焼き鳥 :: やきとり

How could I be in Tokyo and not pop by a yakitori restaurant? I'm a tad allergic to chicken too. But I'm in Tokyo! I'll Zyrtec-D it daily so that I can eat everything and all that I want! I'm not fond of having chicken in Singapore because somehow, the chicken simply tastes weird. Most restaurants' prep methods don't work for me, especially not Hainanese chicken rice. Even our yakitori joints can't hold a candle to an average one in Tokyo. 

First dinner in Tokyo had to be at Nonotory / 野乃鳥●焼き鳥. We went for broke and took the premium omakase course. We began with two types of lightly seared chicken. Thankfully they weren't actually raw. They were superbly tasty. Ooof. Then we had seven sticks of yakitori and more sticks of vegetables, chicken soup, rice and dessert. 

Oddly, they didn't seem to serve a variety of innards here. There was no liver tonight. The man does love his liver and gizzards. Ah well. I had to request for hearts — they were delicately seasoned and delicious. 

We had plenty of Kaku-highballs. Absolutely refreshing. I love the prices too because at ¥648 for a glass here even at this pricier joint, it's still tons cheaper than what Singapore restaurants charge. The point was not to even get tipsy. Three glasses of highballs each worked nicely. 

What I didn't expect was the pot of rice. It was gorgeously prepped in an earthenware pot. It was rice served in two ways and gave us a thorough carb punch. First it was served just in its dashi and mushrooms. Ahhhhh. That was divine. Then a second bowl was scooped up. They broke an egg over it and shaved a thick layer of karasumi (dried mullet roe) as a topper. OMG> IT'S TOTALLY A CHOLESTEROL AND FLAVOR BOMB. I went into a merry food coma after that.

I didn't want or need dessert. But since it came with the meal, I ate a bite. It was a dessert platter of four items for each of us. So yes, I took one bite of each. Hahahah. The desserts were pretty standard, nothing mind-blowing, but done well.

こんにちは東京!

This is the first real vacation that husband and I had in years — a full week in Tokyo. Needless to say, I didn't plan any itinerary. We'll figure out when we get there. We're not going anywhere out of Tokyo, so it's super comfortable. For a month before the trip, my entire head space and energy have been spent on sorting on caregiving logistics for the dog, so much so that I was sorting that out even when I was in Seoul. 

No regrets taking the red-eye flight out to Tokyo. I wanted to stay in for as long as possible to settle Choya before flying out. Considering how much I have been kept awake in the nights for weeks (because, Choya), sleeping in this plane seat isn't an issue at all. LOL In fact, it would be friggin comfortable to sleep without any interruptions. Din of engines, clink of cutlery, toilets flushing and human voices et al aren't any issues for my exhausted mind. I'm only tuned to waking up if Choya whines, pants, retches, scratches or digs. 😂

It was only 11.15pm when the plane took off. Had two glasses of red to ease my anxiety about the dog. Then I set the seat back flat and curled up to snooze with three pillows. Solid sleep was had for five hours before breakfast service. The husband even had a small bottle of sake with his breakfast, at 4.45am. (I didn't.) Okaaaaaay. His holiday mode had been turned on!

I clean forgot to fill up the electronic arrival card and customs declaration. Managed to scramble to fill out our particulars and submitted those before the wifi turned patchy. Whewwwww. Then I settled in to eat my breakfast in peace. But thanks to turbulence, I had no chance to get a coffee inflight. That had to wait till I arrived in Tokyo. Luckily there was at least sencha with breakfast. 

The brilliant husband had declined the arranged car to pick us up from Haneda airport, and didn't tell me till we were in the plane. He was like, super enthusiastic, "Let's be adventurous! Let's take the bus." To that, I sighed, "Didn't you realize that the airport limousine bus hasn't stopped at our hotel since March 2023 and the bus company refuses to put a stop there?" We could take the bus and drop off somewhere and cab it. The man mulled it over, and announced, "Let's take the trains!" So who has to navigate? Yours truly. 

Walao, this is peak hour downtown office traffic. Well, we had a seat from the Keikyu line at the airport, but the office crowd was packing in. Then we were the only tourists with big suitcases braving the Ginza line. Champions. But we made it to the hotel just fine before 9am. Hahahah. The icing on the cake — the hotel decided to be nice and gave us our room earlier than the 3pm check-in time. Yayyy. 

We had landed to a cloudy Tokyo with plenty of odd rain showers. I stared at the news headlines. The first named storm and typhoon of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season—Ewiniar is approaching Okinawa, and due to brush past Tokyo. It would smack Okinawa, but at this point, Tokyo doesn't know if it could come in ferocious. Zzzzzzzz

Pack Walks in a Wagon

On walks and outings, Choya has been in Obstinate Shiba Mode for months now. She is extremely assertive about where she wants to walk. This has extended into her small pack walks as well. I'm soooo embarrassed that her walkers have resorted to taking a small wagon out for Choya.

I can't be more grateful to have this set of walkers for Choya. Given her obstinacy, another set of walkers might have dragged her—giving her friction burns on her paws, or smacked her into submission, causing PTSD. Worse, they could have jerked her harness till a rib fractures. She's turning 7 soon, and they understand senior dogs. Being ex vet-techs, of course they know what to do on walks if accidents happen. Importantly, they do care and they won't be cruel or mean to dogs in their care. They have taken Choya out for the past two years and she's been super happy. That tells me that they've been kind to her. 

We have ascertained that she is not in any sort of physical discomfort or joint pain. Once she's done with her toileting, she is ready to bounce and sniff, but on her terms. She simply refuses to walk in the direction(s) we want. Tugging at her leash firmly doesn't help when she goes on all fours and nails herself to the ground.

Her walkers tell me that she now sits down whenever and stares at the wagon meaningfully when she doesn't want to walk and she wants to hop into the wagon. Se does clamber down when they get on to another spot with interesting scents. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Spices and Masala

The BFF likes her Indian food, but needs people to share it with her. The man and I always do at least two meals of Indian food a week. Off we toddled to Butter & Spice for a bit of masala and spices. It's always good to see her weekly for meals or for company along whatever errands we have to run.

We ordered modestly. Nothing overboard in case we can't finish it all. No one was keen to pack home leftovers. The BFF had a craving for palak paneer. I wanted bindi masala. That was plenty of vegetables — spinach and okra. Heh. The man wanted the lamb kadai. That was more than enough to go around.

Ordered one portion of basmati rice to share. We can't do so much carbs, yet these two wanted naan. Two portions of naan at that. Seriously. Oh, they also had beer. In fact, they had two beers each. Ha! I kept to my easy salty lime soda. 

The Nakano Thrift Shop

I was a bit like, is it one of those feel-good books again? There's been a lot of these books translated and flying around the recommended lists. I read it anyway. I took some time to finish it because this isn't that sort of book I can't put down. I'm not invested in the characters or their stories. At least this thrift shop isn't a portal to anywhere in time, and doesn't sell books. Hahaha.

This is Hiromi Kawakami's 'The Nakano Thrift Shop' (originally published in 2005) / 『古道具 中野商店』 川上弘美. It's translated to English by Allison Markin Powell and that edition was published in 2017. (Reviews here, here, here and here.)

There is the owner of the thrift shop forty-something-years-old Mr Haruo Nakano. His line is, 'I don't sell antiques, these are second-hand items'. There is the twenty-something introverted Takeo, an assistant who also takes on the role of driver and collector, and we have the protagonist Hitomi Suganuma. We also see Mr Nakano's elder sister Masayo who is in her fifties and is an artist.

The introduction set the tone and the background and all, but it was meandering for the first 50 pages. There's an item flagged in each chapter of the story, and those become 12 little short stories — old photographs, a pair of paperweights, a bribe, a letter opener, a bus, a bowl, apples, a dress and a sewing machine, et cetera. 

In 'Gin', Mr Nakano bidded 70,000 yen for a jug, which was really a bottle of gin. That was the chapter when Mr Nakano's mistress Sakiko was ready to quit him, and Hitomi herself was thinking of quitting the thrift shop. In this chapter, Mr Nakano announced that he would close the shop.

He wanted to make a slight change in the kind of merchandise he carried. And to do so required money. He would temporarily lease the storefront to someone else, and for the time being he would only be doing business on Tokyo's website. He wasn't able to pay severance, but he would give us the month's wages plus a fifty per cent premium.

Mr Nakano had lost a little more weight since the beginning of the month. The other day I heard from Masayo that Sakiko had told him she wanted to make a clean break. It seemed to me that everyone—men and women, old and young—loses weight when a love affair is over. I have wondered about this. 

This is the kind of shop that seems insulated from the corporate glitz of downtown Tokyo, where people die from overworking. The shop's boss and employees feel like a family instead of just being co-workers. As it is with every business, this thrift shop would be forced to modernize and go onto a digital e-commerce model.

There's this thing about the desire for intimacy, and the anxiety of it, a thing about commitment and the fear of it. We see Mr Nakano with a string of ex-wives and his secrecy about current dates and girlfriends, and Masayo's need for intimacy with someone who is younger, but she doesn't want any commitment. There's this awkward hint about romance between Hitomi and Takeo. Then each chapter becomes a thing about Hitomi wondering about Takeo's lack of interest or response.  

This novel is narrated in first person by Hitomi, which is rather annoying. We hear both her inner voice and her social thoughts. The stories are also really long-winded. I ended up more interested in what these people had for dinner at the end of the day. LOL There were soba, katsu-don, and tan-men.

The final chapter and story is titled 'Punch Ball'. It has been almost three years since the thrift shop closed and Hitomi moved to another town. Hitomi was a contract worker with a health food company in Shiba six months, and she now started with a computer company as an administrative assistant. Hitomi went back to bookkeeping school. She also meets Masayo for a chat over drinks. She hasn't seen Takeo at all. Until this new job.

Hitomi literally ran into Takeo in the hallway. He had gone to technical school and is now a web designer with this computer company. They remained as friends and went out for dinner twice. Takeo goes to the gym now, and his favorite equipment is the punch ball. "It's a ball you punch, it flies out and then springs back, like that." Ohhhh. That's how it links to this title. This little line used by the author explained all the changes in the characters.

Then Mr Nakano opened up a new shop named simply as 'Nakano'. He managed to get some profits from his online shop and got a new loan, and he has leased this shopfront in Nishiogi to open a Western antique shop. They had a little reunion at the shop's grand opening. At the end, they stayed on for wine. Haruo Nakano, Masayo, Takeo and Hitomi. It seemed just like the old days, but everything felt so different now.

The Nakano shop is gone now, I said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

But the Nakano shop lives on forever, Mr Nakano muttered as he stood up. As if that were a sign, the four of us all started chattering, nobody sure what anyone else was saying. Completely bewildered, I looked at Taeko again; he was still staring at me.

Just then, for the first time, I truly felt love for Takeo. The thought inexplicably appeared in a corner of my mind.

The newly opened bottle of wine clinked against the rim of my teacup, sounding a clear ring.

Edible Escargot Shells

TIL that Napoleon Wine Bistro's escargots are served in an edible shell. I didn't know that! I don't often order escargots at this restaurant. The last time I ordered this like a year ago, it came in real shells, so real that it didn't look anything like these edible ones. I literally googled and found these crispy wafer shells with an instant spicy garlic-butter-parsley sauce. Ahhh. I have seen these at the supermarkets, in the frozen section.

We shared everything. That's the only way to enjoy a meal with uhhh... less guilt. Started with cheese croquettes and the scallops rillettes. The beef tartare had to be ordered. I love that! Mains of a seabass fillet, steak frites (flank cut), and pork chop appeared. 

They even got to dessert of an apple crumble. One portion to share. I'm honestly not sure we should have eaten all the bread and mash, fries, but I didn't eat that much of those. I'd be too stuffed. Two good bottles of wine accompanied the meal.

I know that Napoleon Wine Bistro is on the list of restaurants currently under Amex Love Dining discounts, but I didn't know that it's also one of those that require you to book directly with the restaurant or via the Amex concierge. If you book it under another reservation platform, they aren't very willing to honor the Amex discounts. I can understand why since different reservation platforms charge varying percentages for usage and offer different voucher discounts. If a restaurant is pedantic about separating the bills, then it's a giant PITA for both diners and restaurant managers. 

Gabapentin to Get Over This Hump

I have only had two nights of uninterrupted sleep since I came back from Seoul. And a few more now. But that's because I dosed the dog with Gabapentin. Choya's thunder phobia went out of control. Her neuroses and anxiety went into over-drive. She's now not just scared of thunderstorms or the drop in barometric pressure from the surrounding clouds, but she is unsettled between 2am to 5am. 

From a dog who loves sleeping and is able to sleep through the night, she now can't. She digs her bed furiously, rips mats, and needs me awake. She's panting, pacing and trembling. This is more than a displacement behaviour. It's an attempt to self-soothe because she is a trained dog and knows she should be sleeping, but she's frustrated that she can't rest. 

She's definitely not in any sort of joint pain or bothered by ailments. We've done all we can to provide a soothing environment. There aren't sudden changes except the usual drilling/drilling machinery sounds from the four construction sites surrounding our estate. From a dog who happily sleeps through the night with a few little breaks, she now completely can't sleep at night. I know very well that if I don't nip this period of downward spiral and keep her cortisol levels balanced, she might actually develop canine cognitive dissonance (CCD) earlier. She's only seven. Too early for CCD.

Took her to have a chat with her doctor. I'm not keen to put her on Gabapentin long-term. But she needs it. Her anxiety is through the roof. We'll see how it goes after 10 days. If these 10 days are all is required to get over the major fears, then so be it. 

There is Clomipramine. But I don't know if I want to start on that just yet. We'll see. It's a new medication and I'm not sure how she'll react to it. But I should put her on it to alter the serotonins; that takes a few weeks. I definitely do not want her on fluoxetine (Prozac) or diazepam (Valium).

Her doctor also prescribed Chloramine, an antihistamine that causes drowsiness. It doesn't resolve any anxiety in the brain chemicals, but it does induce sleep. I can work on other environmental factors to keep her calm and quiet. But if I can use Chloramine and alternate it together with Gabapentin, then it's much better in the long run, with some days in between clear of meds.

A few nights in with light dosage (think a ¼ of a 300-mg capsule), she seems to be doing better. She is still frightened of something and needs me outside of the bedroom, but she is slowly getting back in the groove of managing. At least the crazy digging and pacing has petered off. 

Ahhh... what would I give to see my darling Smol Girl sleep soundly through the night again. 

Before lights out at midnight, she sleeps perfectly fine.

A Steak But Not Western!

On some nights when the man and I feel like having a steak but we don't want it as a 'steak', it's Korean grilled meats to the rescue! We stop by the super unassuming and casual Korea House on Killiney Road for bits of grilled meats. It has been around since 2017 or so, family-run. Predictably, the owner is a Mrs Kim. Her kimchi, which is for sale (take home) by the boxes, is seriously good. 

The banchan is decent, but not as glorious as Chang BBQ's. The grilled meats aren't necessarily cheaper because the cut and its quality is similar be it beef or pork. At $69, Korea House's 'premium grilled beef' is equally good. I'm not fond of galbi or any short-ribs because of the marinade. I like these meats to be clear of sauces. A bit of pepper and salt is fine. I can always add more to taste.

Tonight, we had the grilled beef and also a bowl of doenjang-jjigae. It was a super satisfying dinner. We went easy on the carbs and shared one bowl of rice and a bottle of Terra beer. Heh. The rice was completely unnecessary, but it was such tasty foil to the tofu stew. 

I love Korean grilled meats because of the vegetables that come along. The beef is great. I just don't really want to get the pork because all the cuts offered are so fatty; not quite to my taste. I can eat one piece, maybe two, but not all of it unless a full table is sharing the fasts. I totally look forward to the raw garlic and green chilli! 

Korea House
87 Killiney Road
Singapore 239533
Hours: 11.30am to 10pm; closed on Mondays
T: 6734 3010
(Parking is limited in the area now with the closure of SingTel's ComCenter.)

Mirror Check :: Glutes ✔️

It has been 1.5 months of getting back into the groove of a consistent gym routine. To do something 5 days a week, instead of just twice a week. It isn't a chore to me. It's honestly quite fun. 

It only took three months to tumble down the slippery slope, and 1.5 months to get off of my butt to workout every day.

Mirror check. Glutes? ✔️ Existent. Heh!

Glutes are my weakest group of muscles. They oddly result in tight hip flexors, and the occasional twinge in the knees. Ugh. These are just going to get worse with age. Hip joint replacements? No thanks. I understand that lower back pain is also caused by weak glute muscles. I don't have any sort of back pain just yet since my stronger core makes up for it. Still. So I really needed to get the glutes fired up properly via loaded squats and the right amount of work and rest. 

At least I don't feel as bloated these days. The pants are fitting properly on the waist and hips. A few months ago, it was horrifying to discover a muffin-top when I wore a pair of button-closure pants. Now, it's back to being comfortable without spilling over at the sides. There was definitely a difference of about an inch. WTF. No clearly defined abs yet because I'm not cutting down enough on carbs and alcohol! LOL Never mind. I"ll get that sorted soon enough. 

The week is evenly spread out between anaerobic and aerobic workouts. Weights, squats, strength training; stretches on the Reformer and the most hated cardio. I get to dictate my pace because I know my options. The usual classes of Gyrotonic and Pilates go on to work on the core and pelvic stability. All my muscles are being oiled and used. Excellent.

I'll check my stats via the Evolt magnetic resonance analysis next month. I'm not obsessed over my weight; I don't bother to weigh myself weekly. I doubt I've gone down that much in body fat percentage. I lost like... a kg, maybe. Dunno. I don't really want to lose 3kg even. If I lose weight, I can't lift heavier. My muscles are back in action, and I feel less sluggish. I'm able to lift heavy and move faster. The tight hip flexors feel more nimble now, and the gluteus muscles are definitely stronger. Hurrah!

Tees from TimidTales

I didn't set out to shop for the husband. I would get something if I see something. I thought I'd get him tees, but not those touristy designs. The material of those tees is terrible. Nothing popped out at me till I saw TimidTales Creative Studio. Oh wow, those graphics! They're awesome! Importantly, the tees were finally printed on a decent fabric. 

Loved the designs of 'Freedom Cat' and 'Friend'. Unfortunately they were out of sizes for tees in black. So I had to settle for black tees available in size L. Yeah, the husband has gone down to L for Asian sized tees. If it's American sizing, he's now an M. Too bad 'Angry Cat' wasn't available in the desired size anymore. I didn't need to dither over anything. I just swept up what I spied. Ended up with three tees and a tote bag. I didn't bother to get any tees for myself. That 'Angry Cat' tote bag is MINE. Heh. 

The husband loved the tees! These designs totally appeal to him. Of course where there are Korean words, I google-translated... just to be sure they aren't like super vulgar or something. Glad they fit him well.

『点と線』:: 'Tokyo Express'

When a book's blurb held dead bodies, detectives, love suicide or homocide, mysteries, it screams 'crime fiction'! Totally right up my alley. Borrowed it. 

Blinked when I realized that 'Tokyo Express' by Seichō Matsumoto (1909-1992) / 松本 清張『点と線』was originally published in 1958. Okaaaay. It was only recently translated into English by Jesse Kirkwood and published in 2023. (Reviews here, here and here.)

Set in post-war Japan in 1957, a couple is found dead on Kashii beach, dead, seemingly a suicide pact by potassium cyanide. The dead woman is 26-year-old Toki (real name Hideko Kuwayama), a waitress at a Japanese restaurant in Akasaka, Tokyo. The dead man is 31-year old Kenichi Sayama, an Assistant Section Chief at Ministry X. Their deaths were linked to the ongoing bribery investigation at Ministry X, and the head of division Yoshio Ishida.

Is this a classic case of love suicide, they say — or is it? First protagonist veteran Fukuoka detective Jutaro Torigai thinks otherwise — their behavior didn't add up. However, his boss and everyone else had the case neatly closed asap. But Torigai did some quiet investigation of his own. He soon finds an ally in a young Tokyo detective Kiichi Mihara, who was also conducting a separate government corruption investigation in Tokyo. He is also trusted by his bosses. He managed to make headway in the investigation.  

The more niggly points that Kiichi Mihara found out, the more he was convinced that Toki and Sayama weren't lovers to begin with, and their apparent double suicide, was a double murder. He found out some clues all leading back to Ministry X's Yoshio Ishida and narrowed down a suspect to a Tatsuo Yasuda, a businessman with close links to Ishida, and frequents the restaurant that Toki worked at. Even more chilling, he learnt just who and what his frail and ill wife Ryōko Yasuda is capable of. He found the link between Toki and Yasuda, and surprisingly, Ryōko.

A third through the book, I was wondering why is this investigation so... manual. Why on earth people would send telegrams instead of a text. Then I realized. OH. THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 1957. Hahahaha. Even DNA testing used in gathering evidence and police work didn't happen till 1986. So we're reading about good old-fashioned detective work, long hours and that honed police instinct. This is quite an enjoyable whodunit.

In truth, however, the death of the Yasudas came as a relief. Why? Because there was almost no material evidence against them. Everything we had was merely circumstantial. It's a wonder we even secured a warrant for their arrest. If this had gone to court, there's no telling what the outcome might have been.

Nor was there much for us to pin on Division Chief Ishida. Of course, after the bribery scandal he was transferred to a different division, but I hear his new position is even better than his old one. Absurd, I know, but then government ministries are absurd places. There's no telling what he might on on to become: a bureau chief? A vice-minister? Perhaps even a member of the Diet. The ones we should feel sorry for are his loyal subordinates: to Ishida, they're nothing but stepping stones on his way to the top. And yet, as long as they think he's looking out for them, they'll keep slaving away on his behalf. Yes, careerism is a depressing thing. 

Spices at Gokul

The friends wanted to have dinner at Gokul, which is wonderful, except that it's a lot of carbs. I needed to restrict the urge to eat the whole plate of the vegetarian restaurant's special Hokkien mee. They put in two types of excellent chilli. Have I already mentioned that I love this vegetarian Hokkien mee more than other versions? Heh.

Plates of carbs slammed onto the table. There were Chettinad biryani, special Hokkien mee, and I didn't know why prata came in too. The vegetarian curries at the side with the prata were definitely better than those weak chicken and fish curries provided at the usual prata stalls. Then there were sambal goreng, paneer makhni, and Mysore mutton. We were four at this table. Still. We definitely over-ordered!

Had a nightcap nearby at Olibier Rooftop Bar on Dickson Road. J and P was just here last month, but the man and I didn't have any recollection of it. We remembered another of those little corner bars that hosted gigs and we got beers there. When I walked up the stairs to Olibier on the second and third floor of a shophouse, I was like, wow! I came here years ago when it was a bar of another name. I don't remember that name now. But this held the same old cool casual vibes.

Byeeeee Seoul!

Being decades-old friends doesn't mean that we can travel together. E, S and I can. We're compatible in terms of formulating to-do lists, and we complement one another's strengths and weaknesses. We have done do really fun and efficient work trips together, and we can do vacations together. 

I was quite prepared to navigate the streets to wherever we were headed if the girls weren't bothered. But S gamely took up the huge responsibility of using Naver to get us to where is needed. So I cautiously parked my brains and enjoyed her lead. I just didn't want her to feel overburdened. It's our vacation after all. E literally, and very merrily tagged along and handled all the accounts and timetables. LOLOLOL She only made it clear on one thing — 'do not pull me to the gym'. Walao. Sure, not much weights or sweat then. Well, she clocked her steps anyway. Hehehehe. Couldn't be more obliged to these gems.

We're just grateful that health, time and providence have allowed us to do trips together. Our approaches and attitude can be vastly different, but there's no need to fight on this trip because our outlook on finances, where to go and whether to do something are all similar. We seek a collaborative approach to meet objectives. This is not something taken for granted. Especially not for me. I do not compromise easily. 

I'm incredibly thankful for fine weather, smooth flights and a safe journey. Seoul has been so fun with these Seoul-mates, peppered with plenty of Seoul-ful moments. Till the next one, ladies!!! 🤍

Time to Pack Up

A week simply flew by. Before we knew it, it's time to pack up and go home. It has been such a much-needed break. I've been sleeping so well in Seoul without a dog to disturb my sleep. I went easy on the alcohol and carbs so that the GI tract isn't irritated. Every night, I've been having nine hours uninterrupted sleep. What a luxury! 

The housekeeping services have been unobtrusive and efficient. They noticed that in the room, we drank a lot more water than coffee or tea. So by Day 2, they gave us double the number of cartons of water. I'm just really tickled by the brand's PR spiel of 'Deep Water'.

The girls shopped and bought a whole lot more than me. They literally bought 5kg of dunno-what things each. E and S's suitcases only weighed 14kg coming into Seoul; they're going home with 22kg each. Ooooof. There's plenty of weight allowance in excess, but naaaah, we're not transporting gadgets or heavy ceramics. S would have bought another suitcase if she really wanted to. HAHAHAHAHA. 

I didn't do that much shopping. I can pack light, but if I don't need to, why bother. I came with 18.9kg and am going home with 20.5kg. LOL On this flight home, it's not a redeye. I'm not the least sleepy. But I'm still not a 'watch a film' person in-flight. I very much prefer to read. 

Lunch at SOUL

Made it to a lunch at SOUL 소울 at Yongsan-gu. I didn't exactly check with the girls if they would like to eat at this restaurant. I made the arbitrary decision to book this restaurant for lunch. Well, I kinda know their preferences. But this was mainly because I wanted to check out the neighborhood that isn't full of concrete buildings or anything close to Myeondong (that is not an area I like).

I didn't need to have a fancy meal in a fancy mall or a hotel. Give me some character in the location of the restaurant. Truly, the icing was a long afternoon stroll around the Haebangchon neighborhood located on the steep slopes. Navigate using Naver and get a ride via Uber. We had no problems getting to and fro the area. 

I love it that the restaurant made it casual-chic at lunch. We sat at the counter that wrapped the open kitchen and immediately felt comfortable. We loved its ambience. The lunch menu at SOUL 소울 was excellent. I actually didn't do that much homework before coming to lunch. I simply turned up to read the menu, and was pleasantly surprised by how solid the presentation was, and how well the flavors mesh together. 

I love their rendition of yukhoe with Hanwoo beef. The mul-hoe was cleverly not done spicy, and it used Korean sea bream (domi). Both dishes were gorgeous! I wouldn't have minded seconds for these. Hahahah. Lunch was accompanied by a light bottle of Bourgogne pinot noir. 

S had the Hanwoo striploin, and it arrived in the form of a Korean hansik. Lovely. A total feast for the eyes before she began the meal. There was multi-grain brown rice to go along too. Yay! 

My main of lamb tteokgalbi, which is supposed to be minced meat, came in a 'sausage roll', with the 'crust' being thinly sliced mushrooms. The accompanying cucumbers were presented exactly like the handle of the meat knife it came with. The meat knife's handle holds five colors, and Chef Dae Hyun Yoon explained that the five colors represented the harmony of yellow, blue, white, red and black, like how "we put our hearts, ethics, passion, efforts, and hospitality in our food as putting “soul” in the food." 

We felt it. It is truly so.

We were so tickled that a course of noodles/capellini had chopsticks that matched the colour of our earrings. Hehehe. Those are the details that the servers caught when we sat down, and they opted to match it. S wore a pair of gold earrings, and she got one yellow chopstick! E had on black earrings, and had black chopsticks; mine were diamonds and I got grey chopsticks. Oooof. Too cute. 

This E is an ice-cream/soft serve/gelato person. She's super into it. She's been having a soft serve daily. Oddly, we haven't had many chances to sit down for a bingsu. Too cute that the dessert included bingsu with truffles, leaning on the savory side instead of the sweet. Of course I liked it! 

Chef Dae Hyun Yoon and Chef Kim Hee-eun have put some much thought into the food and the flavors at SOUL. Our lunch menu today indeed told a story of Korean food traditions, and each dish had been uniquely presented with the chefs' contemporary signature touches. 

Chef Kim Hee-eun also does pasta upstairs at the roof terrace — Egg & Flour Fresh Pasta. It's so awesome to have the restaurant's ceramic plates and bowls made by the ceramic studio in the same building. The pleasing aesthetics and clean lines are made by ceramic artist Shin Boegun at Mujagi Studio. We popped downstairs to take a look at the works. Almost bought half the studio home. Heh!

Haebangchon at Yongsan-gu

Haebangchon on Yongsan-gu is one of Seoul's last 'moon' villages. The name translates into 'Liberation Village', and was originally a refugee camp for North Korean defectors and domestic migrants for Koreans from the south. 

From a migrant shanty town, it has completely gentrified to become a well, hipster town. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plonked in billions into the village as part of the urban regeneration plan. Still, it's got a lot more cool vibes than anything constructed in Singapore. It simply sprouted organically. The buildings are over 30 years old, and while it's charming, the plumbing and toilets are a nightmare for landlords and tenants. Much of the funds are used to revive and redo sanitation, electricity, heating, water supply, and such.

Shin Heung Art Market is totally taken over by cafes and little retail shops appealing to the young and the tourists. I dunno why, but there're a few Thai restaurants in this area. There're restaurants and ceramic studios that have sprouted around it. I love the Woori Book that's run by a Boss Shibe. LOL

We were up on the hill for that splendid lunch at 소울SOUL, and ended the walk at the bottom of hill with good coffee at Gombal Coffee Roasters. What an absolutely delightful day! Absolutely soul-nourishing. Much needed.

We All Know a Miss Kim

Since I'm in Seoul, thought I would read a book by a Korean writer about Korean women. Borrowed 'What Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories' (August 2023) by Cho Nam-joo, translated into English by Jamie Chang. (Reviews here, here, and here.)

The former television scriptwriter wrote the highly controversial (in South Korea) 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' (2016), which seems like the story of every South Korean young mother dealing with misogyny and unrealistic societal expectations of women and motherhood. It prompted a nation-wide debate about gender inequality, #MeToo and women's rights. There's even a 2019 film adaptation of this book.

'What Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories' hold the stories of eight Korean women aged 10-80. It tells us their stories, trials and tribulations. Eight women; eight stories. I settled in for a rough ride.

The opening story 'Under the Plum Tree' didn't captivate me so much. It's probably because I work with old folks and palliative patients at the hospice, so I didn't get all the feels. Eighty-year-old Dongju, the narrator, regularly visits her eldest sister Geumju who lives at the home for Alzheimer's patients. Dongju reminisced about their childhood, growing up years, their lives, husbands, children and even grandchildren. And wonders at the end, what is the point of life and being in a vegetative state.

'But, Seunghun, I don't think I'd want that if I were her.  Your life is meaningless when there's nothing you can do but lie there like that.'

The light at the intersection changed to orange. The car slowed to a stop at the pedestrian crossing.

Seunghun asked, 'What is a meaningful life?'

.....................

And what about me? I'm not doing anything productive, just taking step after step towards death each day. Does my life have meaning?

In the eponymous story, Miss Kim is this mysterious office manager was fired from her role at a hospital advertisement agency. Everybody hired is a relative or friend of someone else in there. Miss Kim does all the little things in the office including sorting out the copier, and updating address books. She was somehow fired and a new intern replaced her. Things go a little odd when they kinda miss this cog in the wheel. She handled all the little things till nobody knew what to do. They even suspected she returned to the office to mess up things out of spite. 

Miss Kim's influence at the agency had grown much too big. She didn't have any of the managerial titles, she had long experience at the company but the lowest rank and pay, and she oversaw all the goings-on in the office and handled the actual managing. Promoting her or giving her a raise was out of the question. Because Miss Kim was 'Miss Kim'.

So she got sacked on a sunny day.  

In 'Dead Set', there's a feminist author who reconnected with her high school teacher and then got blamed for using the teacher's childhood stories in her stories, which wasn't exactly true because every woman seems to have an abusive male figure in her life. 

There's a long suffering mother and wife who doesn't seem too unhappy that her husband left home in 'Runaway'. The husband/father wants a new life for himself. The narrator is the youngest daughter, and most favored in the family it seems. She never told anyone about the credit card she has given her father, and that the transactions come through to her via text alerts on her phone. Her father puts small amounts on it now and then, as if to tell her he's doing okay. But she has never been able to track him down. The father never returned either.

I think of Father hiking up Jirisan Mountain, walking along the beaches of Jeju Island, and down streets filled with young people with a takeaway coffee in his hand. I am sorry to say that the rest of the family is doing just fine without Father. It seems Father is also doing just fine without his family. If he returns someday, I think we'll be able to go on as if nothing happened.

In 'Dear Hyunnam Oppa', the woman ditched her long-time boyfriend the moment he proposed to her because she finally realized he has been gaslighting her from day one. She doesn't want to be controlled by him, have him choose who she could be friends with, and live out his narrative for them her whole life. 

In 'Grown-up Girl', a young girl decided to get back at a group of male bullies in school. Her mother remembers her own childhood, what her mother did for a living helping abused wives and girlfriends, and finally decided to help the daughter keep the secret, and protected her rights in the school investigation. 

'Night of Aurora' is super out there. It describes the relationship between three generations of women. An adult daughter and her mother, and her deceased father's mother. Her paternal grandmother, and her mother's mother-in-law daughter-in-law. There's a whole discussion about women and their careers, societal expectations of women and motherhood. I get this story and how the author wants to link the Northern Lights to their emotions and story. Yet at the same time, I don't get it because it's tiresome. Stand up for yourself already!  

The last story in the book just killed me. 'Puppy Love' is simply hilarious. Good gawwd. What can I say? Privilege and self-entitlement do go hand-in-hand. Narcissism and misogyny sure start young huh. I don't actually have a favorite story. I don't mind them, and I like none of them. LOL Many stories use a 'Miss Kim'. She can be a teacher, a colleague or a passer-by. But not every 'Miss Kim' is that 'Miss Kim'. LOL 

Abalone Porridge :: Jeonbokjuk

We kinda felt like having abalone porridge for lunch, and opened up Naver. Lo and behold! What do we know? We were literally a 10-minute walk from a tiny restaurant whose menu only has abalone porridge. Yay!!! Chok, jok, juk. This is Asia and her various iterations of porridge in different cities.

While I know that abalone porridge is called 'jeonbokjuk', I can't read the words. Oof! I don't even know the name of the restaurant. I've learnt that Korean shops and restaurants' social media handles usually have nothing to do with their names. This restaurant is called 죽이잘맞아, which I copied and pasted here. Of course I have no idea how that is read or pronounced in Korean. Google translates 죽이잘맞아 into 'It's a good fit'. 

The restaurant does Empress Abalone Intestine Porridge. Its menu offered a choice of the number of abalones in the standard portion of 300g porridge. It also clearly stated the portions and number of abalones and how each person should have one bowl in English and Mandarin. No confusion there! I ordered three abalones for ₩28,000 and was pleased. Then I thought, I should have gone for broke and ordered FOUR abalones for ₩34,000. Haha. This was absolutely satisfying.

I like this porridge since it wasn't too watery, unlike a few other versions. It should be properly chok, congee, kinda thick, and not like Teochew porridge which is just tasteless rice grains in water. This iteration is also not too salty. Like many Korean restaurants, they go light on the salt in soup and porridge. They always give you extra salt at the side if you need it. It was fine for me — I didn't need to add extra salt. But I didn't mind the saltier fermented side condiments to nibble with each spoonful of porridge. This was definitely one of the best meals I've had! 

죽이잘맞아
34 Samil-daero 32-gil
Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Use NAVER to navigate) 
T: +82 2-741-2005
Hours: 8.30am to 3pm. Closed on Mondays.

Gwanghwamun Square

While I didn't manage to get to MPX Gallery to see Tatsuya Tanaka's world premiere of his 'Miniature Life' exhibition (yes, in Seoul), I'm glad that we managed to do long walks at a few museums, art galleries and two palaces. I don't need a giant dose of history or cultural things. But I would like to have a look at these venues and their contents in peace without maddening crowds.

E has never been to Seoul, so she wasn't too bored looking at the palaces that are super accessible to us — Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung. We did those very quickly. There're five palaces in Seoul. First-time tourists should do two, I guess. LOL I'm not that keen to go to all of them. Palaces don't interest me very much. They're just fancier feudal type of prison. I can view the changing of guard and the sorts on Youtube or something.

I'm hardly interested in skincare and shopping. Not when I don't have anything to buy for myself. If I do buy, they're all for the other girlfriends. I don't particularly want to do mindless shopping at Myeondong or anywhere else, or to see endless racks of clothes. These activities don't excite me. I'm just there to see how much Seoul has changed, what shoppers see in Seoul, and for the great company and the fun yet reflective conversations. 

Gwanghwamun Square is just next to our hotel. Neither S or I have gone to see the statues on our previous trips. E was quite happy to just tag along with us today. Heh. We had a stroll around the site, looked up at the King Sejong (hailed as inventor of hangul in 1443), the fourth king of the Chosǒn Dynasty, and much feted naval commander Admiral Yi Sun-Shin (1545-1598). That's not to say we didn't know of them before this. We did have to study history in school.

It was a breezy morning. Ahhhh... I miss this cool, crisp air. I've forgotten how lovely it is. Bright sunshine in 24°C and low humidity. Gorgeous.

Tamburins

While I am still marveling how cohesive and huge retail and cafe spaces are in Seoul, we walked into the three-storey flagship of Tamburins at Garosugil. Escaped the crowd on the ground floor and went upstairs where it had a lot fewer humans. 

Walking into the store is like being soaked in all elements of fashion, beauty and art. It's truly an experience. There were art installations of giant candles in the form of cats, and random displays of Korean traditional knots arts and crafts. We were welcomed to try out its scents. I happily washed my hands in the very nice sinks with a choice hand wash, then smeared a little hand balm on clean hands. Ooof. 

No, I don't know Tamburins because of Jennie (BLACKPINK). In fact, I walked by that wall in Sinsa-dong and S pointed it out. I was like, 'Who is Jenny?' Yeah, I didn't know how to spell it when I didn't make the association. I'm so not a BLACKPINK fan. I can't even name one song. I could vaguely name two members since their names are always in the news, and there're only four of them. But I can't quite remember their faces. Hurhurhur. Okay, whatever. 

Well, I wouldn't mind stocking up on two bottles of scents. Some of the girlfriends wanted perfumes from Seoul as well, but they didn't specify a brand. So I got them from Tamburins. If you have your passport with you, at many of these big-name shops, the tax refund is immediate — that makes it so much more convenient.  

That cute egg-shaped bottle got me. Heh! I really wanted 'Holy Metal' (that name!), but the scent didn't appeal at all. Took a sniff and decided on 'Late Autumn' for myself. Apparently 'Chamo' is their most popular scent; so I got that for the friends, along with 'White Darjeeling'. 

Hair Things in Seoul

Randomly, we went to get a scalp treatment at EcoJardin's branch at Aeogae station. E didn't bother with a scalp treatment. She got a hair cut and a color, and was super pleased with her stylist. S and I got a scalp treatment. I think the reservations system at EcoJardin is super messy. Zzzzzz. Only S has the patience to sort that out. The service at the salon is efficient enough; I have nothing to complain about it. But the staff can be inexperienced and their touch, tentative, nothing that makes you go wow. It's not very warm or welcoming, most of that likely has to do with the language barrier. 

No I didn't do any color analysis thing because I don't give a shit about what color suits me. I wear the colors that make me feel at ease, in the same way I do not sleep in floral bedsheets. I like plain monotones. The fewer flowers the better. Black, grey, white, and beige, and an occasional red or blue form the color staples in my wardrobe. I'm NOT changing this color chart.  

So I did a 15-step scalp treatment for ₩180,000. I'm not impressed by the microscopic scalp analysis. Hello, I know, that's why I'm here. Dohhhhh. I can't say the attention and treatment is anywhere near luxurious or pampering. It's simply, functional. It cleared sebum build-up, soothed the sensitive spots, and delivered a clean-enough scalp. And they gave me a halfway decent hot green tea. I liked the random gadgets used to massage the scalp, and I really didn't mind the massage chair's attention on my aching back muscles and butt as I laid down to rinse the hair under the automated water curtain. 

After all that, I really don't know what's the fuss about hair treatments in Seoul. The products are similar, if not the same. The treatments and the services cost the same as salons in Singapore, service isn't better, and massage chairs exist in salons that choose to have them. I don't really care about hair or skincare that much, so I don't drill down into whether salons in Seoul or Singapore are better. It just has to fit my schedule. 

The up side, this visit to EcoJardin matched the timing of a scheduled scalp cleansing thing that I would have done at my go-to salon at home. Any sort of basic scalp cleansing treatment would help to keep the scalp balanced. The lower humidity in Seoul is NICE, and that's the best reason to rave about how your hair looks after walking out of the salon and even the day after. The tons of perspiration in Singapore humidity contribute to a mad crazy pace of sebum produced. At least when they blew dry my hair and curled the ends, the ends stayed curled. Heh. 

Deadlifts, Presses and 40-kg Squats

The benefits of having a personal gym coach and getting familiar with all the weights and machines — I can adjust them on my own without looking like an idiot. I was never very interested in these gym machines. But nowadays, I will just do them for the resistance and weights.

I'm totally justified choosing this hotel. I'm utilizing the hotel gym daily. I'm not going to mess up my training plan and end goals just because I'm on a holiday. The gym is fully equipped and has fancy things. Lat pull-downs, squats and dumbbells, kettlebells, and finally the rower or treadmill for cardio. (And there're that two lovely corners for Pilates and Gyrotonic!) Like I said, 30-40 minutes would be preferable, but if I am pressed for time, I only need 20 minutes. I don't have an excuse to NOT pop down to the gym from the hotel room. 

My New Balance trainers gave way on the first day of this trip. I had meant to use it at the gym and out walking. After one use here, it kinda split. So I couldn't use it to walk outside. But it held up okay for all the gym sessions since I didn't do mad cardio and such. I also didn't bother to buy a new pair here since I brought along two other pairs of walking shoes (Doc Marts and an Onitsuka), and we won't be hiking. I already have NOBULLS at home. I did buy a new pair of gloves! None of that silicone non-slip bullshit inside. Just easy gloves for weights.  

I was pleased to find proper squat racks at the hotel gym. I didn't have anyone to spot me. So I wasn't going to be dumb. I did all my cleans and presses, and front squats with 25-kg. For my back squats, I racked it up to only 40-kg. Did the usual 10 reps X 3 sets for everything. My butt actually ached a fair bit the next day. 

Salt Bread & Hallabong Juice!!!

We went to have a look at Ikseondong. Had breakfast at Jayeondo Salt Bread & Jayeondoga (자연도소금빵&자연도가). I love shio pan. I just didn’t know that salt bread (sogeum-ppang) is also a thing in Seoul. I have eaten quite a few iterations from the different bakeries here. I like salt bread plain. With no filling. Salt bread is best eaten on the day of purchase. It tastes funny if you put it into the fridge, then heat it up the next day in the oven. Do not microwave, you will regret it. 

I'm not too hot about the smell of flour and butter baking. So if a bakery does it with filling, that smell is enough to make me run away. I could literally throw up if I have smell it for anything more than a whiff. So when I walked by Jayeondo Salt Bread & Jayeondoga at Ikseondong, it smelt more of salt than bread. Okay PASS. I bought salt bread from this store.  

One pack has 4 pieces of salt bread; ₩$12,000 each pack. I bought 3 packs. LOL At 10am in the morning, the queues to purchase and collect were non-existent. Damn, those buns are delicious!!! There’s something about the salt at this store. I ate four buns at a go. CARBS? DON'T CARE.

Had coffee and juice too. Wah. My fairly decent iced Americano came in a bowl and it was gigantic. I couldn't finish it. The chilled hallabong juice is sooo lovely as a breakfast drink. That sweetness is insane. This came with a real hallabong (or what we call a Jeju orange). The leaf wasn’t on a stem. It’s just separately stuck into the mandarin. Haha. We were too lazy to peel it, but we decided we ought to. Wow. It was a GOOD ORANGE. It's pretty much a sweet mandarin orange.

Ganjang-Gejang at Sinsa Kkotgedang

S really wanted to get her fill of ganjang-gejang (Korean soy marinated crabs). She's tried a couple of recommended and popular versions in Singapore and she prefers the flavors found in Seoul. We didn't feel like sitting at the roadside stalls to have this. Hellooo, lung fluke. I know that it has nothing to do with the prices, and everything to do with the hygiene processes of a restaurant. Still, a restaurant that specializes in doing raw marinated crabs should hopefully know what they're doing.

We went to Sinsa Kkotgedang / 신사꽃게당 in Gangnam-gu for ganjang-gejang. That's all the food they offer on the menu. LOLOL If you go, make sure you really like crabs. They have crabs done in different ways. Hahaha. They use flower crabs. So we took a set at ₩120,000 which came with two raw marinated crabs, and a spicy hotpot of cooked blue crabs. The hotpot also came with a pack of ramyeon. The broth was excellent.

S was super pleased with this iteration of ganjang-gejang. Heh! E eats crabs but I don't know how much she likes it raw and marinated. Hurhurhur. We told her to just have a taste of it on rice. We shared a bowl of rice. That soy-marinated raw crab went nicely with sticky rice. Slurrrrrrp.

The cooked crabs in hotpot were more difficult to get to the flesh. Zzzzz. I definitely didn't clean mine. E and S finished the ramyeon and the broth!!! I literally only had two strands. I'm not a fan of ramyeon or their spicy broths, regardless of how good they are. 

I like Teochew cold crabs and their marinated crabs; the latter is similar to the Korean ganjang-gejang. However, my shellfish allergies mean that I keep away from crabs too. Alongside prawns, they kinda cause the worst flares. I've had a major flare towards the end of February, so I've kept away from shellfish for two months. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and eat crabs at this dinner. 豁出去了. 

This is such a Fear Factor meal. It's not just a cholesterol bomb. It’s also my entire year’s quota of shellfish. Totally worth popping antihistamines and managing the swollen eyes and rashes after. Luckily the allergies held at these and didn't deteriorate. It was absolutely delicious. 

Whisky & Cocktails in Seoul

Feather, Seoul.

From what I've seen so far, alcohol isn't cheaper in Seoul. Soju and makgeolli are super cheap per bottle. Beer is cheap. But I refuse to do soju or makgeolli because they're quite sweet and for some odd reason, they give me a gigantic headache. However, whisky and cocktails aren't easy on the pocket at all. Their cocktails at cocktail bars average ₩27,000-32,000. Hotel bars are insane when they price everything in USD. Liquor tax is at 72% per liter. 

At one bar, I simply refused to have whisky when all the single malts I want are priced minimally at ₩50,000 a generous dram. The three cheaper and kinda eeky whisky are priced at ₩36,000 a dram. Grrrrr. I don't care about the free nibbles that usually come along. If you get out to the other less fancy bars, an Oban 14 y.o could be about ₩22,000-26,000. That's super acceptable. I like these bars. Heh!

I really like OUL Four Seasons Hotel for keeping some brand identity in their menu. They offer traditional Korean spirits and liqueurs as cocktails. That's delightful. I ended up with a 'Goosoo Highball' at ₩29,000. It was surprisingly good! It uses Won soju classic with toasted barley, crust of overcooked brown rice and demerara syrup seltzer. Delicious! Skip the food here. It's overpriced and not that great.

Otherwise, I didn't go mad drinking here. Light drinking — a glass or two at most. I also wanted to keep awake to make it to the gym the next day without being dehydrated. Hello, alcohol = sugar = fats. I must control alcohol portions lah!

OUL and Charles H at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.