I Love Food!

Well, let me rephrase that; I love authentic foods. What do I mean by that? Simple. I like the original, or real versions of food and not the "Americanized", or "Canadianized", or "North Americanized", or "Koreanized" , or "whatever-ized" versions of the foods in question.

Take Chinese for example. Most of the the Chinese food that you might be familiar with, if you live in North America, etc., is not the real/original thing unless you eat in a restaurant in a "Chinatown" that is frequented by the Chinese people living in that city.

Historically, when the first Chinese arrived, the ingredients to make the original versions did not exist in that part of the world. So, substitutions had to be made. That was 50-60 years ago. And, in addition, since the food had to be sold to non-Chinese people in order to make a living as a restaurant owner, it also had to be tailored to more North American tastes. Thus, North American versions of the food evolved which basically have not too much in common with the original versions. Most do not even have original versions. Things like "Chicken Balls", "Moo Goo Guy Pan", "Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs", "Chop Suey", etc. What the hell are these things? They are not real Chinese food! But, for the majority of non-Chinese people in North America, they are Chinese food. Sorry. But, this is not Chinese food.

With globalization in the past 20-30 years, and the widespread availability of original fresh ingredients, spices, sauces, etc. practically anywhere in the industrialized world, there really is no excuse not to be able to make and serve the real/original versions of ethnic foods. And, this does happen now. What a relief! Unfortunately, the changed foods are still being made and served because this is what most people are accustomed to now. Serve them the real thing and they do not like it. They are not used to it. And, unless they are open to new experiences, they won't like it either because it's not Chinese food! What a shame.

I use Chinese food as an example but this has happened with all ethnic foods in North America and beyond from Italian, Indian, Greek, Japanese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Ethiopian, etc. And, what makes me such an "expert" in this? Simply because I have had both the original foods and the "whatever-ized" versions. There simply is no comparison. The originals are so much better tasting. Unfortunately, most people are only used to three distinct "flavors" in their food; too sweet, too sour and too salty. That's about it. Go to any North American chain restaurant and those are the predominant flavors in everything. Gross!

If you want to find the real thing, go to the ethnic areas of your city and look in the restaurant windows. If you find that the majority of the people sitting in them is of that ethnic area, then you can be assured the food is real. They are not stupid. They will only eat the real deal. Plus, the restaurant will not look very nice, not up to North American standards at all. If it's a fancy place, go somewhere else because it is catering to non-native tastes; read North American tastes. Plus, you will pay through your nose for food that is usually served for much less than what you have to pay in North American chain restaurants. Don't believe me? Well, you can have a decent meal at a real ethnic restaurant for less than one third of what you would pay for a complete steak dinner at a big name chain.

So, what is the point of my rant? Simple. Trying to find the real/original versions of ethnic foods in South Korea is very, very, difficult. Almost impossible depending on what part of South Korea you happen to live in. As Seoul is the most international and biggest city in South Korea, the chances of finding real ethnic foods is a bit, only a bit, higher. As there are quite a number food blogs here by people who love food as much as I do, researching their writings is easier than trying to do all my own research. To that end, I have ventured out and tried some of their recommendations. It's a slow process. But, I have tried some of them. I'll write about those experiences when they arise.

For the record, there are no, none, zero, zilch, nada, real/authentic Chinese food restaurants here! Only Koreanized versions and I do not like the food they serve. Period. Most Italian restaurants here fall into the same category so far. Yuck! Some of the other food bloggers have found the real deal, but they are difficult for me to get to easily. But, I will explore them eventually. For now, it'll be a slow go of it.

An Impromptu Korean Wedding

I was supposed to meet up with a teacher friend of mine today to go for pizza at lunch time. But, something else happened instead. He took me to a wedding. I didn't know anybody there.

The wedding itself was nice enough and the food was great. I made a pig of myself, but only a small pig. It was not quite what I am used to having shot many a wedding professionally back in Toronto.

The ceremony was supposed to start at 2pm and it most likely did. But, we were pigging out at the all you can eat buffet at the time along with about half the other guests. The buffet style food was served prior to the ceremony about an hour or two ahead of time. There did not seem to be anything else going on after the ceremony either. No dancing, no speeches, etc. Or, at least we left shortly after eating. So, I can not really be sure of what happened later. Like I said before; a bit different than what I am used to seeing. And, this was supposed to be an "American style wedding", too.

Anyways, I can't complain. The food was excellent and the hall was beautiful. Quite different than just pizza for lunch!

My Sweet 16th Birthday

What's up, my dear readers? Sorry it took so long to post out my updates on what I did last week. My laptop became extremely slow probably because of all the pictures I stored, the speakers couldn't work anymore and I lost the letter 'J' on my keyboard. So, I sent it off for repair. The shop wasn't opened for days which also contributed to the delay of my blog updates.

Now that my laptop is well again, I might as well update now before I forget.

Ok, so where was I? Oh right! My birthday.

So like I said earlier, since I couldn't celebrate, I did something I wanted to do for quite sometime and that is Paintballing! Its like a gun filled with little capsules of paint and you have to shoot your enemies with it, like a video game!

Sure, I don't mind getting paint all over me as well as bruises, but, that's part of the fun, right?

I went to Sunway Lagoon with a few friends and cousins and we headed off to the extreme park located way at the back. We started off with the paintball targets.

That's my brother's friend, and cousin Jon at the back there with his eyes closed for some reason...

Unfortunately, the 3 on 3 paintball war game was unavailable as it was already booked for 2 days. We then headed off and came across the archery section and began to shoot some arrows.

Don't be fooled by this picture, I totally suck at this; I only made the target once and after that, its arrows everywhere!

Once we were done with that, we went dirt biking (at least, that's what I think its called)!

As our group was too big, we decided that the guys go first.

As the guys started their engines, my brother Daniel got too excited and he pressed the accelerator too hard and went on top of somebody! HaHAhAHA!!

Before we girls get to go, we have to wear these old shower caps...

Heehee! We look like the lunch ladies from a cafeteria.

After a while, Jon came back alone. He said that his legs went soft and basically, he was too scared to continue. So, I hired him as our photographer while I'm gone dirt biking.

When it was our turn, I got really excited (but not too excited like Daniel) and put on my helmet and gear.

Behind me was Sam (it was her birthday too. She's 15 this year).

And finally, my friend, Roann.

Until now, I still don't get what Jon means by your legs 'getting soft'. I had such a blast! As for Sam, she quit halfway because she couldn't seen to be able to control the vehicle properly. Everytime there was a turn, she'd get stuck.

Then, a staff would help her get the vehicle back in place, lets her take over and she gets stuck again! So, we continued without her. We went through a little forest with trees and stuff all the way uphill. It was a rough journey, but it was fun!

Then came the downhill part. I was scared to go down at first, but the guy told me not to use the accelerator and it all made sense again!

After that, we decided to go kayaking. Before that, I changed my shirt just in case I get all wet.

On special note, before we set off the guy was like, "If I catch you taking any pictures, I'm gonna fine you RM300."

And I went like, "Aww... really?"

But as you can see, I took the pictures anyway. He's probably trying to pull my leg.

Then came the best part; the Flying fox!

We were all geared up and we fly!

It was amazing! I went flying over the waters and saw the whole theme park!

When we've all had landed at the bottom, we went for a snack.

After a bit or two, we went bungee jumping.

Well, that's all folks! We had the best of times and this would be the best birthday ever!