Thanksgiving in September?

Next week Sunday is Thanksgiving Day in Korea, called "Chuseok."

People go to their hometowns, cook extravagant delicacies and spend their time at home. I guess it's mostly eating and watching TV? Cause nothing is open! Department stores, everything -- closed.

It's like Christmas Day. You even give presents to your relatives and friends...all the employees at our company got a Chuseok present, too...we were given a choice out of food or a $100 gift certificate to a department store.

I bet you can guess which one I chose? =) P.S. I am a major shop-a-holic.


This is one thing that *everyone* eats on Chuseok -- rice cakes.

Some are filled with either bean paste or sesame seed paste. Delicious, but don't eat too many cause they are really filling!

We generally get 3 days off for the holidays, but unfortunately, Chuseok lands on a Sunday and the day before is a Saturday, so we only get one day off of work this year...

Yes, in Korea, if a holiday lands on the weekend, sucks to be you cause that means no extra day off.


To tell you the truth, I'm not so big on Chuseok as my family is not in the country and to fly out costs an arm and a leg at this time of year...

But, I am going back to Honolulu right around Thanksgiving! That means turkey and Black Friday! Not to mention beaches in November. So I guess I get the best of both worlds?

Gangnam Style Mania

I'm sure you all have heard of Psy and "Gangnam Style" by now... here he is on the Today Show in New York:

The song is number 1 on the i-tunes charts...you see it all over Facebook and Twitter...

It's amazing how this entertainer is making a huge name for himself all over the world. Even if his fans don't know what he's singing about or even where Gangnam is! (To those who don't know, it is one of the most busiest, lively areas in Seoul. It's full of office buildings, shops, clubs, restaurants and everything you may be looking for.)

What is exactly causing this world-wide mania? The song? The funny dance? The video? Or Psy's funny character?

I guess it could be everything put together... He already enjoys a renown career as an enterainer in Korea and participates as a judge on "Super Star K 4" (it's like a Korean version of American Idol).

But I find it amazing how YouTube is shaping the world's trends today. 10 years ago, this mania would've never happened. It just wasn't possible. Sure, YouTube existed, but people were no where near as dependent on it or frequently watched it as they do today. I supposed it is inter-dependent with Facebook and Twitter, which all drive the sharing power of internet media.

10 years ago, I wasn't able to keep up with Western music, because there just were enough resources. Information wouldn't get to me realtime as it does now. However, with the help of YouTube and internet radio, I can listen to what's hot right now from anywhere in the world.

I can keep up with today's music and the whole world is now influenced by a wider range of media.

Kind of awesome, but kind of scary at the same time! Now fads can take over the entire world.
What do you think of Psy? One hit wonder? Or world-wide star?

As summer comes to an end

The days are already getting shorter and the evenings a lot cooler...which makes me sad, since summer is my favorite season.

But don't get me wrong, I love the fact that we have four seasons in Korea. Growing up in Hawaii, we would have summer, summer, late spring, and summer. Those were our seasons.
Things get pretty boring...and no one really pays attention to fashion trends, since all you really need is summer outfits....that you wear all year long.

During the summer in Korea, you may often see a noodle dish called "kong-kuksoo" ("soy bean noodles"). It's a cold dish, but like udon in a soy based soup. To westerners, I bet that sounds/looks really strange...like is that soy milk and udon?!? But it's really delish! And very healthy, too.

 

My mom loves this noodle dish and we had it all the time at home. All year round -- because it's always summer. I guess because of this habit, I also love kong-kuksoo...it's probably my favorite noodle dish of all. More than ramen!

If you are ever in Korea during the summer, I would definitely recommend trying it, especially if you like things like tofu.

 

Bakeries in Korea

We get fresh bread from the bakery every morning at the office -- delivered right to us!

It's first come, first serve, so you have to snatch your pick early or all the good ones will be taken.


Asian bakeries are quite different from those in the states -- there is a lot more variety in bread and a lot less pastries/doughnuts. I don't really care for pastries, so it matches my taste. I'm not into oily stuff. haha

However, I noticed that there is also a difference between Japanese bakeries and Korean bakeries, as well.

1. The quality is higher for Japanese bread. 2. And they're not too sweet. (Koreans tend to like super sweet things like Americans. Japanese like subtle-sweet things.) 3. You have a better variety of non-sweet/food-like breads (like with eggs, veggies, etc. put together).

There are some pizza breads and "food-like" goodies in Korea, but I find that there isn't so much of a variety (except for Tous les Jour, which I would say is the best bakery chain in Korea...not that I'm endorsing, just saying at it is.)


Bread taste and quality, though, has really improved in the last few years for Korea. Only about 4-5 years ago, Korean bread could not even be compared with Japanese bread. Now, it's quite close. I have heard that a lot of Koreans often go to Japan to study cooking/gourmet rather than going all the way to Europe (to cut costs).

Here is a sample of what we get:

 

 

Sweet bread and "dorayaki" (pancakes with sweet apple paste sandwiched between. Usually dorayaki has red bean paste in the middle, but this was good, too.)

 

This one kind of surprised me. It looks like Japanese "Yatsuhashi" which is famous in Kyoto. (Rice cake with bean paste inside) But there's a catch -- the rice cake or "mochi" is chocolate flavored?! So you have bean powder (the ligh brown powder on top), chocolate mochi, and red bean paste inside.

 

To be honest, it tasted as weird as it sounds.

 

Sometimes, you think, "sounds weird, but maybe it's be surprisingly good."

 

Nope.

 

Oh well. At least they tried to be creative.

 

Have a nice day!!

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Yes that's me





We have a bunch of videos up for Rabbit Launcher and its themes...you may have noticed that it's always the same person with the same tiny hands.^^

 

It's funny that we have gotten quite a few comments about my voice! Thank you...it's nice to know that other people like how it sounds...

 

Someone also mentioned something similar to me the other day (in person). Seems quite surprising to me...I have never thought my voice was anything different from anyone else's.  

 

 

Guys are so funny sometimes... I actually laughed when I read the comments posted up on YouTube. They always seem to imagine the speaker in a certain way...like "she sounds cute" or "she sounds sexy." I have never talked to a guy on the phone and think, "wow, he sounds handsome!"

Anyway...

I am trying to think of a way to conclude this blog but nothing is coming to mind. I've been having freakishly bad insomnia recently and I notice my colloquial skills are really going whack...

If anyone know a good cure to sleeplessness please let me know!!