Playing with my food, and other things...
Quarry not prey
Last updated:
3/16/2005; 4:39:07 PM


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Paul/Male/56-60. Lives in United States/North Carolina/Carrboro, speaks English. Eye color is brown. I am skinny. I am also cynical. My interests are All Music/All Food.
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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Sunday, January 12, 2003

Last night, a goodly part of the alleged Karaoke culprits made their way to Korea house. I tagged along to keep an eye on 'em. A quick 600 won subway ride from Central City to Myong-dong, a walk across an LG gas station (which had a motorized cart loaded with 5-gallon plastic bottles of gasoline for fueling on the road), up a hill, through a gate, and we were ready to eat.

The table had already been set when we entered our private house. I managed to snap a couple of pictures but, since this was my first introduction to nearly all these foods, the names of the dishes remain a mystery for the moment. There were small diameter green and red crepes that you fill with various fresh vegetable garnishes, roll up, and dip in soy sauce. Those are a real challenge for the chopstick-impaired. The rolling maneuver could be done with chopsticks and a spoon, but nearly everyone, including our two Japanese, quickly switched to fingers.

A pumpkin soup was the highlight of the three different soups served. A small salad arrived featuring jellyfish, which is surprising difficult to chew. A tray of small specialties, featuring chestnuts (which you would dunk in honey), something that resembled jerky, honey-coated walnuts, and dried kelp (laver). Another small dish at each setting had rectangular pieces of kelp, yakinori in Japan (grilled in sheets), sweetened with honey and coated with sesame seeds.

There were three types of kimchi on the table, all excellent. Meat entrees arrived, including two that were probably beef, but on bones you don't normally see. It looked like one came from the base of the tail, not cartilage like oxtail. Tasty meat, served with a roasted chestnut. Another meat dish, this one on a base of grilled onions and topped with raw enoki mushrooms. Ornately cut fruits, pear, apple, and strawberry were dessert.

Rush had to ask if one of the unrecognizable cuts of meat was dangogi (dog), which made the wait laugh and say "No, No, No..."

As soon as we finished eating, we were taken to the main auditorium for an hour-long show of Korean folk music and dance. The female dancers had incredibly expressive hands, keeping them covered most of the time, then using them to lead into a motion across the body. Ensemble dancing with split-second precision. The music was provided by three zithers, 2 plucked, one bowed, three wooden flutes, and two drums - one an hourglass shaped one which carries the main beat. That drum was also used in the grand finale, 4 male musician-dancers, each with a drum or tambourine, and a long streamer on their headgear.

The streamers made patterns, performed mock battles, and provided the unintentional highlight of the evening - each percussionist did a solo and a bow for applause, and the guy who had a small (boring gong) ran out and got a 30 foot streamer. He threw this into the audience, then jerked his head, and made virtuoso grand-scale patterns in the air. That is, until his streamer snagged, probably on the track lights, and he had to finish the show with a sheepish grin, his helmet hanging at waist level from the rafters and the dancers returned for their bows.

The dancers posed for photos in the lobby. Then out we went, culturally-improved, into the streets of Jung-Gu, to the subway, and back to the hotel.


4:36:26 PM    comment []



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Last update: 3/16/2005; 4:39:07 PM.
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