Video

Namyangju, east of Seoul. Picked some strawberries, visited a spider museum, had some amazing bulgogi and not-so-amazing sweet potato spoon pizza. This package took egregiously long to film–around 15 hours. I was a bit miffed. I liked the country restaurant. Took a nap while the DP was taking his sweet time.

I’ve discovered that my little pieces for Arirang’s “Korea Today” are on YouTube. I’ll go ahead and post them. This is the most recent one. We went to the neighborhood of Guro in southern Seoul. It’s a gritty neighborhood that surprisingly has a few oases. Honestly, the sashimi I eat in the clip is sekkoshi, which I really don’t like. It’s the bones and cartilage of the fish, which I consider the scraps. But Koreans like those textures. I still haven’t found anyone who can explain to me why sekkoshi is enjoyable. The mandu was great, though, as was the braised fish.

Seriously, I’m planning to return to that Chinese restaurant for that sweet and sour octopus. It was light and perfectly flavored. It tasted like American Chinese sweet and sour. This was a long shoot, especially at the Latin American museum.

The owners of three iconic Itaewon restaurants recently held an eat off. Linus (Linus Bama BBQ), Sid (Vatos Urban Tacos), and Chris (Lobster Bar) competed in the EATaewon Games.

The Challenge?

Consume two Sid Burgers, which are pretty massive. The first person to finish wins.

There are many reasons why I like this video. It’s entertaining. It’s for a good cause. But most of all, it’s local.

Yes.

Can you believe this was made right here in Seoul? If you look closely you’ll catch a glimpse of legendary expat Nevada Rhodes (the blonde guy on the scooter) and the ravishing Jyoung-ah Kim (pulling some cart in the background). That’s your first hint.

This was also made by a small team of expats doing what is very difficult to do in Seoul–own and run a business as an expat. So you may see I feel a kindred spirit towards them.

I’ll make this simple. Spend two minutes and forty-three seconds of your time watching this video. If it inspires you, donate.

Done.