KAL Parking

KAL 'Prestige' Lounge

If you have to wait for a plane, this isn't a bad way to do it. Free Budweiser!

Relaxing at the coffee shop

After a long day of hiking around Seoul, A and I are finally chilling.
Mmm, delicious green tea latte.

Creepy mascot

This is the 'cute' character used to promote the Korean War Memorial.
Because apparently that's something that needs a mascot.

Sunset in Seoul

A brief note to fellow expats

If you value your ability to look up directions routed on public
transit on your iPhone, do not allow your phone to upgrade itself to
iOS 6! Apple ditched Google Maps in the Map app for their own
substandard mapping solution, and it doesn't include train and bus
routes. Kind of important info outside the US...

Keep an eye out for a new map app direct from Google. At that point
you can upgrade without fear of lost utility.

Pictures or it didn't happen

Exploring Seoul

At the palace...

Korean drama shoot

It looked like one of those 'Korean Dramas' I've heard so much about
was being filmed right around the corner from our hotel. I even think
they were using the second floor of the cafe we ate dinner in as sort
of a trailer area for the actors.

It's a trap!

I went to the grocery store to buy lunch today, and a container of
freshly fried onion rings caught my eye. I got them home, opened them
up, and took my first delicious crispy bite... of a squid ring. Ahh! Even
with my absurdly limited vocabulary and practically non-existent
reading skills I know イカ (ika) is squid. It was right there on the deli
label as part of a longer description.

The moral of this story is always read labels, even when what you're
buying comes in a clear plastic container and you think you know
exactly what you're getting. Surprise squid strikes when you least
expect it.

(Note: While not onion rings, the squid was delicious.)

Trip preparations

Our ongoing Adventures are taking A and I to South Korea later this week. In preparation, I'm studying hard to make sure I have a full picture of the complex socio-political climate on the Korean Peninsula.

Here are some resources so you can make sure you're up to speed too:
North Korea

South Korea

Setomono Matsuri

Alice and I attended the 'Festival of Seto Things' recently. Seto is known for their ceramics, so celebrating Seto things meant to an enormous pottery sale street fair. Of course, no street fair would be complete without food on a stick! In this particular booth, it was squid.

You can see the rest of the photos from the visit here.

 

The Posh Garage

It's been mentioned a few times before, so after requests for imagery I remembered I took a panorama of the garage as we were in the process of moving in. You'll probably need to click on it to enlarge it, this mini photo on the page won't do it justice.

I took this photo with my back to the door. Left to right: Stairs going up to the second floor living area, shoe closet, intercom (between floors, and to a video/audio unit on the mailbox out front), electrical utility closet, bathroom, mini kitchen (sink, one induction burner), sliding doors to additional living area and the back deck, wall of cedar paneling. Many little track spotlights on the ceiling. The 'outdoor' portion is textured concrete, the 'indoor' portion is tile. Don't forget to take your shoes off at the step between!

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Post cards are available in the gift shop.

Rotary sushi

I have been fed via a conveyor belt. Our special orders were delivered
from the kitchen on a little robotic express train. THE FUTURE HAS
ARRIVED, and it is enclosed in a plastic UFO for your protection.

Expo Mascots

Marble statues of the 2005 Aichi Expo mascots. They make about as much
sense as the Olympic mascots, which is to say none at all. All
depictions of them I've seen make them look like a pair of sentient
shrubs.

AHHH REPEL THE INVADERS! ...nevermind

First, a bit of apartment-geography. Our place has a large, posh, garage which has become my office/studio. I only open the garage door when I'm taking my bike out for a spin, otherwise egress is always through the human-sized door. With that in mind...

I was just getting ready to head to the grocery store and was pawing through my messenger bag to grab some useful coins WHEN THE GARAGE DOOR STARTS TO OPEN?!! Oh no! Make it stop! ONE OF MY WALLS IS BEING TORN OFF! Then I was staring at an empty driveway, no invaders to be found. Turns out I'd accidentally bumped the door opener remote I keep in my messenger bag while shuffling for change. Oops.

Outside the City

Additional photos from today's bike ride. It doesn't take long before this:

Turns into this:

Which is rapidly followed by this:

The whole process would then play out again in reverse if you went far enough, only there'd be a different city name on the sign.

It's getting very close to harvest time for the rice. Lots of people are out working, but a saw a pair of guys actually going about the harvesting. They had a machine that looked like a swamp zamboni, or maybe a swamp floor waxer? It drove through the stalks heavy with rice leaving only a bristle above the water line in its wake.

Exploring via bicycle

The shrine (located up the hill behind me in this photo) is a bit south of Yakusa station, up a road you would never think to turn down unless you lived on it.

Bike search

Can you spot the bike belonging to the foreigner? Hint: Mine is the
one with the seat twice as high as the others.