When I looked it up on the Internet, they said this dish originated in the city of Andong in the North Gyeongsang Province in Korea. What a coincidence! Andong is actually the sister city of Bacolod, my hometown and the birthplace of the Masskara Festival. And just like Bacolod, Andong also has its own mask festival!
And every time I get face-to-face with this dish, it always reminds me of a Filipino favorite, adobo!
Andong jjimdak is a dish made of slices of steamed chicken marinated and almost submerged in spicy soy sauce, swimming alongside potatoes, carrots and other sliced vegetables, and choking in lengthy cellophane noodles. 'Jjimdak' means steamed chicken.
The spiciness is actually brought by the small cuts of red pepper, which I totally avoid. Once the Korean ajumma brings over the big plate of Andong jjimdak to our table (you can't eat alone with this dish!), you will also need a clean table scissor to cut the noodles short so you can fish them out and carry them over to your plate.
Each bite of the steamed chicken reveals its soft meat coated with a bit of saltiness from the soy sauce and a little spiciness from the pepper. I usually top my bowl of rice with the chicken and the noodles, which I then bathe with a few spoonfuls of the spicy soy sauce.
Eating Andong jjimdak, unlike other Korean dishes, is like a ceremony because of the scissors. I always feel like I am opening an event with all this ribbon-cutting, except that these aren't ribbons. These are cooked cellophane noodles that are chewy and slippery.
A big plate of Andong jjimdak is actually pricier than most Korean dishes. A plate for two is about KRW24,000. That includes two bowls of rice and the use of the scissors. Ha-ha-ha! These Andong jjimdak restaurants actually have aprons for costumers to use. And borrowing one is advisable if you don't want to splash some soy sauce on your white shirt or blouse.
So, if you want to be fed with spicy, steamed today, try some Andong jjimdak and cut some ribbons for me!
I wonder if she was running to....or running away from...her wedding? Ha-ha-ha!
That was the question that immediately popped on my mind when I saw her get off a car (and not a bridal car!), crossed the street and on towards the I-Park Mall with an assistant dutifully carrying her train.
Was she rushing to the electronics mall to shop for some discounted home appliance?
Was she rushing to catch a KTX train at the Yongsan Station?
Or was she running away from her in-laws? Ha-ha-ha!
It was a funny sight, just like a scene out of Julia Robert's movie, Runaway Bride. But then I realized something. She was not a runaway bride; she was just a bride running. Why? There's a wedding hall on the 7th floor of I-Park Mall just above the electronics shops. She must have been late and didn't want to keep her guests and of course, her groom, waiting! She might have been worried he would change his mind. Ha-ha-ha!
Well, I didn't know if she actually made it to her wedding and lived happily ever after with her groom. But what I knew was that she provided some amusement to her fellow pedestrians crossing the street with her. (I didn't hear anyone congratulating her, by the way.)
And of course, she provided the photo of the day.
The late Karen Carpenter would have immediately burst into one of her classics if she spotted this mom and her kid in front of the I-Park Mall in the Yongsan District in Seoul.
The kid obviously was interested to play with some of the pigeons and his mom just let him. Although adults in Korea are scared of pigeons (and practically about anything that flies), kids are apparently oblivious to whatever phobia adults have taught themselves.
So, to caption the scene, let's listen to the Carpenters..."Why do birds suddenly appear...every time you are near?"
The first time I saw the footage of this accident on Korean TV last weekend, I immediately recognized the sidewalk! It was the bus stop before the one where I used to alight when I rode the Blue Bus 400 on my way to the Yongsan Station (I no longer take this bus though). And it's right next to a construction site.
The footage showed a couple (a guy and his girlfriend according to the news) falling into a sinkhole after getting off a blue-colored bus, and there's only one blue bus that stops on there: the Blue Bus 400!
Here are the videos of the accident from YTN News:
Luckily, they survived the three-meter fall with a few scratches after getting medical attention at a nearby hospital. The ground below the sidewalk got eroded by the excavation being made by a construction company, which is building a 39-storey apartment complex in the area. According to the news, the Seoul City government may impose a penalty on the construction company due to this accident.
This actually happened last week during the lunar new year holidays. I guess that day the couple was supposed to be enjoying their holidays. Instead, they ended up at a hospital.
(The sidewalk around this construction site
is currently off-limits)
Last year, the news about sinkholes appearing in the Jamsil area near the construction site of the Lotte World Tower scared the residents living there. But this time, sinkholes now have now shown up here in my Yongsan District neighborhood. Although the construction company already covered the sinkhole, the sidewalk is still closed to pedestrians.
But if even if they become passable, I wouldn't venture walking through that side, lest I want to suddenly disappear into the ground.
(Another construction site on the other side)
Weren't the two just lucky it happened during daytime and there was someone who called for help? What if it was a lone pedestrian just passing through the area late at night? Or worse, what if the passer-by was a mother with a baby?
With all these fatal accidents happening lately, I guess nobody should take this piece of news lightly. It would be a very pricey lesson to learn if you happen to be a victim of one of these avoidable accidents.
From reckless drivers who don't obey the traffic lights or care about pedestrian lanes, to motorcycles competing with everyone else on the sidewalk, and now, sinkholes, too?!
I used to say that motorbikes, puke and cars compete with pedestrians for space on Seoul's sidewalks. I think I should now include sinkholes to the list.
So, the next time you're walking on the sidewalk next to a huge construction site with deep excavation, do watch out. You don't want to be rolling into deep.
They gather on the steps in front of the I-Park Mall at the Yongsan District in Seoul like a flock of migratory birds coming home after winter. But it's still winter in Korea, and in these freezing temperatures, they still decide to endure the elements.
Upon seeing them, I immediately know who they are. As they say, birds of a feather, flock together. Well, these girls, who are being reined in behind a tether, are a K-pop group's loyal fans: they line up hours even before the start of any concert or event, eager to get the best seats, which are usually the ones closest to the stage.
(Ready, sit, show!)
Although most K-pop events usually start in the evening, it's still early in the afternoon and these girls are already properly seated in front of a stage. I am just passing through this scene, on my way to get something to eat. I have been invited to a few K-pop concerts before, and this scene is no different. I was even impressed with those Infinite fans queuing in front of Blue Square near Hangangjin Station last summer for the K-pop boy band's concert. The concert would start in the evening but they were already in line early in the morning, and would endure the summer sun all day! What devotion!
Also last summer, I was at Incheon International Airport to catch a flight. That day, I also witnessed such earnest desire to see their favorite K-pop celebrities in person. EXO fans were screaming, taking photographs and running around the airport just to see the members of that K-pop band.
And this afternoon, I guess, is no different. It's the same love, devotion, loyalty, and everything else in between. I later learned that this is an event for the K-pop boy band, BIA4.
(Not sure if these are cut-outs of BIA4 members)
If this is how the female fans show their loyalty, my question is: how do the male fans show their devotion for the female K-pop celebrities?
Maybe I should be on the look out for any Sistar event to find out.
No wonder the mall is always full these days. Before classes resume in a few weeks, kids and their moms are flocking to playgrounds and malls, and these days, to swimming pools around Seoul to play, cool off and enjoy their vacation!
Today, on swimming pools I saw at I-Park Mall in the Yongsan District, kids and their moms are busy soaking in the cool waters while the temperatures are sizzling at above 30'C. They'd rather be inside the pool, than be at the neighborhood park or at home.
With lifeguards looking after them (their babysitters for the day, I guess), all these kids want to do is to have fun in the pool and on the slides with the rest of their friends.
Now, I wonder if the pool is open to grown-ups at night? Ha-ha-ha!
Last week, I already saw the huge movie poster for a Korean movie, Face Reader 관상 , plastered on a cube in front of the Yongsan Station for all the passers-by to see. I thought that was it, a paper advertisement. I didn't know that days after, a red carpet event was going to be held right next to the poster.
On that day, as I was walking back to the office from lunch, I stopped by and asked a couple of girls sitting by the red carpet set-up what was going to happen. They told me that at 6PM that day, the stars of the movie were coming over for the event. It was still noon, and yet there were already a lot of fans claiming their spot along the path the stars were going to walk by.
Hmm. Another movie event in the neighborhood. A few years back, I saw Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage promote their respective movies here at CGV's Yongsan Station. Tonight, I decided I'd go local. Ha-ha-ha! I planned to walk this way after office.
(Lee Jeong-Jae signing autographs)
And as I got out of our office building, I could already hear the blaring speakers coming from Yongsan Station, signalling perhaps the arrival of the movie stars.
But when I got there, the stars had already arrived, and must have already walked the stretch of the red carpet, which by now, could use some dry-cleaning (ha-ha-ha!), and signed a few autographs. I'm not really into autographs. I got a few autographed CDs of K-pop stars given to me and an Australian Open t-shirt signed by 25 top female tennis players, and I can't remember now where I dumped those. Ha-ha-ha!
(Kim Hye-Soo from behind)
But right here, at the red carpet, I just wanted to take photographs of the Korean stars and their fans, who all had drawn out their cameras, smart phones and autograph books. Me? Just my Samsung Galaxy S4. Ha-ha-ha!
(Baek Yoon-Sik)
And as I stood there, with my left hand holding my phone and my right pressing the camera button, I tried to look closely if I recognize the stars.
(Cho Jeong-Seok)
And recognize I did, four of them: Kim Hye-Soo, perhaps the most beautiful and sexiest actress in Korean cinema; Song Kang-Ho, the lead in the monster-in-the-Han-River movie The Host; Lee Jeong-Jae, the face I recognize from The Housemaid; and Baek Yoon-Sik, from the movie, The Taste Of Money, where Maui Taylor, a Philippine actress, was found dead floating in an indoor swimming pool with only her underwear on.
From their huge poster, I 'face-read' their looks and Kim Hye-Soo's was definitely a standout. Unlike some of the surgically altered faces I see in Korean television, hers is unique and really beautiful, from any angle. One guy's nose though really looked fake. One doesn't have to be a plastic surgeon to tell whether a face has gone under the knife. If the look isn't natural, something must have been done. Some have such high, narrow noses; others have really pointed chin due to implants; and if you see that a nose seemed to have been clipped and the base isn't parallel to the ground (ha-ha-ha!), then some doctor got rich because someone was vain, or wasn't happy with what he or she sees in the mirror every morning.
(Lee Jeong-Jae)
And as the movie stars on the stage greeted, waved and invited their fans to watch their movie, Face Reader, I thought that this must be an interesting film to watch. Do they have a version with English sub-titles?
As I left the red carpet, after figuring out who was who, and whose looks seemed altered, I asked myself, 'Now, who's the real face reader?" :-)
