Sunday, March 21, 2010

bathroom warning

Says the toilet: A sign in a bar bathroom in Itaewon. There are often interesting signs like this.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Shoe Per Diem

I post almost daily on another blog called Shoe Per Diem. It is what the name suggests. Pictures of feet/shoes to do with things done that day - places, things, food, what ever. There are 10 of us in 6 countries posting almost daily. Check it out. ^.~

salad

Yesterday since I only taught for an hour (but had to be at work the full day), I went out for a nice lunch. I tried to go to Le Alaska, a little bakery cafe right beside where I used to live, but it was out of the panini bread so couldn't make the sandwich I wanted. I'll have to go back next time another time as I really want to try their sandwiches!!! Instead, I went to the Paris Croissant Kitchen. The menu there isn't great (for me) because almost everything had fish or seafood in it.The few things that weren't fishy, though, sounded great. I got the beef and mushroom salad.It was fantastic!

Mmmmm Cinnamon Latte

Last year I bought myself a Mukka Express.It is a stove top latte maker made by Bialetti, an Italian company. It is fantastic. Water goes in the bottom, coffee grind in the middle, and milk in the top. It takes less than 5 minutes to get a 2 shot latte. The company has many different kinds of stove top espresso pots (2, 4, 6, etc shot pots) but this is the only one that does the latte (only one that you can put milk in). A couple of the higher end department stores here have them and Starbucks has one kind of pot - a 6 shot pot, which is too big for my liking. Right now I'd have no use for 6 shots of espresso. You can't adjust how much it makes. Too bad because it's cheaper than in the department store.After I got back from a long walk with Hopie, my friend's dog that I'm taking care of (check links to see pics and a video of Hopie if you like), I made myself a nice cinnamon latte (in one of my Starbucks mugs). One of the things I got for Christmas was a cinnamon sugar grinder (like a pepper grinder only with cinnamon sugar in it). I love it!! It's great for so many things. For my latte, I put some in the bottom of the cup before pouring and then some sprinkled on top.Yum!!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

snow and a dog

Weather here in Seoul is strange. A couple of weeks ago we had such nice warm weather that made everyone think spring was on its way. That was followed by a not so nice very cold period that made us realize that the warmth was just a teaser. The past few days weren't too bad except they were a little chilly. Then yesterday it was cold and rainy. When I got on the subway to head home it was raining. When I got out, though, it was snowing. A lot. What?? This is my view out my little balcony window last night.
[with the flash][special night setting][with the flash][without the flash]
It snowed all night. Ugh.
[Seoul Tower in the distance, on Namsan][My home is sort of on the lower side of the mountain.]
Walking a dog on the hill in the snow can be dangerous. Several times he almost took me down. He was going nuts acting as if he had never seen snow before. Woo. White stuff. How exciting!! He was going in circles trying to scoop up snow as he went. He looked kind of funny, actually, wandering along with his jaw in the snow. Made me think of a snow plow. Hopi is a friend's dog. He (the dog) is staying with me for the month while his owner finds a new apartment. Hopi is a tiger skin/brindle (Hopi or Hogu) Jindo. The Jindo (진돗개) is a Korean hunting dog breed that originally came from Jindo Island. They are known for being brave and loyal. They are Korea's National Treasure #53.
The snow certainly does make everything look pretty.