. I am shocked that we have eaten so much western food. Yet, Alvin and I were starting to crave Asian foods. Good thing we are in East Asia. So we have gone out to eat a couple times, and really like the food. There are a lot of noodle dishes here and most of them are very very spicy. Mmmm, so satisfying. We made a funny mistake the other day. I pointed to an item that looked like the word for beef, but instead it turned out to be beef luncheon meat (spam!). When we got home, we looked up what I was trying to order, and it turned out it was beef stomach lining. I'm glad we got the luncheon meat instead.

1. Everyone here has been so nice to us, well at least me. Even when we don't buy their stuff, they still help us with directions and want to know more about us. Alvin says an old woman yelled at him, but I was an eye/ear witness and I think Alvin was somewhat at fault for the interaction.

Home At Last

We have moved in to our place!

Sorry that we've been somewhat internet-awol in the last 72 hours. Last night was our 2nd night in our new place, and now we finally have our wifi network setup and going.

You'll hear more from us in the next few days, for sure... but probably what you really want to see for right now... are some pictures of our home!

So, here you go...

The View - We live on the 4th floor.


Our Living Room - Not quite furnished yet. We're taking our time.


The Kitchen - Still have some kitchen essentials to buy, along with some shelves and other storage helps, etc.


The Bedroom - With bed and closet (to the left, not really shown in picture)


The Bathroom - Haha... I know you really want to see this one! But you'll have to wait and come back. Bathroom pictures... in a few days. ;)

成功!

I learned this term yesterday. We've been having a little trouble getting cash from the ATM because we didn't notify our bank early enough to open up our card for international use. All good now, but yesterday... we were trying various ATMs to see if maybe the release request had gone into effect yet.

So, I went to one ATM where the bank worker came up and stood behind me. I know that he was kinda trying to be helpful, but you kinda need your space when you're at an ATM machine, you know? So anyways, I made my request for cash, and then I got a request denied message, my card returned, and my receipt, which basically said I was rejected.

The bank worker looked at my receipt, and he said, 没有成功 (mei you cheng gong). I don't know what that means, so I say, 设么？(shenme? = what?). He says 没有成功! again a few times... pointing at my receipt, at the part that tells me that I got rejected. I say thank you and walk away.

I say to Bethany, "That guy keeps saying 没有成功. What does that mean?"

Bethany says, "Oh, that means unsuccessful. He's telling you your transaction was unsuccessful."

Uhh... yeah. I noticed that when I walked away from the machine without any money. 没有成功? You're telling me, buddy.

But, what a great way to learn a new term! So now, at the end of any attempt that Bethany or I have at a task, we proclaim to each other whether or not we were successful. 成功！ (cheng gong = Success!) or 没有成功. (mei you cheng gong = Fail.)

Monday was a day of 成功. What a good day. With a friend's help, we were able to sign up for cell phone plans, get me a cell phone (Bethany will get a different model in the next day or two), and sign up for phone/internet for our apartment. Then, on our own, working as a pair to communicate in a new language, we were able to order food at a restaurant (成功！), bargain for a bed/dresser and setup delivery to our apartment (成功!), and then go bargain for curtains and work through the details of measurements and deposits, etc. (成功!).

It has been a good day. Rewarding through and through. Not all days will be like this, sure. But it's nice to receive the grace to be able to have day full of 成功.