1. 'Tis the Season!

Welcome to my favourite month of the year!!

On Thursday I decided to make myself a pizza with using some of the Roast Chicken that was left over from the other night. I made the pizza and was content.. but then I still had the flour out and there were a lot of things covered all in flour so I decided to make some Samosa’s! My Momma used to make them and then only less than half fry them and chuck them in the freezer, so whenever we wanted to eat all we had to do is microwave them and then chuck them in the oven or deep fryer. So they turned out ok, but you’d be surprised how bad I am at trying to make them into triangles! Here’s the mess, but I didn’t take any pictures of the finished product.. I swear I did, but they aren’t in my camera so I must’ve deleted them.

On Friday night I was invited to Sarah’s place for a little dinner party. There I met Jackie (from Hawaii), Nomsa (from South Africa), Loretta (from somewhere in the US), and I already knew Greg (Aussie), Mark (from all over), and of course Sarah (the ESL Coordinator, also from the US). We had five courses believe it or not. First up were some mussels that Sarah had steamed. Then came Pumpkin Mash from Loretta, after that we had the main course of Fish Curry that had Sarah also bought which we co-cooked served on a bed of Sweet Potato Mash (from Jackie). Sarah basically told me what she wanted, and what to put in, and how to cook it, and I cooked it. So it was basically her dish.. either way it turned out great! Then there was the warm Spinach, Pinenut and Feta (yes she actually found some decent feta!!) Salad! Finally I took over some Halwa for dessert. By the end of the night (and after 4 bottles of wine) the term Shivfished was created.. so now if I’m ever cooking anything that they’ll eat, they wont be eating my food; they’ll be getting Shivfished. Oh how I tried to make them forget it.. but the phrase stuck. :

After that (around 11pm) I met up with Steve (from UK), Kurt (Aussie), Blake and two other guys who I also met for the first time and forgot their names. We went to the karaoke room and sung out hearts out.. then I went back with Steve to his place and went to sleep on the couch. That was until my phone rang at 7:30 in the morning (an alarm I had set for LAST week!), and I couldn’t get to sleep again.. I decided to leave Steve a note and go and see what was happening in Seoul. At least the two and half hour bus trip would let me catch up on some sleep. I was at the bus terminal waiting for the 10am bus and who should rock up but Daphne, she was catching the same bus. So off we went to Seoul, and then we met up with a friend of hers (whose name I’ve also forgotten) she was really cool though and lives in Sokcho which is about 2hours from where I live but in the exact opposite direction of Seoul. I spent most of the day with them and went to see “New York in Korea”, a place called Myeong-dong. From there I decided to go and check out Seoul Tower, which was really beautiful! After spending a good amount of time there and having a nice Chai Latte, I decided to head over to Itaewon and see if there were any rooms left in my dingy little motel I stay at. Luckily for me there was! So I paid my $20 for the night and went to explore Itaewon a bit more before meeting up a Mexican Place called Amigo’s with Daphne, her friend, and Lila (whose name I remember because I have her number in my phone), and also a tall guy from Norway.. or Sweden. We ate good food and drank some beer. I thought about going back to the Tower (since I had a pass till 11pm) but then half way to the bus stop I decided against it. I went to do some shopping and found Wet Tamarind, Dhal, and Chilli Powder!! Then I went to bed.

I woke up in the morning all warm and toasty.. I had a look out of my dark room window to see it was white everywhere! The best part though was that the snow was still falling.. so off I went as quick as I could to get into it! I needed a snow jacket, which set me back $100, but it’s a genuine Sean John and it makes me look like an overstuffed Teletubby. After this I went on my way, through three trains and got to my secret Gloria! For the first time in Korea I think they made me the perfect coffee! It that, or my taste is changing and I’ve forgotten what it tastes like in Oz. But I got there and the girl knew my order!! I couldn’t believe it; the last time I was there must’ve been a month ago! So I sat and watched the snow fall from the warmth inside. Finally I began the four hour journey back home.

Oh I was so impressed with the coffee that I asked her to write it in Korean for me and I bought a mug. It’s one of the best mugs I’ve had.. which means.. its HUGE!! :D

PS: Sorry about the lack of picture, but I didn’t know where I was going to sleep during the weekend so I couldn’t justify bringing my camera.. which now I regret a little.

Reminder to myself for years down the track: When I visit Hawaii, be sure to try some Loco-moco.