Snow!

All this snow will just make our vacation to Thailand next week all the more fantastic.  Yea!

On the way to the grocery store. 

Bump Update: 27 weeks

More Gigs, More Music, More Fun!

My band, The Odds Against, has been performing quite a bit in the past few months.  In fact, we're now gigging practically every weekend that we're all around, sometimes twice!  Last Friday's gig at Roofers in Itaewon was a blast from start to finish.

It was great to play in Seoul and have lots of friends show up!

Rob McManus was in fine form on the electric cello.

Zee Kang joined us on vocals and the fiddle for a few songs.

Rocking the 3-part harmonies on OCMS's "Wagon Wheel" 

Every rock star's dream: beautiful women dancing in front of the stage!

After our set, Robbie (after a quick costume change) and the Mad Cannons roared through a set of their own.

The Mad Cannons:  Robbie, Moon, & Stan (Simo, not pictured)

And after that it was drinks all around!

Zee, Robbie, Stan, & Simo

The Odds Against

Organic, natural food coloring

Chocolate cupcakes with pink cactus icing and coconut sprinkles.

I love to bake, but getting ingredients is tough in Seoul because it requires a one-hour subway trip up to a crowded market.  But a few weeks ago I found a baking store in my neck of the woods!

Yes, a baking store in Gangnam! With organic, natural food coloring (drool).

Their natural food coloring is made from berries, pumpkin, green tea, and even cactus!  Beats Yellow #6, huh?  That's the dye that's usually used to color food. Anyway, the cactus one was bright pink and I couldn't pass it up.  The results are documented above.

Here's some interesting information I found online about the cactus:

Baeknyuncho (optia fiacus midia)

Baeknyuncho, a type of cactus, is shaped like a flat fan and is also called a "palm cactus." It is indigenous to Hallim-eup in northern Jeju. Violet fruits come out from November to March. The fruits and stems are usually used to make fresh juice or made into powder to mix with tea or drinks. The powder can also be sprinkled on yogurt or salad. Baeknyuncho is especially recommended for women as it is rich in dietary fiber and inorganic substances such as calcium and iron. Baeknyuncho powder is priced at about 30,000~40,000 won per kilogram. To get to the baking shop, take exit 7 from Gangnam station, walk straight for a block or so, then take a right into the alley that runs parallel to the main drag.  Walk along the alley until you see a shop called "Tea Purple."  At that corner, take a right.  Walk up the road just a few shops.  The baking store is on the left, tucked away on the third floor above a restaurant called "steak-a-holic."  It's called "The Bread Garden."

Crabby New Year!

For the New Year, we did something we've wanted to do since we arrived in Korea -- eat king crab.

We went to the Norianjin seafood market with friends and ordered two HUGE buggers.  They spanned half the length of the table and fed seven of us.

We also got oysters on the half shell, sashimi, and salt-grill snapper.  Yum!  I wanted to get pictures of those, too, but the crab arrived at the table at roughly the same time, and somehow I was too distracted by its deliciousness to get many pictures of the whole spread.

Ray with massive leg meat.

Gar!

Ian slurping down a raw oyster.

Aww...

Rob, or should I say "Bob"?

Nothing says a good meal like shells,
bones, and empty bottles.

Afterward, Austin and I came home and baked cupcakes.  Here's to 2011!