The Ubiquitous Chinatown / The Amusement Park

Ubiquitous: it is a word that has been growing on me ever since I saw the Cadillac commercial where the black guy complains about his kids giving him the "ubiquitous sweater vest" for Christmas ("ubiquitous" is a term I never heard before, for something that is constantly encountered).

Well, aside from sweater vests for dads on Christmas and hookers in Waikiki, something else that is "ubiquitous" is Chinatown. No matter where you go, there is always a Chinatown. And of course, this is a good thing, as Chinatown is a very crucial part of communities all over the world. (I mean, where else would we find necessities like wooden back-scratchers and plastic squatting chairs?)



I went to the Chinatown in Incheon this past Saturday with two of my Korean co-workers and enjoyed checking out the place. It actually wasn't as big as I thought, but it was nice to see something different than the typical Korean city setting.



1. As we walked through Chinatown, there was loud cymbals and drums. Lo and behold, there was a lion dance.



2. I had no idea why they were having a lion dance in the middle of May -- Chinese New Year is over guys, get over it. Then I realized that they were creating a mock wedding, complete with traditional Chinese garments. I think this would have to be the least awkward job possible... next to prostate examiner.



3. We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant. I ordered some Kung Pao chicken. It wasn't that good, but it was nice to eat something different (and guess what? no kim chi finally!)



4. This was a little entrance into a nearby park.



5. As we walked further, we eventually came across a drunk man, taking a nap on the street. Welcome to the Korean Chinatown.



6. Afterwards, we went to a nearby Amusement Park. I actually have never been to Disneyland and fairs and the like were never anything special to me. We simply walked around. Notice they spelled hurricane wrong.



7. One of the rides that was drawing a large audience was this spinning ride. It seemed to be manually controlled and was made to be a fairly bumpy ride. The objective is simply to hang on tightly and laugh at anyone that loses their grip and tumbles into the center. There is also emcee talking and cracking jokes during the ride.



8. 2 for 1 special anyone? Actually, this is a bizarre Asian phenomenon known as "couple-tees" where a couple wears the same shirt so that everyone stares, laughs and takes pictures of them to post on their blog.



9. Next to the amusement park was a boardwalk. This is a huge sidewalk right next to the ocean with restaurants and game rooms lined up all along the area. I've always enjoyed just taking leisure walks, unfortunately, Hawaii does not cater much to the walker and there are not many wide areas to just stroll and have a chat. This boardwalk was beautiful. I need to find a girl and take her out here.




10. Here's a little picture of the ocean from the edge of the boardwalk. What a sight.

Kim Chi Could Drive One to Insanity

I used to really like kim chi -- it was a fiber-full and spicy addition to my meals. Having been in Korea for over a month now, the joy of munching on spiced vegetables is slowly waning, and in it's place are only the feelings of pain and frustration.

You see, there is kim chi everywhere and at every meal. Whether I'm eating katsu, noodles, Korean yakiniku or eating at the cafeteria, there is ALWAYS kim chi on plate, staring at me ominously, begging me to eat just another plate of them. There is no escape.

Once in a while, it seems restaurants here like to switch things up with a little variety -- radish kim chi instead of cabbage kim chi.



Oohhhhh boy, what a way to spice up my life! Pun intended.

And if that weren't bad enough, well, they are always 50+ other types of kim chi.




Much as the protagonist in Edgar Allen Poe's short-story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," was slowly driven to insanity by the still-beating heart of his victim, I am similarly becoming insane by way of eating kim chi... everyday.

Korean Fashion

I am amazed at Korean fashion. No, I'm not talking about hanbok (although Serena Williams sure is lookin' fly in one) --


I am talking about how well the general Korean population dresses. I suppose it's no surprise, as Korean society is incredibly superficial (this is of course, another blog in itself). The men typically wear a suit to most white collar jobs and the women are layered head to toe and always have on a hot pair of high heels, even if only to go to school or to buy groceries. As for me being so amazed, well, I suppose it's because I've been living in Hawaii too long and I've forgotten that an aloha shirt, cargo shorts and slippers aren't typical attire in the rest of the world.

I've been doing a little shopping in SK and although it's very tiring to look through so many random stores, the clothes here are worth looking for because they actually FIT me. You see, clothing mass manufacturers like Banana Republic or American Eagle try to make as few sizes as possible, to reduce costs (for example, in most men's dress shirts, there are usually two buttons on the wrist area-- one to use if the length is fine and a tighter one to use to make the shirt hug the wrist and appear shorter). And because so many Americans are bulky or obese, the clothing is made to suit their shape. This may be good for them, but for a 5'10" slender Asian man such as myself, this means my American-medium dress-shirt from the GAP can double as a poncho:



Again, the squareness of the shirt would probably fit a typical American male or SpongeBob Squarepants just fine, but as for me, it is a little baggy.

I just bought this shirt the other day for about $25 in Seoul and it fits like a glove (notice how much the sides taper in):


As much as I enjoy learning about fashion here, I'll still stay away from the skinny jeans for men, so don't worry. That shit is queer, yo.




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A little taste of home -- I made some chicken katsu curry.