If anyone could get me interested in watching car racing, it would be Danica Patrick, the Michelle Wie of that sport.
[above: Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sanghee, meeting in Singapore.]The U.S. and its Asian allies are laying the groundwork for a tougher stance toward North Korea should negotiations with China and Russia fail to yield a new strategy to force the government in Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program, defense officials said Saturday.This is only possible because of a change of leadership. While it might have occurred if Roh and Obama were both president, and possibly with Bush and Lee both in power, I don't think it would have happened when we had Roh and Bush. Too much baggage.
In a meeting Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told his South Korean and Japanese counterparts that they should begin thinking about measures the three countries could take unilaterally if the so-called six-party talks continued to founder.
"The secretary raised the notion that we should think about this as we are pursuing the six-party talks," said a senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic protocol. "We ought to think about what more we need to do should they not prove successful."
FACT: Non-Asian minorities bring poor test scores, poverty, and social problems everywhere they go.Sure, not even the middle class Hispanics or Blacks. Or this...
heres what i pick up were being Invaded, in a couple years whites/blacks will be forced into small pocket communities. None of these people speak english, the parents come over here illegaly to have have kids, the schools have to make special adjustments for these non english speaking people which they say is funded in full by united way, but i find that hard to believe. Tax payer money is involved in there more then this article wants you to believThat person should learn better grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization before chastising others for not speaking English (that kind of hypocrisy is where my grammar/spelling Nazi tendencies come out).
Rome fell in part because it was overrunYep. About 150 years after Rome took over, I reckon.
by barbarian-neighbors. Do the math.
POLITICIANS THAT AMERICANS NEED TO SUPPORT. FIGHT BACK OR LOSE YOUR NATIONAL IDENTITY!That's not, apparently, the "nation of immigrants" identity.
xxxxxxxxxxSome of the comments that got axed were calling Hispanics "cockroaches." Nice. Fortunately, there are some folks who had positive things to say or even called out some of the commenters on the racism:
Has anyone ever heard of the word generalize? Because that's what you snobby OC commenters do. You read a couple articles about some bad seeds from Santa Ana and you think you have thr right to disrespect and generalize an entire race of people. Just to clear the record I am not for illegal immigration at all and believe that we should stop catering to people here and forcing us to learn Spanish in order to get a job. But that doesn't give me a right to generlize a race of people as cockroaches or gang bangers. Get off your high horse!I think this person has a point, particularly in regards to how some pore over the Orange County Register looking for stories that confirm their notion that Hispanics — especially illegals — are bringing the place down.
40% will drop out and become a burden to society.Doomsday scenarios are a favorite among the Big Orange's White Bread. I like the way this person called them out:
The only welfare should be free birth control.
20% of LA county is on welfare the OC is next.
I guess it's good that there aren't any white people on welfare. That could neeeeever happen. Those darn Mexicans using our tax money that we are assuming they do on the comment section of the OC Register...And another voice of reason:
Enough with the racism. The amount of children a couple has has little to do with race and everything to do with Education and Wealth. The more educated and wealthy a couple is, the fewer the children a couple has. I find it funny when people who live in SANTA ANA or SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO or Los ANGELES complain about hispanics and their culture without any sense of IRONY.Oh, yeah, that's right! California used to be part of Mexico and Spain. In fact, it was a territory of Spain (though very loosely controlled) for twice as long as it has been part of the US. This guy drives the point home:
Yes, Hispanic guy here and paying over 100k in taxes a year. YOU average joes can THANK ME LATER. and oh yeah, my family has been in Southern California for over 200 years and help build the infrastructure and help put food on your tables or what most of you new comers take for granted.Anyway, it's not hard to see that not only are (some) White Americans in places like Orange County spewing hatred for "foreigners" and other non-Anglos, but they are doing this in response to heterogeneity, not despite it. I think what's at heart is that a lot of Anglos (i.e., non-Hispanic Whites, though I know it's not a very precise term) can't deal with being minorities in their own hometown. But guess what? They're going to have no choice.
A million mourners packed into the community, which is dotted by rice fields and light industry warehouses. Round the clock they have come, bowing humbly and wiping away tears, placing chrysanthemums beneath a portrait of the 62-year-old Roh.Even though it's a few days old, it's still a good read.
In South Korea, incoming administrations typically savage those who preceded them. Many of Roh's supporters talk of a smear campaign -- news media leaks by prosecutors and a vendetta by the Lee Myung-bak administration.
"It's a political murder," said Sohn Dae-jeong, 40, who had arrived at Bongha after a five-hour overnight bus trip from Seoul. "The administration, the conservative newspapers, the prosecutors, they killed him. I hope they are happy now."
I have just two questions: Would this business model work in Korea, and where are all the Korean prostitutes the K-blog commentariat keeps saying have invaded America?
The health authorities said Sunday they have confirmed four more cases of Influenza A, bringing the nation's total to 39.Be careful out there.
One American infant and three Korean nationals were confirmed to have been infected with the H1N1 virus, according to the health ministry.
All four -- a 16-year-old Korean teenager, a 38-year-old Korean woman, a 28-year-old Korean college student and an 18-month-old American infant -- came from the United States this week and were quarantined and treated after showing flu-like symptoms, the ministry said.
Korea was considered relatively insulated from the highly contagious virus until last week, with just four confirmed cases reported.
The number, however, is growing sharply after a group of foreign English teachers was found to be infected by a fellow teacher who arrived here from the U.S. recently, raising concerns the virus might be spreading through person-to-person contact.
Thirteen confirmed cases in Korea are Korean nationals and 21 are U.S. citizens, according to the government.
I'm sorry, what exactly are people thanking you for? Writing a Cliff Notes version of a 69 page report, or just posting the report? The report was posted up on Brian Deutsch's sites a few days ago and it has been extensively commented upon on a couple of sites. And why does a 69 page report need Cliff Notes? Cliff Notes usually run around 69 pages.John Galt, take a deep breath and relax. I'll do the same. Let's all relax. And let's remember that none of us are paid to blog (except for chinboistas) and sometimes the big picture requires a whole lot of people painting their own little sections of it. And to those people, I say thanks. And let's also not forget that not everyone who reads Roboseyo also reads Brian's, or Marmot's, or Hub or Sparkle, etc. This stuff gets treated in multiple places because it's important to many different people.
Finally, as I've mentioned on the Marmot's Hole, I really think you guys are deluding yourselves if you imagine anything is going to come of this report other than a sense of self satisfaction.Well, I've gone on record saying I think that ATEK human rights abuse campaign is ill-advised, based on questionable information, and goes in the opposite direction of what would be good for English teaching as a profession, but I don't think that people banding together is a bad thing in the long run: it helps build coalitions and community structure that can be useful in other situations down the road. That's why I keep making suggestions about what ATEK should be getting involved with, like working on plugging up insurance lapses for people who are changing jobs. Useful stuff like that.
You aren't living in America - no one is going to take this report seriously.Actually, I disagree. Despite expats in the K-blog commentariat being convinced that The K-Man™ is out to get them, courts, government agencies, and NGOs have often come down on the side of foreign nationals even in cases that looked like long shots, and the actual trend is for expansion of international residents' rights and resources to help them, not the other way around. Though I don't agree with much of the actual report, I believe it will be taken seriously (but if I'm right about it being on questionable grounds, it may yield bad results if it is taken seriously).
You are living in a country where the general population has been convinced that your services are needed, however they remain unwanted. The only skill you bring to the table is the language you are born with - for that you are paid and average salary and the opportunity to live abroad and work a job which, frankly, just isn't that difficult.Now, see, this is what really compelled me to respond. Why you gotta be a hatah, G... er, John G.? You could have simply made the point that their profession is one that is easily entered and that comes into play in salary and negotations, but what I think that secretly you wanted to just show your animosity and disdain toward English teachers as a group because it makes you feel somehow superior.
My favorite one was a Canadian English teacher saying they should make Mike Breen head. I grinned, bared it, and quick extracated myself from that shallow end of the gene pool.... written by someone with obvious contempt for English teachers but who can't spell extricated and doesn't seem to realize that the past tense of bear is bore. You and D-Ram's scorn is misplaced, unhelpful, and unfair. You, not English teachers, are the problem.
In return, you bitch and moan about racism - what exactly did you expect? You are living in one of the most homogeneous societies on the planet.Well, here you are part right (more on this below), but I don't know that Korea's legendary homogeneity is what's holding it back. First off, K-blog commentary notwithstanding, South Korea has made tremendous strides in this regard over the past two decades (though there is still a ways to go).
The report is ridiculous and this mutual appreciation society you have established for 'suffering' English teachers is laughable.I do agree with you up to a point that the K-blog echo chamber tends to find evil xenophobic or racist intent even when there isn't any, and that can lead to a very detrimental knee-jerk attitude that The K-Man™ is trying to keep the E2 down, but I don't think it's laughable to try to better one's situation. I may not agree with the Wagner Report, but the effort is most certainly not laughable, particularly not for the reasons you state below.
You grew up white in a society where whites were the majority.This is true, and I think a lot of Whites in South Korea (and places like Japan or Taiwan) are experiencing what is essentially the problems of being a visible minority. Being part of the majority in the US, Canada, or wherever, they may not realize how often and how severely ethnic minorities are sometimes singled out. Thus, they come to Korea and imagine that back home Americans never stare at Asians, never get angry when someone doesn't speak English fluently, don't blame "foreigners" for crime or job losses, etc., etc.
If you want some respect, learn Korean if you haven't, and, in the mean time, learn from the experience of being the unwelcome minority.Like I said, I agree with you on the second part, but let's not kid ourselves about the first part. I admit I would not think too highly of someone who has made little or no effort to learn Korean even after a few months — especially those who blame their lack of Korean language skills on a lack of opportunities even though they live in the middle of the Korean-speaking fu¢king central — but I'm not going to get on the case of someone who hasn't yet mastered the language.
[above: The Chevrolet Aveo, known in Korea as the Daewoo Kalos, is one of General Motors' current B-cars.]
Scientists think the spring swine flu epidemic may be a "herald wave" of what's to come. In 1918, a milder wave of flu cases occurred in late winter and early spring, before the deadly pandemic surge in the fall of that year. In 1957, Asian flu was causing unremarkable illness in China, before landing on American soil for the summer outbreaks and a severe winter season.And while we're at it, let's not forget that Korea is by no means the only country where people are taking this seriously. Next-door neighbor Japan had wholesale cancellation of schools completely unaffected by the virus, for example.
Simonsen has studied past pandemics and says that a pattern of multiple waves is common to all of them also. The 1957 pandemic flu had three waves in the U.S. over five years, with a large number of deaths in the winters of 1959 and 1962. The 1968 pandemic flu had two waves in the British Isles over consecutive years, with 15% of the total number of deaths occurring in winter 1968 and the remaining 85% in winter 1969.
Epidemiologists cautioned that the number of cases reported in the early days of an outbreak can be very inaccurate and deceptive due to several causes, among them selection bias, media bias, and incorrect reporting by governments. This could also be due to authorities in different countries looking at different population groups, many poor, which may in part explain higher mortality rates in countries such as Mexico. Furthermore, countries with poor health care systems and older laboratory facilities may take longer to identify or report cases.This argument basically boils down to this: Swine flu is not so deadly if you don't count all the deaths. Yes, in Mexico the poor and uninsured made up many of the deaths due to H1N1, but in the US, the 36,000 deaths per year from "regular" flu occur in a country where tens of millions are uninsured and where even the elderly under Medicare lack the resources and support network to get adequate medical care (these are severe shortcomings in the US).
The quarantining of more than 50 English teachers last week was the subject of a great deal of interest and concern in the expat community.I'm going to stop right here and point out that a key aspect of this is that this discussion and concern is in the expat community, as Rob says. While this was just one of dozens of stories in the media that an average Korean might see on any give day this past week, it was a highly scrutinized and heavily focused-on topic of expats. This is relevant to Rob's characterization later on.
There are several reasons for concern, first because many English teachers work with children, and many small and not-so-small children have not yet learned to cover their mouths when they cough, or to wash their hands properly. This means both teachers and students are at risk: diseases spread easily in schools.Okay, there's a bit of a logical leap here: No kids in the schools have been infected yet, but their tendency not to cover their mouths when they cough or wash their hands properly might cause the teachers to get infected. Well, yeah, this would be true if swine flu had already infected some of the kids, but that hasn't happened yet. Point taken: diseases spread easily in schools so we want to keep it out of the schools (hence Japan's "overreaction" by closing thousands of unaffected schools).
However, another point of concern for many foreigners in Korea is whether Swine Flu is beginning to be portrayed as a "Foreigner Disease."See, this is where the difference between the average Korean's perception and that of the K-blog-reading expat comes into play (more on this to come)...
As I mentioned on Rob's own blog and in this post, the Korean media is describing each Korean case in detail:The Joongang Daily published an article with the headline "Foreign English Teachers Epicenter of New Flu Cases."
Now, it is a matter of pure fact that a large number of the virus-infected in Korea are foreign English teachers. That's undeniable. However, some of us are concerned as well, that if English teachers are portrayed as the primary disease carriers, it will have two side-effects that are bad for everyone.
The first side-effect is bad for Koreans. If Koreans read an article saying "Foreign Teachers Epicenter of New Flu Cases," from a news source they trust, there is a chance that they will decide, "Well, I don't spend time around foreigners, so I'm fine." That false sense of security might cause some to neglect safety precautions recommended by the World Health Organization to prevent disease transmission.
국내에서 신종 인플루엔자 A(H1N1) 환자 2명이 또 발생해 확진환자가 35명으로 늘었다.The one-third or so that have not been English teachers have been described in detail: Koreans of whatever age, usually coming back from abroad. Along with foreigners arriving from abroad, Koreans returning from abroad have been focused on in the public information as people who need to be careful upon returning (and such information is exactly why some have gone to get checked after becoming sick).
보건복지가족부 중앙인플루엔자대책본부는 미국에서 입국한 유학생을 포함, 한국여성 2명이 신종 플루에 감염된 것으로 확인됐다고 29일 밝혔다. 이들은 각각 20세 유학생과 48세 미국 거주자로 전해졌다.
20세 유학생은 지난 24일 미국에서 입국했으며 다음날 증세가 나타나 27일 보건소에 의심증상을 신고했으며 이날 최종 확진됐다. 48세 환자도 미국에서 25일 입국한 뒤 27일 증상이 나타났고, 바로 의료기관에 신고했다.
Believing H1N1 is a foreigners' problem actually increases the risk that Koreans will catch the disease.Koreans may believe that H1N1 is a problem (currently) coming from abroad, but that's very different from saying it's a foreigners' problem. Again, your assumptions about Koreans reading/hearing only about foreign cases is inaccurate and therefore your conclusion is faulty.When SARS appeared in Asia, many Koreans believed kimchi kept SARS out of Korea, but again, I hope Koreans will not rely on kimchi alone to protect them: a friend quoted a Kenny Rogers song to me, "Trust in God but lock your door," and I answered, "Eat kimchi, but wash your hands with soap."Boy, that kimchi-prevents-SARS idea really gets a lot of mileage. I've heard it said by expats far more than I've ever heard it said by Koreans, and most of the times I've heard it said by Koreans it was said in jest, like eating spinach would turn you into Popeye. I'm going to have to gather some quantifiable evidence to see how widespread (or not) this supposed meme actually is, or rather, how widely it is actually believed.
The other, more insidious worry that some foreigners have is that this situation will spread the attitude that foreign English teachers are the source of diseases: Many foreign teachers around Korea have described being asked to take a health check, despite experiencing no symptoms, and not having traveled outside of Korea for a long time.
If they were personal friends of someone who is now in quarantine, they ought to go to a health clinic out of their own duty toward the community's public safety. If a school decides it is the safest choice to send all their teachers, Korean and foreign, to a clinic for a health check, that is a very prudent thing to do: Everyone spending time around kids is at risk. However, comment boards online are reporting foreigners being asked to submit to unwarranted health checks and being asked to prove that they are disease-free, in a "guilty until proven innocent" manner that makes it seem like they are being singled out as disease carriers.Again, I do not know which places he's referring to, but even the much derided regulations from Avalon English described regulations for both foreign and Korean employees.
If the swine flu scare convinces Korea to be more health conscious, to be more careful about hand washing and sanitation at schools and restaurants, to stay home from work when they are sick, so as not to spread diseases, that is a great thing. However, if the health scare is used as an excuse to put suspicion on foreign English teachers and create or reinforce an image of foreigners as disease carriers (while Koreans are unconcerned), this could develop into an unhealthy pattern of fear and suspicion toward foreigners: Such things do not belong in an advanced society like Korea.Again, what the K-blogs (and apparently Dave's ESL) are saying about this and what average Koreans would read about this are two very different things. Look, I'm not saying there is no xenophobia in Korea, but I'd rather deal with it where it really exists. But it really seems like a lot of expats are hellbent on turning Koreans into the whitey-hating bogeyman, looking for xenophobia and xenophobic/racist motives in almost every action in Korea.
It is the responsibility of Korea's media to provide fair information to the people of Korea, instructing them as to the true risks of the disease in a level-headed way, and describing how each Korean can help prevent its spread, without playing on people's worst fears, manipulating people's emotions with yellow journalism, and shifting blame onto outsiders and scapegoats.And Rob, you don't know that they aren't. An article based on very faulty assumptions, applauded by the K-blog readers as having "nailed it" because they are all listening to the same incestuous amplification of the same K-blogs.
SEOUL, May 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's health authorities confirmed one more case of A/H1N1 flu virus infection, raising the confirmed cases to 33.I don't know if the two Americans are English teachers, but we do know that the virus attacks E2 visa holders in disproportionate numbers. Seriously, though, a large proportion of people arriving in South Korea right now are South Korean nationals returning home for the summer from study in the US and English teachers arriving for teaching assignments.
A 33-year-old South Korean man, who had arrived from New York, was confirmed with the flu infection, the authorities said.
Three additional cases of the flu, two of whom are Americans and one is a South Korean student who were studying in the United States, were confirmed with the virus earlier in the day.
South Korea has reported 33 cases of the A/H1N1 flu since the first case was confirmed in late April.
Three more cases of H1N1 influenza A were confirmed on 21 May and the total number of infected people rose to 33 in Korea.Xinhua and the Korean sources may be talking about different people who are infected, but it seems their facts don't exactly match. Xinhua, apparently some sort of travel agency, isn't exactly objective when it comes to coverage of
According to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs(MHWAF), one is a 30-year-old South African male from the same language institute at which a total of 19 flu-infected English teachers work.
Another is a Korean woman, who returned from the United States. And the other is a man, who returned from the United States last weekend.
The World Health Organization(WHO) announced that 46 countries have officially reported 12,954 cases of influenza A, which have resulted in 92 deaths.<�헬스코리아뉴스>
The man developed a sore throat on May 24 after he flew from New York to Guangzhou, via Incheon City in the Republic of Korea. On Monday and Tuesday, he and his girlfriend spent two days with studio workers, including the beautician, to take bridal photos.
In addition to this fake volcano, you can see real furnace-created lava.
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Places like the thousand-year-old Kashgar (above, source), at the westernmost edge of the PRC, are being razed and replaced with modern structures designed to fit with Beijing's modern idea of what this testy ethnic and religious minority should look like:Nine hundred families already have been moved from Kashgar’s Old City, “the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in central Asia,” as the architect and historian George Michell wrote in the 2008 book “.”Un-freakin'-believable.
Over the next few years, city officials say, they will demolish at least 85 percent of this warren of picturesque, if run-down homes and shops. Many of its 13,000 families, Muslims from a Turkic ethnic group called the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs), will be moved.
In its place will rise a new Old City, a mix of midrise apartments, plazas, alleys widened into avenues and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture “to preserve the Uighur culture,” Kashgar’s vice mayor, Xu Jianrong, said in a phone interview.
The Capitol often attracts protesters. When I first arrived, it was supporters of war resister Lt Ehren Watada; today it is people seeking the release of Burmese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Nikon photos of today's wanderings to come later.
A student living in a university residence hall has tested positive for H1N1 flu (swine flu). The student reported to the Student Health Services on Wednesday with flu-like symptoms and the test was today confirmed by the Hawaii State Department of Health. The student is recovering from what appears to be a mild illness.Rather than hauling them off to a medical facility for quarantine, apparently they were kept in the dorm. The very crowded dorm. But in separate rooms.
Other students and staff members who have been in close contact with the student are being notified and will be evaluated. The affected areas of the student's residence hall are being disinfected. The student and two roommates, who are displaying symptoms of the illness, are being isolated in separate rooms.
Anyone who shows signs of flu-like illness contact the University Health Services at 956-8965. Symptoms of H1N1 virus include: sudden fever, coughing, sore threat, body aches and pains/fatigue.
The university president has said, "As everyone is aware, influenza is a current concern in Hawaii so all of us should follow good infection control practices, including avoiding others if you are sick with flu symptoms. That will help reduce the spread of the virus."
Health officials continue to stress the importance of following the recommended public health guidelines: cover your cough or sneeze, wash your hands often and do not come to work or school if you are sick.
There are currently no changes to university operations or activities and the campus is operating normally.
Over the past several days, two additional members of the university community have tested positive for H1N1 flu (swine flu) — a student and a staff employee. Both are recovering from mild forms of the illness.I guess three infections out of some tens of thousands of students and faculty isn't so bad. But when we had someone in this dorm (home to 400 people) come down with meningitis, a deadly disease caused by viral or bacterial infection, university authorities seemed more concerned with privacy protection than providing information to the potentially infected. They just said that there was an infection, not in which units or when. When I called and asked about such details, I was told flat out that they couldn't give that information in order to protect the privacy of the infected individual.
Earlier this month, on May 8, H1N1 was confirmed in a university student, who has since fully recovered.
Anyone who shows signs of flu-like illness should contact the Student Health Services. Symptoms of H1N1 virus include: sudden fever, coughing, sore throat, body aches and pains/fatigue.
We continue to encourage everyone to follow good infection control practices, including avoiding others if you are sick with flu symptoms to help reduce the spread of the virus.
Cover your cough or sneeze, wash your hands often, and do not come to work or school if you are sick.
There are currently no changes to university operations or activities and the campus is operating normally.
[left: Professional Roh Moohyun impersonator Kim Chol. When he lost work after he refused to get eyelid surgery, Mr Kim returned to driving a taxi in Taejŏn. Mr Kim has been accounted for since reports of President Roh's death.]
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[above: Epidemiologists believe that foreigners' larger eyes may allow a wider opening for the swine flu virus to enter the body. Because, I mean, there has to be some reason for all this. Is the virus xenophobic? I'll bet the virus is xenophobic. Can we sue the virus for human rights violations? Brendon Carr?]
South Korea is on the verge of an H1N1 outbreak coming from Japan. In fact, among the Quarantine-51 
The Kogi BBQ truck has become almost as famous as that Scottish wallflower who is about to win the Britain's Got Talent contest, even if it gets fewer hits on YouTube, but other Korean offerings in Los Angeles are less well-known.All I can say is that I hope the proprietors' ability to cook is better than their (in)ability to Romanize.KOREATOWNKoreatown is where eating options really multiply. This stretch of the race route along Olympic Boulevard is a 3.3-mile fast track to downtown that's jam-packed with culinary excitement.
Manna is a high-volume haven for "unlimited meat." For $16.99, belly up to a grill-topped table on the covered patio and grill short rib, brisket, black pork belly, marinated pork, chicken and beef.
Kaesung Kimchi sells seven types of kimchi, including turnip green and standard cabbage. Down the block, Kyong Ji and her husband Yeng have built ChoSun Galbee into an ivy-covered temple for refined marinated short ribs.
In the shimmering new Olyford Plaza - named for the intersection of Olympic and Oxford - Miari Noodle House is a contemporary restaurant specializing in chicken, clam or kimchi noodle soup.
Sa Rit Gol is patterned after a traditional country house in Korea. Owner Kyung Hah has earned a devoted following for her cuttlefish pancakes and chile-blasted pork belly.
Around the corner, Healthy Zone 52 specializes in porridge. A tank near the door hosts clinging abalone, just one of the available toppings.
An unnamed restaurant with a cartoonish crab and fish logo resides on the corner of Olympic and Harvard. Grab a chile-doused bowl of steamed crab or sea squirt, then cross the street for red bean buns, almond cookies or cakes at Francaise Bakery.
A lesser-known but larger branch of Guelaguetza showcases "Autentica Comida Mexicana." Consider multiple moles and chilacayota, a sweet drink with squash, cinnamon and brown sugar.
A smiling pig in a chef's hat signals your arrival at Moo Bong Ri, which focuses on soon dae - Korean blood sausage.
O Dae San Korean B.B.Q. is a sleek barbecue parlor named for a Korean mountain. Owner Chul Oh's place features leather booths, stainless steel hoods that swallow smoke and short ribs marinated in "house special sauce."
Market World Plaza is best known for a Korean supermarket, but in the wings, you'll find Tous Les Jours, a link in a 1,000-branch bakery chain popular for items like snow pea rolls and sweet potato "pie." Adjacent Pizza Land pipes crusts with sweet potato and stuffs "walnuts" with red bean paste.
Beverly Tofu House resembles a mountain cabin, with tables, benches and stools crafted from tree cross-sections. Since 1986, it has focused on soon tofu - soybean cake stews - pairable with barbecue meats and seafood for a bargain feast.
J. Plaza features Jeon Ju, a 12-year-old restaurant named for a Korean city that's famous for bibim bap. Jennifer Lee features sizzling stone pots with short rib or a mélange of octopus, squid, shrimp, clam and imitation crab. Ju Sun Ko produces "kal kook soo" - traditional housemade noodles – at 2-month-old Seoul Noodles. You'll also find wheat flakes and herbal chicken stew with jujube, ginseng, chestnut, garlic and rice.
Neighbors Nak Won and Hodori are both open 24/7/365 and feature photo specials. At the former, grab a bowl of spicy soup loaded with clear vermicelli and braised beef. At the latter, snag a heaping platter of kimchi fried rice.
Dae Sung Oak – Jenny Lee's "Big Shiny House" - hosts tabletop barbecue grills and handmade buckwheat noodles. Watch the runners pass by from the upstairs dining room.
Shik Do Rak is dedicated to duk bo sam, slippery rice paper filled most often with deckle, brisket or marinated kalbi.
RAMPART
Seoul Garden serves sizzling beef on platters shaped like turtles and cows, plus slabs of broiled cod in spicy soy sauce.
[above: The beef may be high quality at Chosun Galbee, but the staff suffers from Mad Vowel Disease.]
[above: You can never be too early with your St. Patrick's Day plans. Attention house hunters: If they're advertising an emerald pond, run the other way.]
[above: Mosquitofish added to pool to eliminate the bloodsucking vectors. I know an old lady who swallowed a fly...]
The real question is: Will OC have to start importing the mosquito spray Bongo trucks? (photo source)
[above: Members of the Korean People's Liberation Army receive mass training in how to jerk off the Dear Leader, should they ever be called upon for this task.]
First off, on behalf of the Korean people, KIRA would like to officially apologize that all the apartments in Korea look the same. Back in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, when the government was tasked with building massive numbers of modernish housing units for the 40 million plus people in this third-most-crowded country in the world that's not an urban city-state, most of the builders went with easily to replicate cement structures that could be built on a massive scale.Little boxes on the hillside,Of course, that's talking about American suburbia, not Korea, where houses are rarely green, blue, yellow, or pink. It's all institutional beige. And for that, too, KIRA issues an official apology.
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.
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