littlewonderlog

The sky was grey, yet we headed outside anyway. We felt like walking quietly, so our choice was Gimpo Jangneung, a royal tomb park.

Although I didn’t expect to see much greenery since it’s still winter, it was quite greenish due to the pine trees. The parking lot was rather empty, probably because of the cold and gloomy weather.

Since the main purpose was to walk in nature, we spent most of our time strolling along the paths, except for stopping by Jaesil, the ritual house. It was fun to watch the ducks in the pond, and 40 minutes easily flew by as we walked along the main path around the park.

It was quite a treat for KRW 1,000 (less than $1). Since we also enjoyed visiting Jungneung or Seooreung before, the Joseon dynasty royal tombs could be a good destination for a weekend. It would also be nice to revisit those places since they look different depending on the season and weather.

Since it was quite a chilly day, a bowl of Sundaeguk (Korean blood sausage soup) was a great choice for an after-walk meal, and we luckily got to look around the local traditional market (Kimpo Bukbyeon five-day market) nearby.

Overall, it was a very satisfying choice for a laid-back Sunday.

We got 100 sheets of dried Gopchang laver (Gim) as a Lunar New Year holiday present. It has this great touch of sweetness at the end of the bite, yet chewing it is not very pleasant because it is just dried, not roasted. After agonizing over it for a while, I decided to roast them all, all at once. It’s just one day’s work, and it will be good for the next several days or weeks.

Standing in the kitchen, I roast one sheet of laver at a time in a pan. With the heat spreading through the whole sheet, it turns from brownish to dark greenish. One by one, those laver sheets stack up on the plate.

It feels like such a waste of time. I mean, really, yet I’ve got a plan.

With earbuds in my ears, I listen to English audiobooks while roasting laver. Time rather flies by as I enjoy listening to my current audiobook, “Market Wizards”. Focusing on the color changes of the laver makes me miss words from time to time, yet I take this obstacle as an opportunity to hone my multitasking audiobook listening skills while roasting laver with the least amount of consciousness.

As roasted, crunchy laver piles up, investment insights pile up in my brain (hopefully).

Avoid the work you can’t enjoy, and make the unavoidable work somehow useful.

Today, it’s another success in that way.

My reading selections have been mostly for practical learning rather than leisure, covering nonfiction books such as business, economics, marketing, and investments. I of course get to have full leisure time while reading those books, yet when it comes to the main purpose, leisure comes after learning.

Still, I’ve recently had some reading time mostly for leisure – the bestselling memoir “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah.

How he came to be able to illustrate life under the infamous apartheid in South Africa, the sense of not belonging anywhere as a child of white and black parents, and a family life filled with abuse and threats in such a witty way is remarkable.

It’s serious yet entertaining, and entertaining yet serious. Time flies while following Trevor Noah’s storytelling.

It was quite an easy read as it was all written in a conversational tone, like he does it on the stand-up comedy stage.

Reading for learning is good, yet reading for leisure can be precious from time to time as well.

It’s not like we do all those ancestral rituals or have a large family. We have a somewhat large family, but with less than ten members, which could be a joke compared to families of more than ten, twenty members or even more.

One point five bowls of rice a day. One meal of only fruit. A light dinner with some fish or meat. These simple eating routines change dramatically during the holidays. Constantly eating, with more meat, more sweet foods, and more greasy dishes.

My efforts to eat moderately are never enough. I feel tired while preparing all those dishes with my family, and then I feel tired again while digesting all the food that I have eaten.

I’m not the one who faces the heavy workload, but my stomach is.

My efforts to free my stomach from the holiday after-effect caused by heavy eating are not enough and have never been enough. Make it happen, next time. Keep going.

I do ride the exercise bike, obviously.

I sit on the exercise bike with a broken display in my parents’ house, prepare myself for the coming hardship, and turn on the Japanese-dubbed Culinary Class Wars. Repeating what I hear from the show (shadowing), cycling for about twenty minutes makes my back start sweating.

It’s not that tough a workout, yet I can sense this tightness of my thighs afterwards.

Those twenty minutes can easily slip away if I look at my phone or something, yet this time for those minutes, I get my heart pumping, break a sweat, and learn some Japanese phrases.

Minimal workout routine, done.

We made fish “Jeon (Korean pan-fried fish fillet)” today. It’s been a while since we last made it for the Lunar New Year holiday. I’ve been quite successful in avoiding it as we don’t necessarily “need to” make it unlike those who conduct ancestral rites. I’ve also been in a long battle with my mom to make the cooking process as light and slim as possible.

Still, it’s just one dish – fish Jeon, and four of us worked on it.

The first person sprinkles salt and pepper on the thinly sliced fish, the second person coats the fish in starch powder and puts it in the egg wash bowl, the third person places the egg-washed fish on the pan, and the last person flips the fish. Then the first one, who worked on the seasoning and happens to have a certification of the professional organizer, arranges the finished fish on the plate.

It was effective and efficient. My mom was quite impressed saying how we had done it so fast.

This is what’s called industrialization, Mom.

The art of focusing on only one thing, achieving one task – the division of labor (except for the first person who has to work with salt and pepper, as well as final arranging.

After experiencing the core labor of industrialization, we also get to taste life as an employer.

By chewing those puffy, hot fish Joen, savoring all the flavors.

The last course of our holiday family dinner is apparently looking through Netflix.

As part of learning Japanese and part of exploring food culture, I’ve landed on an episode of the “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories” to watch with my family.

I’ve watched a couple of episodes of this show before, yet now I see a clear difference between this show and the “Solitary Gourmet”.

The “Solitary Gourmet” is 80% about food. Goro-san looks for a restaurant, agonizes over the menu choice, orders, and savors several different dishes while talking to himself.

The “Midnight Diner” is 80% about people. Specifically, the guests of the restaurant. The story is pretty much about those people’s lives.

Unlike the overall vibe of the show title, the “Midnight Diner” rarely shows the cooking scenes or talks about the dishes. I mean, it does, but not so much, at least to the extent that I would like to see.

Since what I’m mostly interested in are those scenes and conversations, I don’t think I’m ever gonna watch another episode of the “Midnight Diner”. I think.

On this peaceful holiday night with a happy full belly, I’m one step closer to my well-structured language-learning guideline.

The Solitary Gourmet (2024) ⭐ 7.1 | Comedy, Drama

1h 50m | PG

Shinya shokudô (TV Series 2009–2014) ⭐ 8.6 | Comedy, Drama

24m | M18

As part of the holiday routine while visiting my in-laws, we went to the market to look around. Not really to buy anything, but just to window-shop. It’s packed as usual and you’re now in a game of avoiding getting hit by other people’s shoulders.

As someone currently living without flour, coffee, dairy, fried foods, and sugar, there’s really no snack to nibble on while roaming the market. It’s a shame, but it’s fine. Well, it’s not really fine, but it’s fine.

Something catches my eye on this crazy bustling street, and it’s the hot stores.

There are some hot stores even though their products are not particularly better than those of other similar stores. They are extremely kind, or extremely enthusiastic, or both. It’s not 100% the case, as there’s always an outlier, yet it’s mostly the case.

In those hot stores, there are interest, smiles, and vitality. It’s not just for today. They are always like that.

I get this energy while observing those stores.

The energy of interest, smiles, and vibrancy.

The Lunar New Year holiday has started. Well, technically, the actual holiday hasn’t started yet, but the weekend makes it feel like it has anyway.

The holiday was all joy and fun when I was young. We gorged ourselves on the great food coming out constantly, had a blast talking to family and relatives, and got to receive the valuable snack money at the end of the holiday.

Now, it’s a bit different.

We not only gorge ourselves on great food but also prepare it, make sure family and relatives have a blast talking to each other, and at the end of the holiday give away those precious bills to the future of this country.

And another thing, the change in daily routines.

The usual routines such as morning workouts, reading, writing, language-speaking practice, etc. are all affected due to the change in daily schedules.

As the time, space, surrounding people and the environment change, my daily habits need temporary adjustments.

Maintaining certain routines every day is no longer a hard task, yet adjusting them is still a little bit of a challenge for me.

During this holiday, I will be that person who is less unskilled in regards to those adjustments.

…one of the best learning opportunities.

Being pushed into a corner forces us to find a solution.

Being pushed into a corner forces us to commit to finding a solution.

Being pushed into a corner is not as bad as it looks.

Being pushed into a corner causes change, and change causes new opportunities.